P.s if you're so concerned about the livelihood of your local publican why don't you work out how much you'd be likely to spend and just shove it through his letterbox on your way past? That way you can be charitable AND socially responsible.
Rough figures suggest it would cost the government £20bn per week to pay every working age adult £500. Shut everything non-essential down for 2 months, let the virus cases drop significantly and then look to relax restrictions slowly. Businesses would still need help, but it wouldn't cost much more than the £300bn in total proposed now and people wouldn't feel like they needed to work putting themselves and others at risk (and it wouldn't be a loan). Best case, the pandemic is over in the UK before summer and nobody is struggling financially as a result - *and* there is likely to be a spending boom with the money not spent during the lockdown.
Why can't people social distance in the pub? They do on public transport, in the supermarket and at work.
So do you social distance yourself from the glass that's just been handed you or the table someone was just sitting at or the door handles? Etc etc etc
Do you social distance yourself in the Supermarket from the items on the shelf, from the door handle on the toilet and the light switches? I'm following the guidelines by the way and not going to the pub. However, I can see both sides.
Some of the insults on here are exactly what I said would happen when the government announced their advice that we should avoid going to the pub, but didn't actually tell those businesses to close down. You've got people on here insulting people for going to the pub, which means they're also insulting the business owner for leaving the pub open (or coffee shop, restaurant, etc.), when all that business owner is doing is trying to survive. It's as simple as that. Pubs and breweries are one of the most targeted sectors in the UK when it comes to business rates and tax, so many are on the brink on a daily basis anyway regardless of this pandemic. Why can't someone call in for a pint if they have no symptoms? Good pubs have removed tables and covers from inside, knowing they'll be much quieter for a while but also allowing social distancing to happen. Contactless payment in many, increased hand santizer stations, staff wearing gloves, etc. Those that are high risk are self-isolating. Anyone with symptoms should be remaining indoors instantly. We're not talking about Ibiza Street at 11pm in the height of summer here. Pubs will just be happy having a dozen or so people trickle through the door at different times and that might be the difference between the lights being left on or not. I've offered my services to everyone I've seen in the village that might need help with deliveries, bin collection days, etc. I'm ordering beer delivered to home from independent small breweries that are desperate for business. My grandparents are self-isolating and I'm checking in with them daily over the phone to make sure they're not going out. I'm also going to see a couple of my industry peers this week during the day, which will either be a pub or a brewery, whilst setting up online networking sessions with people from the industry to share best practice examples and ideas for how we're looking after our teams and ensuring we come out of the other side. I am not a selfish and I don't operate an 'I'm alright Jack' mentality. Vent your frustration at the government, not at people.
The OP said literally days ago he was worried about his child's health who has been under a hospital since birth. He was also worried about his own income. It is understandable people are going to find it hard to believe someone would go against govt advice when presented with that scenario. And it is understandable in this current climate that people are going to be worried about containing this as much as possible. It is not just their health that they are putting at risk, it is everyone else's. If people followed the advice this thing will be over with much sooner and businesses will be able to rebuild where possible sooner. People complain about nanny states etc yet have to be told that something is illegal to not do something. It is horrible the amount of businesses that will go under as a result of this. My other half's dad works at a local airport and is likely to be made redundant.
The businesses in UK are making their own evaluation of the situation on a daily basis as to whether they carry on trading or shut up shop based on the information provided and perceived risks to their enterprises. It is down to me to evaluate what the risks are by leaving the house. Be it shopping, work, walking the dog and so forth. Should the situation change then so will my approach to mirror things accordingly. Its how it should be for everyone with the mental capacity to do so. I have no qualms about how how serious a pandemic is, same with SARS and Swine Flu previously and their potential outcomes. Swine flu from memory infected around 20% of the global population. The difference is, although people were worried about those pandemics,there wasn't a constant twenty four hour doom and gloom news feed and social media echo chambers of constant worse case scenarios fanning the flames.
The insults moved very quickly to be about anyone going to the pub and not just this one person, so whilst questioning their personal circumstances is valid it isn't the point I'm making.
It's gone too far and eventually I think the morale will be destroyed too. If you aren't displaying symptoms and hand washing, social distancing and hand sanitising why can't you exercise free will? Events that were going to be behind closed doors are being cancelled due to strain on infrastructure. Infrastructure that will still be running empty without the events taking place.
I'm not sure it is to be honest mate. Someone is bragging about ignoring advice on the greatest public health issue of anyone's life time. I think people are quite entitled to be judgmental on that to be honest.
I was in business (not hospitality, I hasten to add) for 35 years. Every year at insurance renewal time, the broker tried to sell us Business Interruption insurance. It was expensive, and was intended to cover our loss of income if we had to shut down temporarily for some reason, such as a fire, flood, meteor strike etc. We never took it out, for most policies it is optional cover. A global illness pandemic never occured to me as a possibility. I suspect most small businesses won't have it, and even if they do it will most likely say that a pandemic illness is an exception. They will require government help, or they will go bust. Lots of pubs are starting to do home delivery takeaways as a way of boosting their income. For my part, I won't be going to any pub for the foreseeable future. I think that's my responsibility, others may think differently. One of my friends, aged 74, was in town yesterday and described it as "heaving". I'll let you decide what my feelings on that are.
Perhaps all the people that think it is safe to go to the pub will do me and the rest of my NHS colleagues a favour and stay at home if any of them run into any life-threatening difficulties. It is their choice after all and they're not harming anyone really are they?
