Coronavirus threat

[uschi]

[KC2]

[StokeySue]

The first link doesn’t work KC2

Post is not really something I’d worry about

[KC2]

OOps, I'll try again .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51735367

[scullion]

some advice about distancing -

[Pepper Pig]

Boris's daily statement has been remanded until 8.30 tonight. Lockdown imminent??

[hickybank]

[PatsyMFagan]

[suffolk]

Question .... in the absence of Short Tennis, can Garden Boules be regarded as useful exercise ?.... discuss ...

[Herbidacious]

Big announcement at 8.30. Lock down time?

[Herbidacious]

Soooooo.....


How will they police it?

[aero280]

It's Boris. He won't have thought that far ahead.

He started the speech with a statement like "We are not alone in this..." This seems to be somewhat at odds with his election, and other statements.

[Herbidacious]

Fancies himself as a Churchill.

[Grasshopper]

[Prettykiwicrazy]

I work with adults with autism /learning disabilities whose routine is vitally important to them . Going from a full and active timetable catered to their personal preferences to an incredibly restricted one with no access to their families apart from FaceTime is heartbreaking. They don’t even have the capacity to understand what’s going on unlike the rest of us

[WWordsworth]

I think he's done the right thing; people were not observing social distancing.
If we stay apart from other people we are much less likely to contract or pass on the infection.
Celebrations can be postponed. It's for the common good.

I shall be stir crazy by the weekend but I won't be unwell.

[Pepper Pig]

The bigger picture please Grassy. Think of that.

[earthmaiden]

Look at it this way, you'd be a whole lot unhappier if you or loved ones got the virus so it's worth it!

I wouldn't have chosen Boris for PM but I thought he tried quite hard tonight.

It is true, there are sections of the community for whom this will be especially hard and we shouldn't forget that. They were talking on the news (Ch4 I think) about the expected rise in domestic abuse with families unable to escape each other .

[Grasshopper]

[StokeySue]

I confess I thought this was coming today, so I sneaked in a bit of panic buying and got some potting compost before the hardware shop closed.

I am relieved the exercise is allowed, I though maybe not.

It’s going to be very quiet round here

[slimpersoninside]

We were pretty sure this was coming.
Daughter works in a non vital area which is high street based and was told this afternoon they were shutting down except for a few select branches to deal with emergencies only.
To say I'm feeling odd despite the knowing it was on it's way is an understatement. We've been self isolating since the end of last week when OH developed a temperature and a bit of a cough, didn't come to much of anything but we followed the govt. advice, so have been shut in anyway.
It's done away with at least one of our holidays which was due just before Easter and will almost certainly do away with another planned for my big birthady celebration BUT I DON'T CARE! everyones health and well being is much more important. Personaly, despite my original feelings on the matter, I think this is the right course of action to be taking now. I hope we all come through this in one piece.

[Prettykiwicrazy]

[Herbidacious]

Am hoping this makes shopping easier in terms of getting stuff. But maybe the rationing has already done this. (Last shop was on Friday.) Question is, will it stop people going whenever they feel like it. Who's to know?
We slipped out before the announcement earlier in search of post box with a sufficiently large slot for me to shove my M&S (with hangers) returns parcel in before it became difficult to get out. (It was pretty clear that he would be announcing this when it was announced he would be announcing something... ) Nearest post box with a big enough slot is not within walking distance! It felt slightly surreal.

Slimpersoninside I am feeling a little odd too.

Grassy, it's my husband's 50th on Good Friday and my mother's 92nd not long after. But even without the lock down, celebrating them outside the house would not really have been an option anyway, given how things are, surely. (Ok maybe a picnic, but that's not really our idea of fun.)

You can still go out for a walk

[aero280]

Looks like our grandson's wedding is postponed. Our hotel. Their wedding venue. Honeymoon.

Very disruptive.

I'm starting a list of things that I need from the builder's merchants. They should still be delivering. Some of the bits I need for the car were posted today. Hopefully I can get it all back together soon. In the meantime the shed was emptied and I've started sorting the bits, and building a work surface. At least the weather should be fine for the rest of the week. I was supposed to have had a haircut on Friday. Maybe it's time to give up and just shave it...

[Herbidacious]

That’s very sad, aero.

I was wondering if deliveries will continue to be ok (if a bit tardy.) I do hope so. Would hate to run out of gardening stuff. I probably won’t.

If non essential shops are shutting though that means DIY shops etc. will unless they keep the home delivery side of things open. The economy really will grind to a halt if that stops too.

[karadekoolaid]

The PM is absolutely right, except he should have announced these measures a week ago.
The coronavirus apparently, dies within a few hours on most surfaces.BUT.. take a look at this: Yes, it can last up to 72 hours on some surfaces, but it still deteriorates. However, 1 person who sneezes in an enclosed environment can infect up to 115 other people. Imagine 20 people with the virus.
This virus is not like the others, it´s far more infectious, so the current figure of 6,700 is just a drop in the ocean.Last Monday there were only 1,550 infected.
I was horrified to see so many people in the streets during the week ( I read all the English press every day). A ridiculous situation and a poor show of bravado. We´ve been under strict confinement since Saturday 14th, and the only way I leave the house is to buy food, bread or go to the Chemist ( which I never do anyway). When I leave the house, I wear a facemask and latex gloves.
I know - it sounds like something out of a science fiction film, but I would rather be alive than fighting for my life on a non-existent ventilator.
This is not a political issue - Putin is still being a macho man, Sánchez in Spain really screwed up, López Obrador in Mexico still thinks its an imperialist plot; the Chinese hadn´t got a clue and neither had the Italians.
And on the other side, Trump believed that it was just a joke and the number of cases grew from 7,900 on Wednesday last to 35,200 today. Bolsonaro in Brazil also scoffed at the virus and millions were on the streets screaming for ihs resignation.
So take this VERY seriously - go home, stay home and only go out when you are protected. There is NO CURE as yet.

[dennispc]

Yup, should have done this a week ago.

Boris doing well? He's reading from a tele printer, wonder if it was pre recorded - to tidy it up a bit.

Didn't mention anything about caravan sites etc.

Though government says this

medium-592771-coronavirus-image.jpg.pagespeed.ce.u_zi7df_Z_.jpg (6.46 KiB) Viewed 2873 times

And second home owners?

Picked this up on line

[i]"In today’s Times Kirsty tells us all about how her family have decamped to their second home in North Devon. Taking with them her husband who has tested positive for CV. On top of this his sister visited and took it back to Edinburgh.
Oh and they’re not isolating within the house but they’re not ‘sharing towels’ so that’s ok.

We have ONE district hospital here in North Devon with SEVEN ventilators. The entire Allsopp family could need EVERY bed within the next two weeks instead of staying put in West London where their medical provision is."
[/i]

Seriously Kirsty, take yer Pom pome and felt and bugger off back to Notting Hill.

Another poster suggested she lives in Devon, and another gave a link to a site indicating normally it’s rented out, from 2K a week.

[earthmaiden]

So thoughtless .

I belong to a FB site where people with campervans, some who live in them permanently, discuss matters relating to such lifestyles. At first they were all looking to decamp to remote places where facilities were scarce but I'm pleased to see that most now realise the burden they could place on local facilities and are finding that a lot of places they might have parked up (free or on a site) are now going to be closed to them and so are making more sensible arrangements.

I have a distant relative on the Isle of Skye, they've been going crazy trying to shoo people away.

[dennispc]

Seriously Kirsty, take yer Pom pome and felt and bugger off back to Notting Hill. That sentence got left off the quote!

News last night - local I think - had a doctor from the West Country pleading with people not to come.

[earthmaiden]

The camper site I was talking about has contributers who live quite a nomadic lifestyle driving round Europe etc. The realisation that things are getting serious seems to be taking a long time to filter through to the brain cells and now they all suddenly want to be in the UK as borders close. There are frantic discussions about routes that might be open and posts of relief from those who have arrived back. I am concerned that they will not quarantine themselves properly as they will need petrol, food and in some cases, places to park up for the duration. I was just reading about people seemingly amazed to be stranded in Morocco as Spanish borders close. How long have we known this was inevitable??? .

[Oat]

Our caravan is in lockdown! It is on the storage site and will stay there maybe until next year, who knows. we know some fellow caravanners who were booking sites for easter over the weekend. Selfish and stupid.

[Pepper Pig]

I had to go to the pharmacy this morning to collect OH's dosette boxes for the next month. Pinner was very quiet and I took the opportunity of shopping in M&S Food which is in the same car park. They have been told to have a maximum of 30 shoppers inside at the same time. There were maybe 20? I got everything I needed except I forgot to look to see if they had any flour.

I drove back past the small Waitrose. There was a very orderly well-spaced queue of around 25 outside.

[aero280]

I spoke to a neighbour over the fence, and at the required distance, and he had done a quick visit to the village shops for food and medicines. He said that the pharmacy had had a run on Viagra the day that restricted movement for the over 70s was announced and that they were awaiting restocking!!

[Seatallan]

[suffolk]

[PatsyMFagan]

[Busybee]

My son is taking a weeks annual leave, but his place of work is open as usual. A small factory type unit employing about thirty people manufacturing the artwork for football tops etc. Hardly essential work but under the very loose guidelines Boris gave last night totally permissible. I do hope there is a further clampdown before the week is out.

He really needs to stay at home, I cut his hair last night, he shouldn’t be seen in public

The dog was due at the groomers tomorrow, he is giving me a wide birth when the scissors are in my hand!

Another three kitchen drawers de cluttered, washed out and re stocked. OH has spring cleaned the utility room.

BB

[Herbidacious]

What is happening to the homeless at the moment...?

A friend of OH's has been very ill for three days with the virus. She's in her mid 40s and has a husband and one year old. She thinks that the last contact she had was at a hairdresser's... two weeks ago. And here's me thinking that if I make it to Wednesday without symptoms (5 days since the horribly crowded, narrow-aisled Turkish food shop experience) and don't have any contact with anyone, I won't get it.

That said until Saturday, some people were still trying to hand over deliveries. I have put a notice on our front door now in case anyone hasn't got the message that this is not a great idea. Our most excellent post man has been playing 'knock a door run' (as we used to call it in our neck of the woods - not that I ever did it.) for days.

French neighbours say no difficulty getting food at the supermarket there. I am beginning to think that we are a nation of nasty, selfish, grasping everyone for himself and only himself, people.

[Herbidacious]

Does anyone know what 'essential' work is?

[Pepper Pig]

The Olympic Games have been postponed for a year!

[Busybee]

[dennispc]

[PatsyMFagan]

I am trying to get a bit of structure into my days. I have garden, a sewing machine, an untidy shed, frozen stuff, flour and yeast and other baking stuff and of course my beloved Zumba and FitSteps classes, now online ... Oh and online Scrabble, and plenty of lines of communication..

So far today, I have watched the latest news on tv until 10 am, done a Fitsteps class, cooked lunch, played Scrabble and will soon settle down for a couple of hours of easy-watch tv (Doctors and then the current drama that shows at 2.15) I need to fill the bird feeders later too, as daughter likes to spend a lot of time bird-watching. She is currently a key worker, as the freight company she works for is now receiving stuff that meant for any future changes in the current situation (like 2 large scanners to forward on to Porton Down ). She now has overtime tomorrow and Thursday before her normal 4 day 12 hour shift starts on Friday. I will still be needed to drive her to Uxbridge for the first bus ...

[earthmaiden]

Herbi, local authorities are trying to keep all essential services going and a good deal of that is social care of one sort or another, including help for the homeless. Local organisations know who they are much of the time. Most non-essential service managers and others (in local authorities) have been roped in as key workers to help with organisation and implementation. There are so many sections of the community who usually receive support from voluntary services who have had to close that it's logistical nightmare and some are going to fare quite badly I think. I have been increasingly worried that our social welfare relied so heavily on kindly volunteers and this just proves why at least there should be a better mix of paid and voluntary in any one field.

People were being turned away from B&Q by the police here this morning because they wanted things like fence paint which is not essential. One wonders what in B&Q is essential (I suppose plumbing and electrical parts for repairs?). Perhaps they should make it a bit clearer!

It sounds as though shopping is quite orderly now with just a few allowed in in one go, in Waitrose at least but I think they'll all follow. They were only allowing one at a time in our small branch of Boots round the corner yesterday. I have just seen a list of the shops allowed to remain open in our town centre. It included Bodycare which I thought just sold everyday toiletries. Of course, we all need to wash but I was quite surprised all the same. I understand Boots because they have a pharmacy.

Your days sound like mine Patsy . I am strict about at least one fairly substantial task from my list a day and exercise! I had to wait where I could hear the door this morning as I had two deliveries (one was something I ordered before all this got silly but had only just come in stock!), the other was some food reserves. Both delivery men observed all the social distancing rules and left me to pick up the parcels in my own time which was good.

[uschi]

[cyprusmoira]

I have just returned from Limassol, the traffic was a little lighter than normal but that is all. The island is on shut down from !8 00 tonight, the vegetable shop was busy, parking spaces outside the pharmacy were all occupied.
I am collecting disposable gloves, unused of course

Moira

[Herbidacious]

Essential workers, as in what we need, has to extend to people working in food shops and distribution centre too though doesn't it? Otherwise people really will starve...

Maybe not DIY distribution centres, though...!

A friend in Belgium says that lots of people walking around, and teenagers hanging out in groups where she is, in spite of lock down.

[Herbidacious]

Actually, Wickes: "Given yesterday’s announcement from the Prime Minister our business has been deemed essential through the category of hardware. While we work out the best operation to support customers in these unprecedented times, we have taken the decision to close all our stores for 24 hours as we clarify next steps, before we move forward." I sense not taking orders either.

[uschi]

[KC2]

I just received my Stay at Home text from the government https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52017451

It seems that the govt balked at the cost of setting up a text alert system when it had a successful trial 7 years ago. I read in another article that had it been in place last week-end they would have told people to go home immediately. Whether they would have done, of course, is another matter!