General Coronavirus chit chat thread - non-travel specific

[Matt_01]

@juddles I think the last time we met there where also concerns that the booze may run out Thank goodness your friend knew the local lingo and we survived.

 

[amaroo]

One of our businesses was issued the letter last week. We can issue the same to anyone we feel is required to complete business. Must say, very unexpected, very appreciated. We are hiring - in a big way. It' s a great feeling to be able to hire in these times.

I will add - I'm suppose to be retired! Looks like the fourth wind is about to blow, and we're off again.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Our neighbours are having a small party in their garage, and not even being subtle about it

Probably need to dob them in.....

 

[moa999]

The value in the FF programs is only if the airline continues to exist - so there is some level of inbuilt protection.

Personally I think given the importance of the industry the government should offer loans/backstops to all airlines, but at a substantial cost to equity.

Something like an expensive loan with a 1:1 dilution of equity at a discount (best via options so the government doesn't take actual ownership).

Make it available to all including Virgin, Qantas and Rex.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Oh no. That would be the last straw tonight. Thankfully I live in SA.

But near a beach.....which evidently means that some can drive any distance to get there for exercise

 

[mrsterryn]

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

 

[p--and--t]

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

We still have a trip booked for a conference and a few days relaxations for around 10 days end of July to KUL and HKT. My expectation is we won't be going as while there might be some semblance of returning to something like normal domestically the international resolution of the virus spread will not have been resolved by then.

We have a non-refundable booking for a hotel on HKT which in the whole scheme of things is not many $$.

The quandary at the moment is the flights with MH which we booked via Aunt Betty because the $$ was the best we could find at the time.

MH current policy is to offer a credit voucher that must be used and all flights completed before xmas which is not very palatable given the current uncertainty so tempted to hold off until with the hope the flights are cancelled and/or the policy is updated. MH have also indicated the ticket class forbids the no show for any one of the sectors otherwise the entire ticket will be forfeited and a penalty charge incurred meaning we would have to go to both countries and not cut the trip short to just KUL. While I enjoy travel to both countries I'm 80% sure the conference will be cancelled unless some miracle occurs to resolve the pandemic.

Aunt Betty are currently nagging us with unsolicited emails saying they can arrange to cancel our flights for us and to contact them. However when you read the fine print at the bottom of the forms it is obvious this is nothing more than a blatant attempt to built the coffers for the Flight Centre Group as for every ticket cancelled they collect an admin fee of $250.

So whirling around in circles in my head are will MH still be around, will they change their policy, will they cancel the flights, when will it be safe and/or opportune to travel overseas to either/both those countries again, will the economy go so far down the toilet that we won't be able to afford to travel, the original impetus to make the trip (the conference) is unlikely to go ahead.

Trying not to think about it too much and just let the whole matter lie over the next month or so.

 

[amaroo]

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

Yes, but it's architects, builders, trade stores, wholesalers, and heaps of others - we're spending local!

 

[Matt_01]

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

Yes, for the moment - Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and a few other places in NE canada then NYC then Victoria, CA, Vancouver followed by LA, SG and back to AU. However this trip may go south, as did our trip for next week AU-SG-JP-UK-NYC-JP-AU and another in Jun SG and MY. Cancelling trips this year seems to be the new norm.

 

[OZDUCK]

We still have our Finnair trip to Finland/Germany in August/September but I don't see any possibility of it happening. The first leg is Perth - Singapore on QF on 17 August so that will certainly not be operating. Finnair is still working on travel up until 30 June. Once they start ticking over the later trips we will check out our options.

 

[Toula92122]

Can we qualify this by stating that this is a recommendation in the USA where CV19 is rife and where a lack of testing means that the authorities have little idea of how many are infected and where they are.




Please do not fuel those selling masks at high prices via ebay etc. I know from my daughter that PPE etc has been stolen from her hospital.

It's all very well for government's to be making such recommendations but here in the US there are no masks available to buy from drugstores. Those listed on Amazon on restricted to health care workers. I managed to order some cotton ones off Etsy and am waiting for their arrival. The recommendation of whipping one up at home, how many people actually have sewing machines or even needle and thread in their house these days as we are such a disposable society we normally toss things out rather than repair.

However, talking about clueless, we were out this morning and our peace and quiet was shattered by a young man coughing and spluttering and choosing not to cover his mouth, no effort made. The glares he got. What annoyed me the most was he walked another 10 feet then stopped and he and his female stopped so she could retrieve their masks from their bags before they went in the drugstore. When they exited 5 minutes later masks were once again removed. So obviously they believe they should wear them to protect themselves but not bother protecting anyone else from their bad manners.

 

[Toula92122]

To add to the grim situation, my cousin is at his place in Palm Springs and they had a 4.9 earthquake overnight!

yes, even though it was relatively mild we felt the shaking here in San Diego. The walls of our apartment were moving.

 

[Denali]

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

August domestic Syd to Tassie with VA. Not holding my breath and glad it's points and no accommodation booked yet. Only 4 nights.

 

[I love to travel]

Singapore and Taiwan in August, am not expecting to go.
Adelaide for Xmas, heaven help us if the borders are still shut then.

 

[Tiki]

One of the bloggers in my feed (Frequent Miler?) suggested making masks out of eye masks from airline amenity kits.

If I have to wear something, I think I would use my Buff (like Survivor).

 

[Toula92122]

I still have bookings for a trip to Borneo in July. I'm not cancelling as I am hoping the airline will so I can avoid the fees. Not expecting the trip to take place.

 

[RooFlyer]

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

NZ in July, revenue ticket. Just waiting for Qantas to get to cancelling that period.

 

[Pushka]

Not sure if this has been shared: one can check incidence of coronavirus cases by postcode:

REVEALED: How many coronavirus cases are in your area

NSW Health has released the number of coronavirus cases by postcode. Find out the numbers near you.

7news.com.au

NSW?

Post automatically merged: Apr 5, 2020

Anyone still have trips booked for this year ?

July. Two cruises out of Athens and another on a big ship out of Italy.

One of the bloggers in my feed (Frequent Miler?) suggested making masks out of eye masks from airline amenity kits.

If I have to wear something, I think I would use my Buff (like Survivor).

Ordered some yesterday from Ebay then it occurred to me they aren't easy to remove. We have two survivor buffs!

 

[Flying mermaid]

Hmm that reminds me - we were given nose/mouth coverings by Bisate to wear when we went Gorilla trekking in Rwanda - it was to protect the gorillas. I still have those I think. I might fish one out for Mr FM to wear when he goes shopping - can’t do any harm.

 

[straitman]

Virologist claims drinking alcohol can protect against the coronavirus

A German health official has told people they can drink alcohol to ward off any illness in relation to COVID-19, saying “the higher the percentage of alcohol, the better it is.”

This could possibly please a few people here if it is correct!