Is social distancing just a sop to the masses?

Well done MerylStreep

That is very sad, but at least it will look lovely and she can enjoy it.
The man who cuts our lawns is still working - we have not been anywhere near him but we can chat from one side of the garden to the other. That gardener sounds as if he or she is making excuses.

Callistamon
I'm doing my bit towards getting the economy going.
For the second time this week I'm doing my neighbours mothers garden.
The lady has Alzheimer's. The gardener she had refused to come in although you go straight to the back garden without going through the house. I didn't even see the lady while I was there.
This lady's garden is the only joy she has. Although she doesn't know it's her garden. Very sad.

maybee I absolutely agree. This will go on for ever if we don’t social distance at a good distance. That is exactly what I am doing. Not that we go out much. We’ve decided to treat ourselves once a week and go out for an isolated picnic. This week the beach next week is planned a forest walk. If we turn up and it is busy we won’t stop but go on elsewhere.

Well, if people don't adhere to social distancing for a while we will have to isolate forever. imo 2 metres isn't enough; it should be 3 but 2 is more manageable. The OP's opinion seems to go back to the original WHO advice when they thought the virus wasn't airborne. But it is. Hand washing is important but you're more likely to catch the virus from someone near to you coughing or sneezing [even breathing] than you are from picking it up from a contaminated surface. However, everything needs to be done to prevent infection until we have a vaccine/ better antivirals etc etc And that includes the mandatory wearing of masks in public places.

I'm waiting for either a grey or a drizzly day to take GS to the beach. He doesn't care about the weather and loves it whatever it's like.

We spent a couple of hours on the beach yesterday. But there were only us and another couple about 100 yds from us, so I think that’s fine. Paddled but didn’t swim - bit nippy.

We will be social distancing until we decide the risk has reduced to an acceptable level. Probably when a vaccine has been developed - everything crossed!

I dont think we can isolate for ever, either dizzyblonde.
But how does anyone get the message across that easing restrictions doesn't mean getting back to what they normally did?

In answer to the title of the thread, the masses are ignoring social distancing by the look of Southend beach today, shown on the news - either deliberately or by pretending they do not understand.

Covid won’t be finished ever I don’t think but we can’t isolate for ever either. I believe the estimated extra deaths for a recession is huge, far higher than covid. The reason it’s killed so many is because it’s new so no immunity. It’s also a very successful virus because it doesn’t kill a huge percentage of those it infects and therefore can continue to spread. Ebola is not so successful mainly because it kills a large proportion of those it infects so doesn’t spread as quickly although it is still rampant in parts of the African continent.

But covid isn't finished yet, dizzy blonde, and this isn't winter.

These are the excess deaths over the last 40 years as reported by the Office of National Statistics. The peaks broadly coincide with major fu epidemics.

I haven't seen graphs for England or the whole UK.
I happened to come across this info, tho.
Over 60,000 more deaths than would normally be expected in the last few weeks, in the UK.
How to explain that, other than Covid being pretty dangerous, quizqueen?

Good news, tho.
As you'll have seen, the numbers of deaths in Scotland have been going down and this screenshot shows that 74% of those known to be infected have recovered.

www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/

Here's the graph.

quizqueen and others, here is a graph comparing the current death rate in Scotland with the expected death rate, based on an average of deaths in the last 5 years.

You'll see that there was a large increase in deaths, over what would have been expected for the last few weeks.
I expect figures for the rest of the UK would show a similar rise in numbers.

The people you mention, who were likely to die anyway, will have accounted for the lower part of the figures.
How do you explain the large increase, if it was not caused by coronavirus?

Quizqueen and Bluesky you are both spot on I could not have said it better myself.

Over 35,000 recorded deaths now. Real figure is probably more like 62,000 according to the ONS. This government should hang its head in shame!

Quizqueen you're right, when my MIL died she had 3 or 4 causes of death on the death certificate: heart failure, pneumonia, sepsi, and something else I can't remember. When people enquired what she had died of we said heart failure as it was mentioned first on the list. But it could have been any of the others.

I know it's not worth arguing with you quizqueen but I think that most doctors dealing with Corona deaths are capable of working out the actual cause of death. If a terminal cancer patient dies earlier than expected after contracting corona why would you think that hadn't been the cause of death? As the government seems determined to get everyone back to work why on earth would they want people faking higher numbers, they would surely be covering up Covid deaths? I just don't see the logic.

And as someone else said, we still have to think of the pressure the NHS is under.
So it beholds us to follow the guidelines whenever possible, even if they don't give us all the protection we would like.

As I understand it, it's repeated exposure that ensures infection.
Isn't that why staff in nursing homes and hospitals are so at risk?

So it must help to follow all the guide lines, including distancing where ever possible, as cumulatively they will make a difference.

The fact that lots of people seem to be ignoring it is quite another thing.

In short I don't think it is a sop to the masses, I actually think along side other measures it has some value.

Misadventure, I could not agree more. If people want to take chances on their own health then, so be it but, hope the NHS can cope. However, I too think masks should be compulsory to protect others. I just wish there was more emphasis on using them properly.

We need to know what the science is behind these measures and it hasn't as yet been published.

My point is does the 6 foot rule actually do any good at all? I know it’s better than nothing but is it all for nothing, and just creating added stress and costs for schools, businesses etc. Of course there is no way to prove matters either way is there. What if the true distance you need to be safe is ten feet or twenty feet, then people using the six foot rule have been putting themselves at risk all this time.

It's not possible with some jobs, though.
As DD reminded me today - it's impossible to teach wearing a face mask. And difficult to self-distance.