staying
alert? staying confused? being responsible?
(note: I
had originally intended this as a blogpost on my ‘public blog’ but, on
reflection, have decided not to do so – I’m aware it’s a sensitive subject for
many and I don’t want to upset people… even though I feel quite passionately
about it! So, instead, I’m posting it here as one of my ‘lockdown reflections’):
Yesterday,
I posed the following question:
Asking for friends (serious question)…
‘Shielding’ restrictions were relaxed by the
government from 1 August which meant that ‘extremely vulnerable’ grandparents
could at least see their loved ones again after being apart since mid-March.
Our friends understand that the current measures now allow two households - of
any size - to meet indoors on the condition they continue to observe social
distancing, now reduced to one metre where necessary. Grandparents (not just
the ‘extremely vulnerable’) who don't live in the
same household as their children cannot, therefore, hug their grandchildren
yet, as they must maintain social distancing rules. Simply put, if they don’t
live in the same household they still cannot hug or touch their relatives while
maintaining social distancing.
Could someone please clarify what the current
‘guidelines’ are please… because our friends just keep seeing pictures of
family gatherings where no social distancing apparently applies? Very many
thanks.
You’ll hardly be surprised to learn
that the ‘friends’ in question were Moira and me!
I had a good number of very useful and
helpful replies – from people who pointed out specific government advice; from
people who were confused; and from people who were following their own common
sense or who were adopting what they felt were responsible precautions.
In our particular situation, the government
guidelines can be very briefly summarised as follows (yes, I know they go on
for several pages!)(and they also apply to people younger than 70 and people
who aren’t shielding!):
- We should only have close contact with people outside our household if we are in a support bubble with them.
- We should only meet people we do not live with in THREE types of groups:
b) Single adult households (ie. adults who live alone or with dependent children only) can continue to form an exclusive ‘support bubble’ with one other household
c) We can also meet in a group of two households, in any location (public or private, indoors or outdoors). This does not need to be the same household each time.
- Because we don’t live in a ‘single adult household’, we can’t form a ‘support bubble’ with any of our grandchildren’s households. We can’t hug them… or hug our own ‘children’ (our grandchildren are all old enough to understand the ‘rules’, but I absolutely acknowledge the difficulties for the under-5s!).
At times, the government clearly hasn’t helped itself. There have been times when ministers have contradicted each other in their own interpretations of policy. As one of my friends observed: “Let’s all be honest, any sense of doctrinal adherence to rules as described on gov.uk is advisory at best since Cummings-gate. It shouldn’t be, but it is”.
I have a sense that some people feel that the ‘worst is over’; that we’re beginning to ‘come out on the other side’ (daily death rates have consistently been reducing over recent weeks, afterall); and that we can start relaxing the rules a little (on the other hand, the number of reported cases has escalated since the start of August). Certainly, from images I’ve seen on television, in newspapers and on social media, it appears that some people believe this to be true. There’s a sense of “we’re responsible people, we won’t take any real chances… but we do want our old lives back now”. The trouble is (but, hey, what do I know?!) that bending the rules is the start of a slippery slope… and, as we all know by now, the virus doesn’t play by ‘normal’ rules, so being ‘careful’ or ‘responsible’ isn’t really enough. It’s not like making a personal decision to say smoke 40 cigarettes a day and ‘blow the consequences’… because in such a case only you (and perhaps your family due to ‘secondhand smoke’).
With schools about to return, it’s even more important that we all follow the guidelines. We all fear a second wave or a series of local ‘spikes’ and so, again, it’s vital in my view that we don’t ‘take chances’ or become blasé when it comes to taking or ignoring precautions.
And, of course, if things DO get bad this winter, there’ll be a massive ‘blame game’ – with old fogies like me blaming all those young people gathering in pubs or on Bournemouth beach; people who’ve been healthy throughout lockdown so “it couldn’t possibly be us who’re responsible”; and all those young people maintaining the virus doesn’t really affect them and it’s all down to everyone else etc etc etc.
Of course, if you HAVE been turning a blind to certain guidelines, then I suspect you’ll say it’s too late to adjust your ways… and the only thing that will make you change your mind is for there to be a second wave or a local ‘spike’… which, of course, is what we’re trying to avoid and why EVERYONE should be obeying the ‘rules’ in the first place.
Yes, we’ve all had to make sacrifices and, yes, not being able to hug your grandchildren… or your children… or your friends (for very nearly six months now, in our case) has been bloomin’ difficult. But PLEASE keep going; please keep to the guidelines; please don’t try to justify why YOU should be an exception to the rules, if that’s not really the case. We’re all in this together and if you start making up your own rules, then maybe I’ll do the same… and that might encourage a few others to break the rules too… and then where will we be?
Right, I’ll shut up now. Sorry.
Image: staying alert (yeh, right!)…
