stut

Differing perspectives, I suppose. I don't see much in the way of fear around here, but a lot of things are simpler. We don't get crowds, so physical distancing is easy. A lot of rural jobs are pretty isolated anyway, and just carry on - for the commuters, most of them now work from home and prefer it to a daily battle with Thameslink.

Towns and villages have been gutted over the years, anyway, and, due to the WFH crowd, are arguably doing better than they have for a while. Everybody wears masks because, well, it's just basic politeness, like saying hello to strangers when you're out on a walk.

If you're feeling boxed in, no problem. 10 minutes walk at best, and you've got empty, beautiful countryside to walk in (and a bunch of community fruit trees and bushes too).

We don't really have theatres, cinemas or anything. The pubs have been declining for a while. It's hit some pub-goers, but you compensate. Outside "peak" lockdown, we've had plenty "street drinks" - sat out on garden chairs, chatting across the street.

Apart from staying more local than I normally would, and socialising more online, there's been little impact. It's the physical contact with friends and family, and of course travel I miss (though I've had great opportunities to explore obscure local spots).

But I haven't seen much of a sense of fear.

Swanhunter

I would agree, London is much more open than v1 (there are even rickshaw drivers on Westminster Bridge) and people are far less fearful. I can think of several friends and colleagues who are in the office 2+ days per week (and I would be too were it not for an App enforced self isolation period).

lhrsfo

I walked down Elystan Street today, a very smart local shopping street. A couple of shops were vacant, one was closed and all the others were doing business - including at least one where it was difficult to see what excuse they could be using!

KARFA

what type of shop was it?

lhrsfo

Clothes. Perhaps they had a shelfull of foodstuffs but not obviously from the window.

KARFA

I would agree if it was clothes only, that certainly is not one of the business allowed to remain open which I listed in post 268. They are allowed to remain open for collection only or for making deliveries, but not for people to go inside the shop. Even if they had a shelf of food I don't see that would help.

Gagravarr

According to the guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/business...uring-lockdown - some chains are getting quite creative this time....

CosmosHuman

Today I was looking at my memories on FB, photos from London on Remembrance Day. I would have been in London today if it wasn’t for COVID.

KARFA

From 6am 13 November Fife, Angus, and Perth and Kinross move from level 2 to level 3.

KARFA

Looks like the NI lockdown as details by NewbieRunner in post 84 will be extended by 1 further week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54924606

Also this is farcical, https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-...dline-12130784

The Regulations were made at 2230 on 16 October, they are deemed to be in force as soon as they were made, the period is four weeks commencing when they came into force, can no one add 4 weeks to 2230 16 October?

13901

Lockdown 2.0, here in West London, is a farce. I went for a walk along the Thames and the riverbank was full; the Chiswick & Hammersmith high streets were both packed, cafes and pubs did a big trade in "takeaway"... It's clear that people have decided that they've had enough.

KARFA

what were you seeing that was against the rules?

13901

The pubs on the Thames waterfront were selling to-go beer and then everyone was simply sitting on the river wall. Nothing different from May or June. Another mention are clothing / furniture shops selling bread or pasta...

KARFA

I don't think anything you describe is against the rules tho?

EDIT; sorry i should have added that this lockdown was never intended to be as strict as the one in March-June. whilst there is the same underlying principle of not leaving home with a reasonable excuse, the scope of what may be a reasonable excuses is significantly broader than lockdown 1. additionally the types of businesses allowed to remain open this time is also a lot borader.

13901

Mmmh that's cutting it real fine... the rules say you should distance, you shouldn't be meeting more than one person outside your bubble, non-key shops shouldn't be open... None of that was happening. Don't get me wrong, I was out too and I really enjoyed it after 2 weeks of senseless self-isolation; but if I compare London in October and today the difference is very, very small.