Still not quite understanding why parks are being shut. They're the only access most people in towns & cities have to large expanses of outdoor space where any kind of social distancing is possible. Especially with the police pressuring people not to drive anywhere.

I realise that there is some irresponsible behaviour taking place (people meeting up, failing to keep a sensible distance from strangers) but I don't understand the outrage over things like individuals sunbathing or families stopping to eat their lunch.

There is also a lot of ableism in what people think of as legitimate exercise. And a lot of completely baseless claims about exercise more generally.

The other day a man on here was insisting that if you need to rest during exercise you're doing it wrong. I don't think if I'd asked him 2 months ago for his thoughts on exercise he'd have said this. He invented this opinion when he needed it to justify the cops moving people on.

There's a lot of chat about people "not following the rules and spoiling it for everyone" but if you have a densely populated urban area with one local park and tell everyone they're entitled to some exercise that park will have people in it. It'll even look a bit busy at times.

Where I am they've shut the big park and it means that all the local footpaths and pavements are densely packed with joggers, cyclists, dig walkers, buggy pushers, and everyone else doing lawful exercise.

Saw a shouting match on the towpath the other day over a jogger getting too close to a buggy, but what's he supposed to do? The path is only about 4 feet wide. The gated and empty park is 86 hectares.