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the most over the top restrictions introduced

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Jamiescott1

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I've seen lots of over the top restrictions such as temperature checks to enter a restaurant and food served only in take away containers.

My most hated has to be the amount of signage at stansted airport which has all been printed on a template with "for your safety" written on it. Theres one in every toilet cubicle saying to keep the seat down when flushing the toilet to stop the spread of covid-19. In addition to them dotted all around the terminal advising to wear a mask, not to sit on certain seats, to keep your distance etc (all for my safety).

What ott restrictions have you seen ?
 
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duncanp

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The branch of Barclays Bank two minutes from me which was closed at the start of "the pandemic" for my safety.

Anyone wanting to use the bank now has to travel elsewhere, thus increasing the risk of COVID-19 spread, however small that is.

The cynic in me would think that the bank are using COVID-19 as an excuse to close the branch permanently.

The pointless one way system at Birmingham New Street station is really annoying as well.
 

Huntergreed

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My local tesco introduced a one way system for a couple months at the start of the pandemic.

If you wanted to go and buy a meal deal (at the front of the shop) you then had to spend 20 minutes walking up and down each aisle before being able to go and pay for it, all seemed a bit pointless!
 

johntea

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Haven't got a picture but the local council have put up massive "KEEP 2M APART!" notices...on the pavements so you have to walk around them...onto the road...god knows how a visually impaired person would cope too!
 

bramling

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I've seen lots of over the top restrictions such as temperature checks to enter a restaurant and food served only in take away containers.

My most hated has to be the amount of signage at stansted airport which has all been printed on a template with "for your safety" written on it. Theres one in every toilet cubicle saying to keep the seat down when flushing the toilet to stop the spread of covid-19. In addition to them dotted all around the terminal advising to wear a mask, not to sit on certain seats, to keep your distance etc (all for my safety).

What ott restrictions have you seen ?

My office might perhaps be a contender. From having had nothing at all until about a month ago, all hell has broken loose since. For context we use a building which essentially became disused for its original purpose some years ago, so there’s only three rooms retained for constant use, one sole occupancy, the other two double occupancy. Two other rooms are used as offices but are only occupied on an occasional basis.

Since June there is a one-way system around the building, social distancing signage galore, each office placed under “quarantine” so only named people can enter, priority arrows on stairs, hand gel stations all round the building, menacing notices aimed at outsiders, and - of course - a requirement to wear masks, which funnily enough no one is actually doing.

It seems one particular individual, not even a regular user of the building, went mad.
 

carlberry

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My office might perhaps be a contender. From having had nothing at all until about a month ago, all hell has broken loose since. For context we use a building which essentially became disused for its original purpose some years ago, so there’s only three rooms retained for constant use, one sole occupancy, the other two double occupancy. Two other rooms are used as offices but are only occupied on an occasional basis.

Since June there is a one-way system around the building, social distancing signage galore, each office placed under “quarantine” so only named people can enter, priority arrows on stairs, hand gel stations all round the building, menacing notices aimed at outsiders, and - of course - a requirement to wear masks, which funnily enough no one is actually doing.

It seems one particular individual, not even a regular user of the building, went mad.
The company/building owner will have had to prove that it's made it 'covid safe' and the signs prove that it has! Surely you feel safer now!:D
 

Mcr Warrior

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Theres one in every toilet cubicle saying to keep the seat down when flushing the toilet to stop the spread of covid-19.
To be fair, seen that sort of signage in a hospital toilet cubicle well before COVID-19. No doubt helps to prevent aerosol droplets circulating in the immediate area after flushing and spreading nasties that you're much more likely to catch, such as e.coli.
 

yorkie

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Chesterfield and Huddersfield stations have covered up "keep left" signs and replaced them with "keep right" signs; I can't see any material difference between why people should keep right rather than keep left, but it does mean a box has been ticked and these stations must now surely be "Covid secure" ;)
 

Huntergreed

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Actually, I offer the Welsh public transport guidance as the most over-the-top candidate:


Guidelines advising people from talking on mobile phones, reading newspapers or eating food on public transport in Wales have been issued by the Welsh Government.

The government directive also orders passengers not to run for the bus, or run in railway stations.

And it says people should travel in "relative silence" with no "loud activities" like singing happening on board.

The directive says:

  • Travel in relative silence - no ‘loud’ activities in public transport (like singing)
  • Do not use mobile phones for talk on public transport except in an emergency
  • No running in transport hubs
  • Don’t run for the bus – drivers to be alert and wait
  • No newspapers
  • Do not consume food or drink on public transport (except for example on medical grounds)
The measures are contained in a section called 'administrative controls' in a Welsh Government document called Restarting Public Transport: Guidance for Operators. It says that the changes are required under Regulation 12 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations.

It is not clear how the changes will be enforced, but there will not be fines for not adhering to them because it is "guidance to keep people safe". However, the wearing of masks will be mandatory on public transport from July 27.


Transport for Wales has been urging passengers not to use its services except for essential travel.

They said that this was due to the expected increase in the number of journeys and to ensure there was enough space for key workers or those without alternative options.

The Welsh Government also says that people should only travel on public transport if it is essential.


(Taken from thread 'Welsh Government new guidelines for travel on public transport: Extreme?' https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/welsh-government-new-guidelines-for-travel-on-public-transport-extreme.206633/ )
 

sjpowermac

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Chesterfield and Huddersfield stations have covered up "keep left" signs and replaced them with "keep right" signs; I can't see any material difference between why people should keep right rather than keep left, but it does mean a box has been ticked and these stations must now surely be "Covid secure" ;)
Have you experienced the walk around the lifts at Leeds station to get from the departure boards to platform 6? Pic attached.

@Huntergreed I’m starting to feel part of the gang now, next thing you know I’ll be burning my N95;)
F2CB0C2B-E54B-4BCB-9851-21BB18F13923.jpeg
 

yorkie

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Have you experienced the walk around the lifts at Leeds station to get from the departure boards to platform 6? Pic attached.
I rarely use P6. Does the same apply for platforms 1-5?

The craziest interchange at Leeds is perhaps from Platform 14 to Platform 17 you have to walk the length of P15, over the main footbridge, back along P8, over the eastern footbridge (over P14) and the length of P15.

People who need to use the lifts are accompanied through the staff only lifts at the eastern end. I had to take a bike there a few weeks ago and I saw they were storing some of the out of use chairs there! That said, if you know where to look, it is still possible to sit down at Leeds station ;)

Anyway at least these measures guarantee we won't catch any viruses when using Leeds station. Back when I was able to get a lift without being accompanied, I may have been at major risk of getting a virus ;)
 

AdamWW

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People who need to use the lifts are accompanied through the staff only lifts at the eastern end. I had to take a bike there a few weeks ago and I saw they were storing some of the out of use chairs there! That said, if you know where to look, it is still possible to sit down at Leeds station ;)


Ohh just like the old days when the only lifts were the staff ones used for parcels.
 

sjpowermac

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I rarely use P6. Does the same apply for platforms 1-5?

The craziest interchange at Leeds is perhaps from Platform 14 to Platform 17 you have to walk the length of P15, over the main footbridge, back along P8, over the eastern footbridge (over P14) and the length of P15.
Yes, platforms 1 to 5 are reached in exactly the same way! One advantage of masks is that you can pull a rude face and nobody knows;)

I’ve done the 1500 metre circuit that you mentioned. In fairness, maybe it’s to help us all get more exercise and hence be more resistant to the virus!
 

MikeWM

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This one (from the Guardian) sounds just a bit excessive:

Lloyd Webber unveils safety measures at London Palladium
Visitors had staggered arrival times, wore mandatory face masks and, while queueing, used mobile phones to fill out NHS test and trace forms and preorder drinks for in-seat service. After contactless security checks and ticket scans, temperatures were taken with thermal imaging cameras.

The Palladium has been fitted with door handles that use silver ions to kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. One-way systems were in place throughout the venue, which had been cleaned with antiviral chemical fogging.

The star attraction was expected to be expensive misting machines that sprinkle audiences with antiviral spray before entering.

Though apparently the misting machines were considered unnecessary after all! :rolleyes:

On balance, I think I'd rather not bother. Thanks anyway!
 

alxndr

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Toilets locked out of order to maintain the 2 m distance.
I can understand insisting that the lid is shut to prevent aerosolisation, but I'd be amazed if the virus could get through a cubicle wall unaided.
 

adc82140

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1. Any one way system. You will not get Covid by brushing past someone going the other way. However you could pick something up by following the same person round in the weird parade that one way systems create.

2. The closure of toilets. Covid is the least of your worries in a public lav. Wash your hands like I hope you normally would anyway.

3. Any wearing of gloves. What exactly is the point, unless you are putting on a new pair every time you touch something.
 

Bikeman78

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Toilets locked out of order to maintain the 2 m distance.
I can understand insisting that the lid is shut to prevent aerosolisation, but I'd be amazed if the virus could get through a cubicle wall unaided.
The only open toilet on Cardiff Central is platform 8. Those on the other three islands are locked up. Not sure how forcing people to walk further and use one toilet instead of four is meant to be safer.
 

trebor79

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Norwich city council have made all pedestrian access to their multi story car parks one way. So in some of them you can only get out on foot by using the vehicle route.
Like there's ever hoards of people coming and going at the same time.

BP petrol station I filled up at the other day expected me, after paying, to walk to the back of the shop and then zig zag up and down the aisles to get to the door. Copious amounts of hazard tape all over the place.
There was one other customer present, so I just legged it straight out the door before the staff could object, not that they seems to care.
 

bramling

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The company/building owner will have had to prove that it's made it 'covid safe' and the signs prove that it has! Surely you feel safer now!:D

We have two theories. One is that one of the offices didn’t want hot-deskers using their facilities, so by framing such an awkward and unwelcoming environment that has more or less put a stop to that practice. The other theory is that someone was using it as a pitch for union health & safety rep election. Perhaps I’m being over cynical, but either theory sounds about right.

It’s all way over the top for a small office block where on 19 out of 20 occasions you will pass from street to desk or vice versa without encountering anyone!
 

Hadders

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The one way system at Finsbury Park Underground station is way over the top. A 550m diversion to enter the station.
 

Journeyman

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At stops where there's more than one ticket machine on each platform, Edinburgh Trams have made one machine out of use, even though they're back to back and users will easily be 2 metres apart if they're both being used at once.
 

DelayRepay

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I think most one way systems are entirely pointless and over the top. And not well thought through.

My work's company policies are also odd:
- We are not allowed to give colleagues lifts in our cars, unless the colleague lives in the same household. I am not sure if this is enforcable, but created an odd situation where I could not give a colleague a lift home after we'd met up, so she had to catch the bus.

- The canteen is serving pre-packaged food only. I think this is due to reduced occupancy/custom rather than for safety. The canteen has removed all but one chair from each table, with a strict instruction that chairs must not be moved. So if I want to have lunch with a colleague, we can safely do that by going next door to the pub, but not in our own canteen.

- A 'one way' system on staircases which means that if you want to get between certain parts of the building, you have to go out to the street, walk around the outside and re-enter through another entrance. Break times have had to be extended as for some people, getting a cuppa or going to the smoking area now involves a very long walk indeed.

- 'One way' systems that mean everyone arriving at work has to enter through the same door, rather than the previous arrangements where both doors were entry/exit. Which means that in the morning, the entrance will be crowded and in the evening the exit will be crowded.

We're also banned from sharing communal food e.g. birthday cakes, holiday sweets, boxes of tea bags, jars of coffee. And for some reason the fridges have been placed out of use.
 

py_megapixel

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ScotRail's website now requires you to tick an individual box next to each guideline for public transport before it will let you buy tickets!
 

birchesgreen

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WMR have announced their traffic light system for trains. If red then the train is too full and people should not board and wait for the next one. They also said that trains may not stop at scheduled stations if too full, which seems to be rather unfair if you wish to alight at a certain station... such as the one near where you live!

The problem with not getting on if the train is too "busy" is that there could be a long wait for the next train, some routes have an hourly service, some worse than that (though not WMR i don't think). What if you have waited an hour and the next train is just as "full"? Another hour wait. Hopefully its not raining.
 

Bantamzen

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1. Any one way system. You will not get Covid by brushing past someone going the other way. However you could pick something up by following the same person round in the weird parade that one way systems create.

One way systems are amongst the daftest "safety features" of them all. I know in the original government guidelines they were suggested (albeit with no real reasoning), but some companies have gone ape with them. I haven't had the pleasure of Leeds station's 7 levels of hell one way system yet, but the ones in stores have universally been a failure in my area, especially in the local Co-op. So there the one way system goes from the entrance thus (down being away from the doors & checkouts, up towards) Down > Up > Up >Down > Up > Up.... Erm…?? Oh and to make things a little more helpful there are lots of distancing stickers along the length of the 'Up' aisles for people to queue for the checkouts, which mean that technically you'd have to queue in each 'Up'
aisle if the store was busy because of course there are less checkouts & the aisles themselves are fairly narrow. Suffice to say that the system lasted a couple of days at the most. But the chirpy PA announcements about being a "hero" for following the system continue unabated.

And one of my local pubs has also got a one way system in place which if used involves entering through one door, past the exit door because the two converge into a narrow section, then around a central pillar, to the bar. Which of course means queuing right where people are sitting instead of queuing towards the exit. Ho hum...

Covid really has brought out the petty bureaucrats in this nation. People with clipboards & PowerPoint presentations have been having a field day trying to outdo each other with the wackiest ways to make people's lives that little more difficult with one way systems, that so far as I can tell have little or no effect on spread, and in some cases might actually be riskier than just letting people figure out how to move around for themselves.
 

superjohn

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I recently used a Sainsbury’s Local store in East London. It had the expected one way system but, on getting to the back, I discovered that all the aisles were in the same direction! I had no choice but to defy the arrows to escape. Nobody seemed to care.
 

Cowley

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I recently used a Sainsbury’s Local store in East London. It had the expected one way system but, on getting to the back, I discovered that all the aisles were in the same direction! I had no choice but to defy the arrows to escape. Nobody seemed to care.
I had the same thing in a large Co-op in Exeter. I went in there about three times at the beginning of all this and every time I tried to follow the floor markings there were two aisles that you wouldn’t have been able to escape from if you obeyed them. :lol:
 

C J Snarzell

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I would say the most over the top restriction was in my local branch of the Yorkshire Bank.

The lady cashier working behind the re-enforced glass screen was wearing a face visor (that made her look like she should be cutting down trees!!!).

Because of the size of the counter - where she was sat to where customers were stood is at least two metres with the glass screen and of course the slot where you place your money & documents means no physical contact anyway.

I asked this lady why she needed to wear the face visor and she told me directly she was wearing it simply to reassure some of the customers, particularly the older people who don't use online banking and still rely on visiting their local branch.

I thought this scenario was absurb - there was no reason to wear the mask.

CJ
 
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