When is it ever likely to be safe to leave home??

And we are getting older!

I was laid awake all night thinking about this.

Exactly Franbern we will have to come out eventually, with all the safety measure of course, like they are doing now in Europe. Otherwise we can spend the last few years we have left at home in isolation... it's a matter of the devil or the deep blue sea...

I agree OP. Unless we live like hermits for the rest of our lives (if you would call that living) we will eventually be exposed to the virus.
I see that Italy has now given dates for ending their lockdown so it is presumably only a month or so before we are allowed to get back to normal.

It is safer to leave one's clean home when one is staying in the open air . By "open air" I mean clean, unpolluted air which is dry and warm rather than cold and damp.

The fact is other people will be seeking just such conditions and their germs will spread by droplets and even minute aerosols from their talking. Although open air socialising is safer than indoor socialising the safety of open air socialising depends on how many people are crowded together.

Through time more and more people will have been exposed to virus and many will be immune (we hope). The longer lockdown goes on the more immune people there will be.

The people emerging from lockdown will not be any more vulnerable than they were at the beginning of pandemic.

Unless they turned 70 during the lockdown!

#@lighthearted

Yes, "all we are doing by staying at home at present is delaying" which many people seem not to have understood. The virus hasn't been "defeated", it hasn't gone away, it is still there. If we all meet up at once, the delay will have been wasted, so the return to "normal" life MUST be done gradually. It is not just at our own risk, it is at everyone's.

Once a certain proportion of the population have been exposed to it (whether they actually develop it or not) the herd immunity may then be enough to keep it from the vulnerable in the community. What is not yet clear is whether having it and recovering from it does give immunity. Only time will clarify that.

I’m inclined to think that I won’t be going out before Christmas. I only venture out to visit my 99 year old mother twice a week (there’s a rota). This isn’t safe as she has carers visiting but has to be done. When I get home my clothes go in the wash and I have a hot shower.
My husband is on the vulnerable list and definitely wouldn’t survive the virus. I really miss my grandchildren but I am talking to friends far more than I ever did (FaceTime and zoom) and my weekly art class is continuing on Zoom. I miss the theatre, cinema, art exhibitions and, most of all, meeting friends for dinner. But I am generally busy. I suppose one day I will reach the end of that to do list.
I’m very pleased I had ticked off most of my travel bucket list but am hopeful of being able to travel again in a year or two. I really want to visit my friends who have just moved across the States From Colorado to Florida.
But I am not inclined to take chances. I would sooner live in lockdown for the moment (I’ve discovered everything can be bought online and delivered to the front door) than risk dying in a nasty way on my own.
It seems to be different for those of us living in London. I have friends who live in the country and they have much more freedom than we do. The shops are quieter for a start and it is easier for them to go for walks without meeting anyone.

I’m particularly concerned about the big rallies against lockdown that are planned for today and also all the people crowding onto tube trains and buses. We will wait and see what happens over the next three weeks before we make any changes to our living conditions.

I appreciate that in many ways we are lucky. Our daughter lives with us and we haven’t downsized So we all have our own space and when the sun comes out we have a garden to sit in. I know that it is much, much harder for people who live on their own and I am doing what I can to support Those of my friends and family who are in that position,
At the end of the day, we all have to make our own decisions. I have friends who are visiting grand children ‘at a distance’. I also know some people who are not visiting elderly relatives but we felt we couldn’t leave my mother on her own and we couldn’t move her in with us. So apart from visiting her, I will be staying well and truly in isolation for many weeks to come. I hope everyone stays safe and well.

Humberbeat, not being nasty (I hope )- but it is fortunate that not everyone takes your approach. Think about those carers who visit your Mum, the delivery drivers who bring all the things you are purchasing, as well as the people who work for those companies providing all the things you are delivering. All the front line workers who have continued going out and getting on with things. Road sweepers, utility company workers, etc. etc.
Surely, you are only putting off the time you will contract this virus - and that could be during the more dangerous (for any illness) winter months.
Care for those seriously ill with this virus has continued to improve (rather pessimistic of you to say hubbie would definitely not survive it- if that is the case is he going to stay in his home bubble forever?
Perhaps some sort of eventual herd immunity will start to decrease risks of contracting this disease - nobody really knows if that can or will work.
Personally, I have made the decision to slowly pick up my usual life and take my chance.
I do agree with you about those stupid rallies being organised by right wing racists for this weekend. Hopefully, the Police will have powers to stop them.
Again, it does need repeating, MOST PEOPLE WHO GET THIS VIRUS survive - overwhelmingly most people. Only a minority get it so badly that they need medical intervention. It does still have a death rate amongst a very small minority - as does cancer, heart attacks, every day, every year.
It is not the matter of staying at home or dying.

It is safe to go out NOW !

Depends where you go. Some places are safer than others.

On LBC radio now people are talking about what this virus is like. Holy ruddy moly ? it’s like nothing else.