Coronavirus (COVID-19) Panic Buying?

[lovetravellingoz]

Indeed, I get the impression Aussies are too busy emptying supermarket shelves to go on holiday!
cheers skip

Not at the supermarkets I frequent. And at Costco, when don't shoppers here have full trollies?

I think it is more that hand sanitiser has a run on.

 

[drron]

What an insane society we have become.
And now front line medical staff are pleading for safety gear like protective masks. I cannot believe how low as a society we have plunged.

Quite a few of us have asked where we stand from our medical insurers.This came today-
Summary of advice

• A medical practitioner does not have any obligation to see a particular patient other than in an emergency or if subject to a workplace contractual agreement
• MDA National supports that Members should not treat or carry out testing on suspected cases of COVID-19 if they do not have the appropriate PPE or practice facilities

And not all public hospitals outside the major cities have appropriate protective clothing.

 

[Pushka]

Quite a few of us have asked where we stand from our medical insurers.This came today-
Summary of advice

• A medical practitioner does not have any obligation to see a particular patient other than in an emergency or if subject to a workplace contractual agreement
• MDA National supports that Members should not treat or carry out testing on suspected cases of COVID-19 if they do not have the appropriate PPE or practice facilities

And not all public hospitals outside the major cities have appropriate protective clothing.

How does that work practically speaking in a medical practice? Is there some kind of triage before the person walks in the surgery door? I'm also thinking that automatic doors in Drs surgeries are a good thing too.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Well, nothing to do with Coronavirus nor Dans but I have done a few forays into the local bottlo to stock up on the now sold-out Rockfords Alicante over the past few weeks. And I found out today that my SIL has always been a toilet roll hoarder and has a very large stash, always. <shakes me head in wonder>

Post automatically merged: Mar 5, 2020

Car boot worked for me but have only enough space in our tiny apartment for one spare 8 roll pack anyway.

So, if staying in hotels, instead of flogging the shampoos and soaps, will people now just flog the loo paper?

Well now you actually buy a roll of toilet paper and the hotel room is thrown in....

 

[Tropic]

automatic doors in Drs surgeries are a good thing too.

Revolving ones are better... patient looks too sick, spin the wheels and out they go...

 

[drron]

How does that work practically speaking in a medical practice? Is there some kind of triage before the person walks in the surgery door? I'm also thinking that automatic doors in Drs surgeries are a good thing too.

The official advice from the Government is to ring ahead if you have flu symptoms to see whether you can go to your doctor.Hopefully they will know the proper procedure for the area they are in.

 

[amaroo]

Slo-mo?

This one belongs in the playground

 

[Pushka]

The official advice from the Government is to ring ahead if you have flu symptoms to see whether you can go to your doctor.Hopefully they will know the proper procedure for the area they are in.

We all know that people can be numpties. So hopefully the numpties can be managed to ensure safety of the treating personnel.

 

[burmans]

Though they have their own panic buying. No problems with Toilet Paper, but the Instant Noodles are in short supply

Panic buying hits Bangkok stores

Shoppers in Greater Bangkok are quickly emptying supermarket shelves of long-lasting items like instant noodles, packed rice, tissue paper, tinned fish and drinking water as fears mount over the coronavirus epidemic.

www.bangkokpost.com

Instant Noodles well and truly sold out here too!

 

[amaroo]

Quite a few of us have asked where we stand from our medical insurers.This came today-
Summary of advice

• A medical practitioner does not have any obligation to see a particular patient other than in an emergency or if subject to a workplace contractual agreement
• MDA National supports that Members should not treat or carry out testing on suspected cases of COVID-19 if they do not have the appropriate PPE or practice facilities

And not all public hospitals outside the major cities have appropriate protective clothing.

A question one needs to answer for themselves. The same for so many occupations, emergency services, military, etc

It's like a moment in time - do you stand, or turn?

What does the hippocratic oath ask?

 

[juddles]

For most of my adult life I have chosen to NOT live in Australia. because normal life is so safe and predictable and - well - boring. But maybe this is changing now?

Who on earth would have predicted that we would have restrictions that said we can only buy one bag of rice???? Absolutely, completely, UNTHINKABLE OR BELIEVABLE just a few short weeks ago....

 

[Renato1]

Aldi will be popular next Wednesday.
Cheers,
Renato

ALDI Special Buys™ new range every Wednesday and Saturday

We know you've heard about them. ALDI’s Special Buys can include anything from electronics, gardening to clothing & furniture. Get a sneak peek of what's coming today.

www.aldi.com.au

 

[Denali]

https://www.facebook.com/10931324937/posts/10158064409179938

 

[get me outta here]

it seems there should be sufficient if the stores can be replenished whilst trying to stem the virus tide in the short-term:

“RACGP president Harry Nespolon called on Health Minister Greg Hunt to release masks from the national stockpile to ensure GPs could continue testing, as the pace of the virus spreads.

"They've got 20 million masks to be released in an emergency. When's an emergency? I'd say now," Dr Nespolon said. "Doctors need 6.9 million masks a month."

Not much - I'll tell you first hand. Seems the 2 month lead up is not enough for slow moving government institutions..

 

[Denali]

We had to source 11,000 masks for an expo that is still going ahead at this stage. The boxes kept under lock along wiith the hand sanitiser stock Ive accrued for office use.... and the office chocolate bags I buy when on special. The boss was surprised when he found my stash corner in the server room.

Me: What were you doing in the server room to begin with? Dont you look at any of that, thats not for you to worry about

 

[ja1]

What an insane society we have become.
And now front line medical staff are pleading for safety gear like protective masks. I cannot believe how low as a society we have plunged.

Yeah I have some troubles with this one but perhaps not for the reason you'd think.

Medical staff were presumably never buying medical supplies from retail outlets (e.g. Woolworths, Bunnings). Every 'professional' field ends up having trade suppliers and the whole supply chain as well as the actual product tend to be different (e.g think Bunnings DIY Ryobi tools vs what you see most tradies using - Makita, Dewalt, Hitachi, Metabo, Panasonic..)

So how on earth are medical staff not getting safety gear and is it related in any way to the general public panic buying ? I haven't seen any evidence of a link between the two.

I'd assume more logically it's related to manufacturing all moving offshore and when those factories shut down or the supply chain breaks down, you simply can't get supplies via the normal (efficient, low cost) channels. So now you have medical staff turning to the retail channels where they are competing for product with normal and abnormal demand.

Anyone want to take a guess that probably 90% of the worlds masks are manufactured in China and when China has a national medical/social problem guess what happens ?

It's akin to the plugging the powerboard into itself and wondering why none of those appliances are working..

 

[ja1]

"They've got 20 million masks to be released in an emergency. When's an emergency? I'd say now," Dr Nespolon said. "Doctors need 6.9 million masks a month."

Yeah that'd be classic short term thinking, wheras Greg Hunt (being a politician) is balancing the political fallout from releasing 3 months supply right now and having 0 masks in the national medical emergency stockpile in June or hanging onto what's there in case demand is still there in June and there's no supply at all then ?

I don't envy him as he's simply being placed in a lose-lose position by people who look like geniuses if they guess right but have no consequence to them if they guessed wrong.

 

[get me outta here]

Many factories in China are starting production again this all hinges on whether the factory or factories that produce these is starting up again. Strategic planning needs to come into this. Three months supply is enough to help people right now not get a J curve on the virus spread. It would be short-term thinking to not assist frontline medical people to curtail the virus to be spread now. If doctors have to close surgeries we are going to be really in trouble.

Yeah that'd be classic short term thinking, wheras Greg Hunt (being a politician) is balancing the political fallout from releasing 3 months supply right now and having 0 masks in the national medical emergency stockpile in June or hanging onto what's there in case demand is still there in June and there's no supply at all then ?

I don't envy him as he's simply being placed in a lose-lose position by people who look like geniuses if they guess right but have no consequence to them if they guessed wrong.

 

[Pushka]

Yeah I have some troubles with this one but perhaps not for the reason you'd think.

Medical staff were presumably never buying medical supplies from retail outlets (e.g. Woolworths, Bunnings). Every 'professional' field ends up having trade suppliers and the whole supply chain as well as the actual product tend to be different (e.g think Bunnings DIY Ryobi tools vs what you see most tradies using - Makita, Dewalt, Hitachi, Metabo, Panasonic..)

So how on earth are medical staff not getting safety gear and is it related in any way to the general public panic buying ? I haven't seen any evidence of a link between the two.

I'd assume more logically it's related to manufacturing all moving offshore and when those factories shut down or the supply chain breaks down, you simply can't get supplies via the normal (efficient, low cost) channels. So now you have medical staff turning to the retail channels where they are competing for product with normal and abnormal demand.

Anyone want to take a guess that probably 90% of the worlds masks are manufactured in China and when China has a national medical/social problem guess what happens ?

It's akin to the plugging the powerboard into itself and wondering why none of those appliances are working..

Makes sense but I guess if a practise puts in a large order that depletes stocks then next practise on the list may miss out. With the Just in Time model of warehouse storage and possibly no supply from China or overseas it's quite possible that medical suppliers are running out. So they need to be sourced from somewhere else. I did hear a GP yesterday say she'd resorted to Bunnings purchase and they'd sold out.

As far as the Government not releasing them, the real chaos has not started yet. Why would they hand out everything right now?

We cannot wait for Chinese suppliers to kick in for a while. Demand will be huge and then there are all the logistics of getting the orders out.

In terms of management perhaps Dentists may be asked to slow down all non essential work like basic checkups. Many business are being forced to slow down so non emergency dental work is no different.

 

[p--and--t]

Hmmm

Woollies sent me an email advertising half price on Kleenex Aloe Vera tissues this week ( $2.60 $1.30 ).

As these are the preferred ones in our household, and they haven't been on special for quite a quite so we are down to a couple boxes, I thought I would save myself some money.

Popped down to the nearest store and no tissues, no loo rolls, no kitchen towel. Spoke to a staff member who said all shelves were full at opening.

They will fill the shelves again over night. But if I want some, I need to be waiting at the door when they open tomorrow

Well as I had to get up early today anyway, I popped down to Woollies for a few items and some boxes of those 1/2 price tissues we always use & I wanted to save on.

Nil, zero, zilch, in the "paper products" aisle. Empty shelves all the way.

Staff said "the system says" the truck was dispatched for delivery overnight but hasn't arrived

 

[ja1]

Makes sense but I guess if a practise puts in a large order that depletes stocks then next practise on the list may miss out. With the Just in Time model of warehouse storage and possibly no supply from China or overseas it's quite possible that medical suppliers are running out. So they need to be sourced from somewhere else. I did hear a GP yesterday say she'd resorted to Bunnings purchase and they'd sold out.

You've got it exactly but I'm just calling out that the public panic buying masks should have had no real effect on medical supplies except in the instance where the supply chain for them has broken down and they are being forced into the public channel. Which is a model that only leads to one end point (i.e you miss out)

This is a failure of both suppliers to the medical industry (not anticipating and increasing stocks) and the government (in lacking any regulation around this process and leaving it completely to the private sector)

It's similar to the situation around the national oil reserves where I believe Australia is the only first world country that is unable to meet its signed agreement to maintain 90 days of supply reserve.

When there are no issues then it's no big deal and when there's a problem?

Imagine if you allowed engineers to build buildings like this.. The building works great when conditions are perfect but lets not talk about what happens if there's a strong wind ?

I'm trying to think of this as a learning exercise for the next time for the 98% of people who will make it to the next time (looking at the 2% fatality rate)