When will this shit end?

[Pinhead]

This evening like the last 6 years I would have been at the Bearded Theory crew bar post Oxfam briefing... 😫

[Paul ™]

Just now, Pinhead said:

This evening like the last 6 years I would have been at the Bearded Theory crew bar post Oxfam briefing... 😫

And I'd have been making sure you all left at a sensible time and no one wandering around site late on

[Ozanne]

 

[Pinhead]

28 minutes ago, Paul ™ said:

And I'd have been making sure you all left at a sensible time and no one wandering around site late on

We just transfer to Gail's Bar 🍺

[basicminds]

Feel quite angry about the photos of beaches today.  Whilst I think we as individuals should show caution, it is notable the Irish exit plan for lockdown said that you were not allowed to go more that 20km for your home for quite a few stages (someone linked it on this thread- a timetable and everything!).  Obviously not enforceable but you know some structure and guidance would help prevent stupid shit like today.  And now Boris will be clapping for NHS tomorrow whilst overseeing the conditions for the virus just to continue spreading and killing more people. How demoralising.  

[Toilet Duck]

34 minutes ago, basicminds said:

Feel quite angry about the photos of beaches today.  Whilst I think we as individuals should show caution, it is notable the Irish exit plan for lockdown said that you were not allowed to go more that 20km for your home for quite a few stages (someone linked it on this thread- a timetable and everything!).  Obviously not enforceable but you know some structure and guidance would help prevent stupid shit like today.  And now Boris will be clapping for NHS tomorrow whilst overseeing the conditions for the virus just to continue spreading and killing more people. How demoralising.  

Actually it's currently 5km...doesn't go up to 20km until the next phase at the start of June. There are police checkpoints on the routes to major tourist destinations and on the access roads to motorways, they will just turn you around and send you home if you aren't local. 

[Ozanne]

6 hours ago, Toilet Duck said:

Actually it's currently 5km...doesn't go up to 20km until the next phase at the start of June. There are police checkpoints on the routes to major tourist destinations and on the access roads to motorways, they will just turn you around and send you home if you aren't local. 

Your government actually seem to care about its people. I’d love to live in a country like that.

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, Ozanne said:

Your government actually seem to care about its people. I’d love to live in a country like that.

Would be nice, wouldn't it?

All these reports about mass numbers at beaches are making me pretty angry. Seems like a lot of people have just decided lockdown is fully over because the sun is out. Round here now I'm seeing big groups of people socialising in the parks all the time, certainly not one member of a household meeting another. I do think the government is partly, although not fully, to blame for its poor messaging.

We're not even 14 days since those VE Day parties yet are we? I fear a second wave at this rate.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Zoo Music Girl

[Ozanne]

9 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Would be nice, wouldn't it?

All these reports about mass numbers at beaches are making me pretty angry. Seems like a lot of people have just decided lockdown is fully over because the sun is out. Round here now I'm seeing big groups of people socialising in the parks all the time, certainly not one member of a household meeting another. I do think the government is partly, although not fully, to blame for its poor messaging.

We're not even 14 days since those VE Day parties yet are we? I fear a second wave at this rate.

I was thinking the same yesterday when I went for a walk along the promenade. I think people generally are done with this now and are starting to ignore breach lockdown more and more sadly.  

 

It would also be nice if we lived in a country where actions actually matter and the failings/lies of the people in charge actually bothered people. Sadly we are in a a position where the ones in charge don’t even bother to pretend anymore as they know the majority are happy to be lied too. The people that get grief are the ones that try to shine a light on the lies.

[foolee]

12 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Would be nice, wouldn't it?

All these reports about mass numbers at beaches are making me pretty angry. Seems like a lot of people have just decided lockdown is fully over because the sun is out. Round here now I'm seeing big groups of people socialising in the parks all the time, certainly not one member of a household meeting another. I do think the government is partly, although not fully, to blame for its poor messaging.

We're not even 14 days since those VE Day parties yet are we? I fear a second wave at this rate.

Not sure it’s the government to blame, I just think people are pretty stupid. 

[steviewevie]

It's all about test and contact tracing this morning. It's a massive undertaking, the hope is they can use it so schools and businesses can open, and also stop a second wave meaning another lockdown. We shall see.

[Cream Soda]

8 hours ago, basicminds said:

Feel quite angry about the photos of beaches today.  Whilst I think we as individuals should show caution, it is notable the Irish exit plan for lockdown said that you were not allowed to go more that 20km for your home for quite a few stages (someone linked it on this thread- a timetable and everything!).  Obviously not enforceable but you know some structure and guidance would help prevent stupid shit like today.  

There is clear guidance on social distancing though, if people are choosing to ignore that I don't think it's completely fair to blame the government.  If I had turned up to that beach I'd have taken one look and turned around and gone back home.  If I can make that decision, why can't others?  It's not like the guidance on social distancing isn't clear.

Is there any confirmation that that photo is genuine?  Maybe I'm lucky but I'm just not seeing any flouting of social distancing on any sort of scale like this where I live.  Saw a news report from Brighton beach yesterday too and it looked nothing close to that level.

[danmarks]

When did everyone start to rely on waiting for the government to think for them? Jesus

[Toilet Duck]

1 hour ago, Ozanne said:

Your government actually seem to care about its people. I’d love to live in a country like that.

On others things I could be pretty critical of Fine Gael (and Fianna Fail), I never vote for them, but FG are good in a crisis. It’s partly down to the electoral system, PR means you pretty much never have an outright majority, so you always need a coalition, which brings other voices to the table. A written constitution also means huge change has to go back to the electorate (tho a referendum isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be!😜)...having said that, we just do them again when we get the “wrong” answer back!😁

[Zoo Music Girl]

19 minutes ago, foolee said:

Not sure it’s the government to blame, I just think people are pretty stupid. 

I agree that this is a part of it, which is why I said the government is partly, not fully to blame. But it makes it a lot easier to take the piss if the rules are nice and vague.

[Zoo Music Girl]

British exeptionalism aside, I don't think people in this country are that much more stupid than anywhere else in the world. Yet we are one of three countries who have seem to have royally fucked this. The government definitely has some blame in where we are now.

[Crazyfool01]

4 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

British exeptionalism aside, I don't think people in this country are that much more stupid than anywhere else in the world. Yet we are one of three countries who have seem to have royally fucked this. The government definitely has some blame in where we are now.

I presume the USA and Brazil the other 2 ? Brazil looks like it’s going to be worse than us to me 

[Ozanne]

10 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

British exeptionalism aside, I don't think people in this country are that much more stupid than anywhere else in the world. Yet we are one of three countries who have seem to have royally fucked this. The government definitely has some blame in where we are now.

Spot on. The people here aren’t anymore stupid just seem to be more self entered which after a decade of Tory rule surely can’t be a coincidence. 

[WestCountryGirl]

Yeah I'm pretty pissed off about the beach pictures and the headlines all saying that we'll be stay-cationing come July.... we won't be when there's a second wave! And it's these idiots who are out there not giving a shite about social distancing who are going to bring it on, putting more time between me and being able to go and visit my parents for more than an evening. There's 300 miles between us, I can't go there and back in a day for a little chat in the garden. 

I do fear that that's it for our government "enforcing" social distancing though. No way is Good News Boris ever going to come out and say things need to be tightened up again.. as if they were ever that strict in the first place..

 

[Cream Soda]

Why are the police not patrolling along that beach and areas like it to disperse the crowds?  They must have more time on their hands than usual at the moment.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Cream Soda

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

19 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

The government definitely has some blame in where we are now.

Why not fully to blame? In most areas of governance now there is always bench marking against those people / organisations etc doing the same thing.The same is true of different countries responses to this virus, surely? If we compare the UK Government's response to countries like Vietnam and South Korea, then it can clearly be seen that the UK Government acted incompetently both in terms of it's actions and it's time scales. It would be laughable, only this Government has cost many many lives of it's citizens unnecessarily. Well, that's my perspective anyway.

[st dan]

I think the shift to a more relaxed/casual approach to the lockdown/social distancing was always going to come around this time, regardless of the rate of transmission of the virus.

Overall I would say the majority of people have observed the social distancing very well  (from my experience) for the best part of 8/9 weeks now - there is only so long you are going to get the general public to comply with ‘guidelines’ without enforcing any stricter laws. As the weather warms up, coupled with Boris’ openly vague statement the other week this was inevitable.

People need the social interaction with their friends and family - and as long as it is done sensibly and from a distance, then it seems a sensible and a more realistic long term solution that people will abide to. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

1 minute ago, st dan said:

 there is only so long you are going to get the general public to comply with ‘guidelines’ without enforcing any stricter laws.

This is a killer pandemic. Those stricter laws have been put in place in other countries and in those countries it has worked. So, why weren't they introduced here? Because we are western and don't do that sort of thing? I'll state it again, this is a virtually (but not fully) unprecedented pandemic. Thousands and thousands of UK citizens have now died as a direct failure to act appropriately on this. 

[Crazyfool01]

I just can’t see it being done sensibly though ... I’ve no idea what goes through people’s heads when cramming into houses or even visiting the beach at the moment ... it’s the last place I’d want to be at the moment and obviously going to be a nightmare to try and maintain distance ...I’m trying not to judge but find it difficult ... seeing loved ones safely in parks or gardens I can understand ... but parties ?! 

[stuartbert two hats]

There's an irony that since the most dangerous contact, indoors contact with non-family members (I.e going to work) is not easily photographed, it doesn't cause any outrage, yet going to a windy place in bright sunshine, mainly with family members (I.e. the beach) causes all this fury and hand wringing despite it being relatively safe.  Have we all forgotten those studies on outdoor events that were being bandied about when we were considering whether Glastonbury could go ahead?  The photos I see are of busy beaches, but still with fairly spread out groups.

I personally won't be going, because I find even the local park a bit too busy at the moment, but with my rational head on, it really doesn't seem all that dangerous.