By Charlotte Webster-
Congregation in UK beaches makes mockery of social distancing in a major way .
Ever since the UK lockdown was eased in the second week of May, we have witnessed a growing disregard for our safety as a nation, making it questionable whether it is worth continuing mentioning social distancing as a daily requirement for our safety. The goal was to keep us safe from a spreading virus which could infect us or with which we could infect others through particles of saliva.
This notion is undermined and made ludicrous when crowds of people flock to beaches in the numbers we have seen recently, and overcrowd entire spaces in the name of enjoyment of good weather. We might as well forget about social distancing altogether if no control can be placed on the numbers in which we gather all over the country.
The lockdown has been eased, but if social distancing is still as important as the government want us to believe, there needs to be greater control of the numbers in which we gather.
The saying ”use your common sense” is itself lacking in common sense because it is quite evident that large numbers of the public have no such sense when it comes to sunshine and relaxation.
The large number of crowds that visited Bournemouth, Brighton, and Southend beaches over the weekend right through to bank holiday was worrying. Social distancing is not practical in those type of settings at all.
Councils across the country must be able to prevent beaches from being visited if social distancing is a measure they want taken seriously in any form or shape.
The number of deaths from Covid-19 are now at their lowest since the beginning of the crisis but this is no call for total relaxation of the rules. If it is, we should be allowed complete freedom to mix in as many numbers as we please, and the boundaries set lose without delay.
Restrictions on the number of people that can be in our company at any given time is massively contradicted by the large numbers of people we have seen assembling in beaches.If it can’t be stopped, it means it is allowed.
Relaxation and enjoyment of nice weather appeals to us all, but nobody wants to die from an infection.
The signals coming from the continuous flouting of the rules on mass scale Is that either the virus has disappeared, or there is a serious lack of control at work.
The British police have already said they will be unable to control large crowds that flout social distancing rules by gathering. This means the responsibility must now fall unto councils to address.
Asking people to use their common sense doesn’t work. There are lots of people who are not the least bothered about Covid-19, but rather are more interested in lying in the sun without a care in the world. British Councils have to take responsibility for addressing the overall safety of the people, not leave it to their ill judgements.
Hot weather will continue for the rest of this month and probably a lot of June.
Council bosses have to decide whether they can control the numbers of people prepared to swamp their beaches at the expense of our health.
If there are no issues to be concerned about, we simply mustn’t bother about social distancing at all.