Coronavirus Preparation

[Ian]

So sorry to hear that TC - this is also my worry for friends in a similar situation to you that don't live nearby. Do you have facebook, as there are a lot of groups for local areas that will do shopping on behalf of anyone that is self isolating - I'm a member of the one in my town and there are literally thousands of us signed up. I suspect your town will have one too if you use Facebook.

There's also "Amazon Prime Now" which does Morrisons deliveries, although they only release delivery slots at midnight as it's so busy. This might be worth a try.

My local Iceland has started doing an early morning hour where only older or vulnerable people can shop (basically anyone who needs to self isolate as a precaution), when it's quieter in town. I wonder if they have something similar near you, so that if you did have to venture out, you've got a chance of getting things with a lower risk.

I really do sympathise, and worry that this is going to be one of the biggest problems people face - as anyone that has to avoid going out will struggle to get supplies in.

 

[TriplexDread]

I'm a little infuriated that people that don't even enter the "Risk" group are going out and storing all this food, toilet roll and soap etc. It destroys any chance that the people who are in the risk group have of surviving.

Pathetic. Apparently people are buying and reselling at inflated prices. They should be locked up
At present I cannot afford to go out and do a big shop I simply have not got the money. UC has decided to now think that I can survive on 208£ for the next month. So if I and others run out of food because those mentioned idiots we starve, or go hungry for days end of.

Pathetic. Jail time for people

 

[Ian]

The annoying thing is, I wouldn't be making this rant, if only the darned supermarkets had been thoughtful enough to issue "codes" or whatever, to their regular home-delivery customers, to ensure that a few delivery slots were available to them. A big ask? Maybe, but right now, it's beginning to feel somewhat scary.

Good news!

Coronavirus: Online shopping website Ocado suspends service

Online shopping website Ocado has suspended its service as supermarkets crack down on stockpiling.

www.bbc.co.uk

From 23 March, it said disabled customers and those over 70 will be given priority for online delivery slots.

 

[nivrip]

I think Sainsbury's are also going to expand the Click and Collect service from next week. But, of course, you may need someone to do the collecting bit for you.

 

[Taffycat]

Well, after much trawling around on the interwebs, I found a source for getting some supplies of bread flour (always make it from scratch.) Will be getting it direct from a mill in Gloucestershire yay! Not sure exactly when it will be delivered, because they are also under considerable pressure and working around the clock. Just happy to know that some is on its way.

I drew many blanks on the supermarket front - all delivery slots were fully booked-up for about a month - but this morning I discovered a store that did have a few vacant slots, just 10 days ahead, so I registered with them and am now feeling hugely relieved. (Anyone of our regulars wanting to know which store, just PM me, I don't want to cause them to melt-down by plugging them publicly lol.)

Actually, another very nice thing happened early this morning. There was a ring at the doorbell, and a young neighbour from a few doors down was standing there. She had come to ask whether we were ok, or if we needed anything. It was so very unexpected and extremely kind of her - particularly as she has a busy life, with a young family and a career. Feeling very grateful to her for her thoughtfulness.

Hope everyone is staying healthy and virus-free. Take care all.

 

[nivrip]

Thank goodness he is not in charge of the UK

Trump quotes during the arrival of covid-19

January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.
February 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
February 25: “CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”
February 25: “I think that's a problem that’s going to go away… They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.”
February 26: “The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
February 26: “We're going very substantially down, not up.”
February 27: “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”
February 28: “We're ordering a lot of supplies. We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical.”
March 2: “You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?”
March 2: “A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.”
March 4: “If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better.”
March 5: “I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work.”
March 5: “The United States… has, as of now, only 129 cases… and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”
March 6: “I think we’re doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down… a tremendous job at keeping it down.”
March 6: “Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there. And the tests are beautiful…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.”
March 6: “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it… Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”
March 6: “I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.”
March 8: “We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus.”
March 9: “This blindsided the world.”
March 13: Ordered National Emergency.

 

[nivrip]

 

[nivrip]

They're just never ending.

 

[nivrip]

Excercise for Self Isolators

 

[TriplexDread]

Just spoke to someone who lives in New Jersey.

He said NYC is like a ghost town in comparison. The Tubes are almost empty in the mornings

He is really concerned

 

[Ian]

How's everyone doing? All healthy and working from home where possible?

 

[nivrip]

Surviving.

As part of the "at risk" group we spend the vast majority of each day indoors but I have to admit that we do go out every day for a two and a half mile walk around the country lanes and across the fields. We meet very few people and do keep our distance as we pass. I've managed to read an excellent book about Capt. Cook ( he was born and brought up in this area so some added interest.) The weather has been remarkably good so my garden is looking pretty good for this time of the year. There's a hell of a lot of moss in the lawn though.


Luckily we have two rooms that we can occupy so we watch different TV programmes in different areas and I think this helps towards sanity. Never watched Spooks so am using Catch Up and I note that there are 86 episodes so I'll be OK for a while.

Still can't work out why there are less than 90,000 cases of Covid in China which has a population of 1.3 billion. After three months there should be millions of cases. Maybe huge numbers just don't get it with some sort of inbuilt immunity. Weird.

 

[Ian]

Glad to hear it! I know quite a few people with it now, all in 20s/30s though - I'm in isolation because I had a lot of contact with someone who likely has it at the moment, but I feel fine. So far everyone I know with it has said it has been ok - ranging from relatively mild to pretty bad, but manageable. None hospitalised or tested, so the numbers are soooooo much lower than figures suggest.

Never watched Spooks so am using Catch Up and I note that there are 86 episodes so I'll be OK for a while.

Oh, Spooks is really good! Very fond memories of that series. They even made a film a couple of years back, after the series ended.

 

[muckshifter]

As an "at risk" individual, so far, so good. Not been out for anything, Tesco's delivery due Tuesday, which I have been adding to since initial purchase. Not sure when I'll get another delivery slot. Brother said he is more than happy to do a 'click & collect' so I'll probably take him up on that.

No more coffee morning with me sister, the phone will have to do. More people online in Lotro. More people to 'meet'


Keep Safe Folks!

 

[V_R]

My folks are both at risk, I managed to do a Sainsbury's order that got delivered today, a lot of it for them. I took it round and left if on the doorstep and kept well back while they took it in. Feels so ****ing weird.

Looks like Boris might lock us down tonight, 2030 on the TV he's addressing the nation if you had missed it.

 

[Taffycat]

What an on-going nightmare! As most of you probably have read, stores such as Sainsburys are said to be "prioritising" elderly/vulnerable customers. It is supposed to be possible to get delivery slots, and stores are also opening their doors at special times, to that category of shoppers.

The reality however, is somewhat different. To recap, I have been ordering weekly shopping deliveries since 2002! 18 Years! But, now when I sign-in and attempt to book a delivery, I get the insulting message that "you have not been identified as elderly or vulnerable." How very flattering, but how totally stress-inducing.

My hubby is very much "at risk" and I am not at all willing to jeopardise his health, by getting amongst hoards of other shoppers. Oh yes, I do mean hoards, because apparently, some stores are allowing all and sundry through their doors during these allocated times. (TrustPilot has a lot of angry OAPs complaining about this. Not just Sainsburys but Asda and probably other venues too, but getting too depressed to check.)

There are messages on Sainsburys website, saying that if they've "got it wrong," and you need to register your knackered status with them (sorry, paraphrasing a bit) then "ring this number" but, what they fail to mention, is that it will not be answered. When many hours later you chance to get through, it is to be met by a recorded message, which "helpfully" states that they are much to busy and cannot help. For more up-to-date help, visit the website, which yes, you've guessed it, advises one to telephone that dratted permanently-engaged number.....!

There are many, many people in this situation, all of whom have very good reason to need the delivery service, but all of whom have somehow fallen through the net.

Turns out, that a scheme they introduced a year or two ago, called the "delivery pass" where you pay in advance for deliveries, is the criterion they are using to so-called "identify" vulnerable shoppers. I, along with many others, do not have one, because I prefer to just pay as I go every week. I don't recall them ever mentioning that to have this "pass" would guarantee deliveries during times such as these. I also would have thought that providing a place on one's account to state which age category a person falls into, plus whether there are any other factors such as disability, etc., affecting that person or family member, would have been helpful.

 

[muckshifter]

... what she said!

Same boat here, and I wanna get off.

 

[EvanDavis]

Yesterday my church had a call from a charity we work with. Nando's donated all their chicken to us as all stores are closing down because of the virus. We picked up +/- 250kg's of chicken. we divided it up into smaller bags and delivered it to the elderly folks in the church and kept some back in case of emergency that somebody may not be able to get food.

 

[nivrip]

telephone that dratted permanently-engaged number.....!

We've had that exact same problem. I wonder if there is only one line for the whole country !!

 

[Abarbarian]

Ha you think it is bad over here,

Toilet paper impossible to find? So is ammunition.

Ron Laramee, who shoots pistols competitively, stopped by Cabela’s in Scarborough on Sunday to pick up some 9 mm ammunition.



The store had none, which surprised the 73-year-old retiree from York.


“What, are they buying it to protect their toilet paper?” he said. “It just doesn’t pass the sanity check.”