The Covid-19 Thread

[Snowy]

Right, would appreciate your views. Just been out for my once-daily exercise with my dog. I take her over woodlands about a mile away, which are currently very sparsely populated and everyone is following social distancing.

Got there today and was greeted by a sign from the Military Police, advising that driving anywhere to take your dog for a walk is a no-no:

You are entitled to exercise once daily. This should be by walking, running, cycling etc from your home address. You should not be driving to a location away from your home to carry this out.

Right so I think this is nuts. The woods are about a mile from me as the crow flies, maybe a mile and a half by road. If I read this right I could run to the woods and then do as I like, cycle to the woods and then do as I like, but not drive to them. To my mind this is utter idiocy. I completely get why I shouldn't drive to a beauty spot miles from where I live, but driving a mile from my house hurts nobody.

So what do you think, should I be doing as I am asked or are they taking the piss here?

[Pew-Pew]

I think you're fine there tbh. However, why don't you just walk there instead?

[Snowy]

At the moment the main reasons are 1) to avoid coming into contact with other people and 2) that the pavement route will add another hour to the time it takes me - I am having to fit pooch walks into my work day.

I also need somewhere I can let the pooch off the lead, as I have a border collie who needs loads of exercise, so just using the pavement isn't really an option.

[Mantis]

That isn't the first instance I've seen of law enforcement being strangely heavy handed with the lockdown. Considering that you're less likely to interact with people if you drive your car a mile to an open woodland as opposed to walking down pavements in your neighbourhood it's pretty silly that they are trying to discourage it.

[Wrathbone]

I think it's because if they said it was fine to drive somewhere to exercise, you'd have loads of people congregating at popular locations. They need to allow for some common sense, though.

[Achtung Englander]

Its so disjointed its not even funny. The police are getting heavy handed on dog walkers and people walking in EMPTY fields but idiots like Sadiq Khan puts the london underground on a weekend schedule resulting with packed trains and every day we get flights from Italy, China and the US and no one is checked or tested.

Ridiculous

[Strudel]

They've been very clear that the tube is running a reduced service because of the number of people either off sick or self-isolating. They're not running a reduced service to keep the tube like a sardine can.

[Achtung Englander]

What do you think about this. I like Peter Hitchens but of late I think he likes to be controversial for the sake of it. Like his stance that the Salisbury Russian spy attack did not originate from Russia. Hmmmm...



He has some valid points. Like for instance the Govt wants to ban public sunbathing but from the news pics I have seen people are not near each other - so it seems a tad heavy handed.

[Mantis]

It won't go down well if they try and ban all forms of exercise and outdoor trips other than essential shop runs. The people flouting the rules are already indignant over being told what to do, I know a family near my parent's place who have gone to Skegness this weekend for a caravan trip because of the nice weather.

I would be annoyed if a blanket panicked ban of all outdoors activity was put in place because my daily running is incredibly beneficial to my physical and mental health.

To be honest, I think a lot of the PR spin coming from the Government at the moment is seeking to place as much blame on the public as possible for not following the rules in order to hide the fact that the Government was woefully unprepared for this and how badly they've been handling it. It's just been one knee jerk reaction after another with missed targets for safety equipment and tests all the while NHS staff are dying from exposure to the virus.

[arqueturus]

I've got to say at this point I'm in favour of a curfew and proper control enforced by the Armed forces. I'm sick to fuckng death at staying in now but I'm more sick of seeing scrotes ingnore what are fairly easy to understand guidelines about what you can and can't do. They're extending the damage being done to mine and my partners physical and mental health by doing it.

[Wrathbone]

I can guarantee that having to navigate an armed checkpoint to get to the shop to buy milk would have a severe detriment to my mental health.

[arqueturus]

I can guarantee that having to navigate an armed checkpoint to get to the shop to buy milk would have a severe detriment to my mental health.

Brace yourself then, as I can see this happening fairly soon.

[Wrathbone]

You don’t think increased police support to ensure guidelines are being followed is preferable to outright martial law?

I can’t feasibly get to a supermarket as I don’t have a car and there are no delivery slots available anywhere. I don’t qualify as vulnerable, and I’m far from the only one in this situation. Aside from the Dietchef food I’ve got, my only source for supplies is a corner shop which I’ve been going to about once every five days. It’s fucking intimidating enough with anxiety, but now it feels like I could be stopped by police and either arrested or frogmarched home because I would fall apart if challenged, even though I have legitimate cause for being outside. The thought of having to go through that with armed forces involved is beyond what I could deal with. I don’t know what the fuck I’d do.

Maybe stop wishing for martial law because a few ‘scrotes’ are spoiling the lockdown for the rest of us.

[Alan]

My aunt has tested positive. I'm not her biggest fan (I'm still pretty pissed at her for sending me a letter telling me life's short and I better come to jesus or burn in hell (slightly more eloquently) days after my dads funeral) but I don't wish any real ill on her. She's up in that danger age and both her and her husband have been taken into hospital. Thankfully she stays around 100miles away so she's not in frequent contact with my mum - selfish yeah but sometimes you have to be.

[Raid]

I dread to think what my walk to work would be like if police were questioning every person outside the house, much less what martial law would be like. I have a fairly unofficial looking letter from my company explaining that I'm a key worker and such, but the only other evidence I have is the logo on my uniform.