Rummy Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Good thread about whh shelves are empty in part due to the models supermarkets operate for business as usual; and why the (in)stability of the model isn't particularly designed with big wiggle room initially for things like Covid-19; https://mobile.twitter.com/Greg_Callus/status/1241507154030473216 2 1
Ganepark32 Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 So Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is suggesting that all non-essential shops that do not sell food or medicines should close. I suspect that this afternoon's update with Boris Johnson will relay the same information. After seeing the shear number of people who were out and about this weekend, and especially yesterday, a lockdown has to happen. Shops have been very quickly announcing they're closing down left, right and centre so it's only a matter of time before everything else goes into lockdown. It was noticeably quieter when I went for a walk this morning. Very few people about but the roads were still busy-ish. Walked to the local Asda and the shelves were noticeably more stocked as well but still no pasta or flour. Managed to pick a last couple of things to get us through to next Monday but while most people are managing to distance themselves, there are some who are still not getting it. I suspect it'll have gotten worse as when I was leaving the carpark was filling up fast for the shops so I do suspect people will be bulk buying again in prospect of a lockdown. 1
MindFreak Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Kav said: Ofsted I think it's a bit too early to go full-on Handmaid's Tale in this... On a more serious note, Denmark will remain shut down until April 13th. No school or anything. People in the public sector has been ordered to use their saved hours and vacation to get through this without the bill running crazy (though it already passed a whopping £36.089.851.285 by today's pound to Dkr value). Edited March 23, 2020 by MindFreak
Pestneb Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 I'm low on bread so bought an extra pack of flour. aside from eggs and bread everything seems to be fully stocked, managed to buy some Penne pasta for the first time in weeks, and some regular rice. I had to go up town today to run a couple of essential errands, all quiet. I'm hoping to be able to become a complete hermit for a bit now, just going to use the garden for outside time, although until complete lock down I have decided I am going to go out for walks to take the edge off being imprisoned!
Ashley Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 I did another shop earlier and got most things other than toilet paper (I'll be fine for a bit though) and pasta. The herbs were fine though, leading me to believe those that have the pasta don't deserve it.
Pestneb Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 18 minutes ago, Ashley said: I did another shop earlier and got most things other than toilet paper (I'll be fine for a bit though) and pasta. The herbs were fine though, leading me to believe those that have the pasta don't deserve it. Maybe they are growing herbs at home. Rosemary is a very robust plant. Btw thanks for the post, I just remembered I need to plant some coriander! I have a pepper plant germinating, and a lentil plant (though the lentil is just for the flowers mainly, not growing enough for even a side dish worth of lentils!! Still waiting for quinoa and coriander will be planted as soon as I post this! Oh also, Italy deaths are going down, which is excellent news
Ashley Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Catalonian police received a letter from Pikachu which they read out. Nice of Pikachu to help out. 1
gaggle64 Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Boris has finally pulled the trigger - starting tonight all non-essential shops to be shuttered, no non-essential travel, cops empowered to break up any groups over 2 people. Restrictions to stand UK wide for at least 3 weeks. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52012432
Pestneb Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 I thought this was coming. Got to go into work tomorrow morning (in a school) and will pass a shop on the way home, so will make it a work/shop trip. I guess we can still go for our short walk as a family for the time being to get a change of scenery (and a little exercise)
Ashley Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Hmm I'm in an Airbnb until next Friday. The plan was to go to my mother's after that. Not sure where that leaves me. I presume it will be fine but just a bit 🤷♂️
Pestneb Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Luggage is the biggest possible problem - I presume you have a suitcase or two? aside from luggage exercise/a shopping trip would explain any movement happily enough Edited March 23, 2020 by Pestneb
Ashley Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Large backpack then just a day bag and a carrier bag. I might be able to get my brother to come pick me up (although I'll get an earful about having to drive into Birmingham) and I'm sure if I explain I'm going to go back to family... But not sure who to contact for advise. I guess it'll be one of those things that if stopped we'd need to explain rather than try and get approval before.
gaggle64 Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Can't believe I forgot this Edited March 23, 2020 by gaggle64
Grazza Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 The measures are not even that extreme. They could be much more so, but at least Boris Johnson making such a formal speech might actually get the message home to those who weren't getting it. I'm still very concerned about food shopping though. Can't help thinking there needs to be some sort of spacing/timing rule at the supermarkets. Very difficult, I know, but they must be the riskiest places left, hospitals aside.
Dog-amoto Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 So, the police service, already cut to the bone by a decade of austerity, is now expected to enforce this? I’m guaranteeing that tomorrow night, there’ll be hordes of little shitbags whose parents just don’t give a shit to be flouting these rules en masse. 1
Pestneb Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Something I saw today that I thought should be nationwide standard, shops turning customers away until some who were inside left- 1 out, 1 in. Once @ work a heavy smoker brought his laptop in to be worked on, my colleagues gave me 3 sheets of A4 paper. I asked them why, they told me to take hold of the laptop with the paper. I was sceptical but did so after I smelled the guy (and strongly) from over 20m away from him. when I got back into the office, all three of the sheets were brown, with the last one kinda yellow.I'd suggest a similar approach to the trolley handles, or if your budget stretches, wipes may work. Limiting my shopping excursions sounds great, but I have a back pack and two shopping bags... so it's not easy to limit trips and keep food stores healthy (bearing in mind I want to maintain a 2 week store cupboard). I will be checking online shopping options though. 1
Pestneb Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Dog-amoto said: So, the police service, already cut to the bone by a decade of austerity, is now expected to enforce this? I’m guaranteeing that tomorrow night, there’ll be hordes of little shitbags whose parents just don’t give a shit to be flouting these rules en masse. and plenty of fines going around in that case. hopefully to be used to buy equipment for the NHS. there's only so many times a family can receive a £150 fine before they start to Quote give a shit Edited March 23, 2020 by Pestneb
Goafer Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 18 minutes ago, Pestneb said: Something I saw today that I thought should be nationwide standard, shops turning customers away until some who were inside left- 1 out, 1 in. I can imagine that would cause queues/gatherings at the entrance. Better to have people trying to keep their distance inside than bunching up outside I guess. The only alternative would be sending people all the way back home, but then people wouldn't know when was a good time to come back so would presumably have to make more trips than necessary, especially if they had to check back multiple times.
Grazza Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Just now, Goafer said: I can imagine that would cause queues/gatherings at the entrance. Better to have people trying to keep their distance inside than bunching up outside I guess. The only alternative would be sending people all the way back home, but then people wouldn't know when was a good time to come back so would presumably have to make more trips than necessary, especially if they had to check back multiple times. True, but I think something needs to be done to stop loitering and socialising within the supermarkets. I've seen groups standing around, blocking aisles and having a chat and a laugh. I've also seen groups of children who seem to go in largely for something to do. I reckon they should employ nightclub bouncers, then at least those going in would know they need to behave.
Ashley Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 I did think what would be useful would be an online booking service so you book a specific time slot to turn up, but I know that would have a difficult implementation period (and not everyone could use it). Hopefully the recruitment drive will start seeing more deliveries available soon. Or order online and pick up and then they just need to manage the queues for that, which should be easier hopefully. In Buenos Aires pharmacies started limiting the number of people allowed in (based on size of store) and tried to enforce distancing in the queue. More difficult with supermarkets but perhaps the smaller shops could.
Goafer Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Interesting fact I just looked up: When Italy introduced a country-wide lockdown, their death toll was 463 and their total cases were 9,172. The UK's current death toll (on the day of our lockdown) is 336 and our total cases are 6,650. Although the UK is much later in terms of calendar date, we're actually ahead of Italy in terms of virus progression. Hopefully that proves to be beneficial. Obviously this isn't a criticism of Italy, as they had less time to prepare and we've had the advantage of being able to learn from other coutries' actions. It's mean more as a piece of good news with regards to the potential outcome for the UK. Edited March 23, 2020 by Goafer 1
Ashley Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 I don't know what my situation is at the moment... Seems they're going to introduce some financial support for freelancers (80% of average salary or just under 3k a month whichever is lower). For the last few years I've been PAYE with some freelancing stuff on the side. I gave up my job to go travelling and I'm currently looking only for freelancing stuff in the interim. Am I freelance? Am I unemployed? I don't currently qualify as having been out of work long enough to get unemployment benefits. I left my PAYE in December but did freelance work last month. Also not sure who to go to for advice on this so... You guys? Presume it's the tax office that's sorting this all out.
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