No-contact holidays

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GreggBear said:
This whole " lockdown" thing is bollocks anyway. ...
How come I'm such a high risk while my son obviously is neither at risk or causing a risk???
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I think a full answer to that would be beyond the scope of this thread :)
 
I presume you know all the four or five official reasons and analyses that have gone into the decision that it isn't the time to close schools quite yet, and have dismissed them all?

Anyway, don't worry, I imagine the schools will close in the next week or so, and in the intervening time, I think it's highly unlikely you or your son would be arrested if you decided to keep him home on health grounds just at the moment!!
 
GreggBear said:
What if you have an emergency at home? Hospital needed, or a burst water pipe etc? You're no more isolated at home, probably less than if you find somewhere in the middle of nowhere to hole up....
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Indeed so.
I probably had closer contact yesterday evening in my own home (chap came to fix the underfloor heating controller) then I did when going to two shops and a petrol station yesterday. Although I guess I had relatively intimate contact with the Dentist yesterday afternoon!
 
This is full of difficult conundrums and we all must exercise our common sense and respect others as well as ourselves. I will be having trips to local lonely places until they make all unnecessary travel a crime of some kind. What extraordinary times these are!
 
We are very concerned by this whole situation. We decided some months ago to take a rather late ‘gap year’ and rented out our home to go travelling. We’ve had a brilliant time so far, mixing mostly wild camping with staying on a few sites. With the corona virus measures stepping up over the past few days we feel moving to new places, which whilst wild camping we’ve been doing more for practical needs either not taking advantage of the location by staying longer than it feels right, need for water, fuel waste disposal etc. is ‘non-essential travel’. Therefore we’ve found a lovely rural campsite to stay at, who seem happy should a ‘lockdown be enforced’ to facilitate us. However what if campsites are told to close by the government? Then this solution will no longer be an option and we have no vacant home to return to.

Another thought for those of you travelling you might not have thought about as it took us a while to consider - fuel stations. Think of how many people are touching the pumps etc, there, and where they might have travelled from. As coronaviruses can last on hard surfaces for 48 hours or longer according to the BBC we’ve been using disinfectant spray on the pump handles, wearing plastic gloves if we can get them and spraying steering wheel, doors etc. and scrubbing our hands after each stop.

Finally - I am a secondary maths teacher so if any of you find yourselves home schooling your teenagers and need any help do shout out. I can point you to some good resources or help you with your Pythagoras!
 
I read two days ago a very articulate post on FB from a medical person from the far north. possibly Wick. The gist was this. They have one ambulance and if it is required it takes the casualty to Inverness, a five hour trip. If not immediately needed back at Wick the vehicle is deployed around Inverness then returns to Wick. So if others arrive and have accidents t pus an immense strain on a very fragile service.
The bottom line people is the best thing we can do is to observe the official advice and NOT travel. For the above reasons, the Outer Isles have asked everyone to stay away. It's simple. DON'T travel. We would love to get away but we are staying put. So ask yourself is your journey needed or are you being selfish?
 
@Borders2, I agree. There was an item on the radio this morning where people in the north (of Scotland) were pointing out that some (motorhome) folk are behaving very selfishly, determined to go on their pre-arranged trip, "coughing & spluttering" in local shops regardless of the consequences for others. People living in cities may have no concept of how difficult the logistics of rural life can be. We have a friend on the West of Scotland who has to make a journey of at least 1.5 hours each way (and it can be longer in bad weather or traffic) to get her check-ups or treatment.

The NC500 is a particularly bad example of selfish motorists and motorcycle behaviour causing problems for locals and emergency services. We have to think of others, for some of us may be carriers without any symptoms.
 
I’m in a bit of a dilemma. I want to do the right thing in fighting the spread of the virus and would hate to do anything that would cause someone to be infected. I am in what may be considered one of the vulnerable groups. However, the weather being wonderful for a few days I’d like to get away in the van. It’s full of fuel and gas and is completely self contained. I’d just be parking up in remote spots and have no contact with others, possibly leaving for short walks but not if any chance of meeting someone. We’re not for now in lock down and I can’t see how this is going to adversely affect anyone. The “need an ambulance“ argument applies to all parts of Scotland, where the health service is in dire straits, it can take 24 hours to get one where I live, as a friend recently experienced even before the virus took hold.
If there’s any reason such a trip would adversely affect anyone I can’t at present think of it.
 
I am hearing that in Wales the 2nd homers are being asked not to go to their properties as the local medical services cannot cope with them. Same in Cornwall.
It's a national crisis and moving around is not going to help escape it. In our little village of some 30 houses we have one couple trapped in Cyprus and another couple self-isolating. It certainly helps no one by travelling as it stresses the services whether fuel food or medical and to encourage movement as sone here are doing is frankly wrong and not only flying against the national policy but against the best medical advice so can we as a group exercise some sense.
 
Borders2 said:
I am hearing that in Wales the 2nd homers are being asked not to go to their properties as the local medical services cannot cope with them. Same in Cornwall.
It's a national crisis and moving around is not going to help escape it. In our little village of some 30 houses we have one couple trapped in Cyprus and another couple self-isolating. It certainly helps no one by travelling as it stresses the services whether fuel food or medical and to encourage movement as sone here are doing is frankly wrong and not only flying against the national policy but against the best medical advice so can we as a group exercise some sense.
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I simply can’t see how someone with a van containing it’s own food and fuel whose occupants avoid contact with others can have any adverse effect. I agree that it’s a national crisis but as far as the medical stresses go the services are very marginally less likely to be called on as the van dweller is in effectively their own ambulance in the unlikely event of needing to get to hospital.
 
Although we are in our own voluntary lock down when at home, just like 2cv my van is parked out on the drive with enough fuel for another 500 miles and gas to last the year out, and as we only ever take our own food and only ever go to out of the way, very quiet CL sites with wide open spaces to walk our dogs, until we are given direct government instructions not to travel at all.................. we will be continuing to do so.
 
There is also the question of "how does this look to others"? There are people in cities who have very few opportunities to get away, few safe places to walk. Then they see "selfish" motorhomers going about as if nothing's happened. Perhaps a little self-sacrifice is called for until it becomes clearer what's happening. And some social solidarity.
 
My van was brought home from storage, is full of gas, water, clothes, food etc.

I miss being away in it hugely, but I am quite clear in my mind that for the good of others, for now it'll stay on our drive unused.
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That's a really helpful comment, and many thanks for the thought.

In my case, I'm insured whether in storage or on my drive, but I honestly can't speak for others.
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