General Discussion/Q&A on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[tgh]

roof-lyer said…...Add someone else here is fond of saying - get a grip

These are difficult times, just had a tense phone conversation with someone known for his crisp management abilities.
I might have dropped a loaded grenade in his lap and the complex but reasonable (covid based) request took a lot of negotiation.
All good now but a precursor for the future...

 

[serfty]

How will this be managed?

Apparently by presentation of relevant government id (Pension card?).

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Oooops.

Someone just entered the wrong data!

Search:


�

Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths	New Deaths	Total Recovered	Active Cases	Serious, Critical	Tot Cases/ 1M pop
Vatican City	568,000	+567,999	892,045	+892,045		-324,045

Site back to normal now...

Coronavirus Update (Live): 135,796,699 Cases and 2,934,646 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer

Live statistics and coronavirus news tracking the number of confirmed cases, recovered patients, tests, and death toll due to the COVID-19 coronavirus from Wuhan, China. Coronavirus counter with new cases, deaths, and number of tests per 1 Million population. Historical data and info. Daily...

www.worldometers.info

 

[jb747]

It’s exactly what Lisa Wilkinson suggested last night on The Sunday Project. Glad to see that was implemented.

The timing is a bit odd though. Supposedly 7am until 8am. My local Coles and Woolworths both have their deliveries during the day, and actually replenish the pooh tickets around 2pm. So, unless they actually make a special effort to ensure the supply, the elderly will be shopping at an odd time, with the shelves bare from the previous day.

Sad part is that people who did not hoard are now running out, and there is nothing available.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The timing is a bit odd though. Supposedly 7am until 8am. My local Coles and Woolworths both have their deliveries during the day, and actually replenish the pooh tickets around 2pm. So, unless they actually make a special effort to ensure the supply, the elderly will be shopping at an odd time, with the shelves bare from the previous day.

Mine is overnight. I would guess that stores who replenish at other times may make a different time.

 

[Lynda2475]

So i went down to coffee shop in office foyer this monring and the barista refused to take my keep cup - they are only doing paper cups due to Covid-19. Environmental concerns have ceased it seems.

WRT dedicated hour for older Aussies, I assume they have picked such an early timeslot so that carers/kids can take their oldies before work. Also I imagine the supermarkets should be restocking shelves at/after closing time to make sure all is good to go.

There was almost nothing (excepts chipc/chocolate/cosmetics) on the shelves when i ducked inot my local coles yesterday. I needed an onion - no fresh ones (not wite or brown or red) and no frozen.

 

[JessicaTam]

So i went down to coffee shop in office foyer this monring and the barista refused to take my keep cup - they are only doing paper cups due to Covid-19. Environmental concerns have ceased it seems.

I have started hanging on to the lid and just handing the cup part. See if that will ease their concerns.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

. Also I imagine the supermarkets should be restocking shelves at/after closing time to make sure all is good to go.

There are supermarket staff on this site and so they may provide better advice, but while I think most major centres would restock overnight, that stores in regional locations may get deliveries in the day. So especially when things have run out daytime restocking would occur.

 

[Lynda2475]

I have started hanging on to the lid and just handing the cup part. See if that will ease their concerns.

This is what I did (always do). I went to the better shop outside, and they had no issue filling my keep cup sans lid (their coffee is better too) I was just being lazy due to the rain going to closest one.

Heavy pressure at the office at the moment to wfh, but social distancing is great at the office at the moment because so many others are WFH. Im avoiding the bus/train - as zero point in saying dont go to a concert when the train has worse close contact than a mosh pit! Instead Ive altered my work hours to a later start to avoid worst traffic and am ubering to/from work (insisting window is down for fresh air), this limits my contact with the great unwashed and allows me to work from office effectively, instead of huddled over a tiny laptop screen at dining table as is the case if WFH.

Tis great that uber has the 60% off promo running againt his week for diamond status, makes my plan super affordable.

Ive bene unable to stock up on sufficient food to self isolate for 2 weeks yet, grabbing a few things each day as stock allows, so being at the office and buying my breaky and lunch takeout as usual means that Im not dipping into the few long long items i managed to aquire unless absolutely necessary.

 

[jase05]

Congratulations to Woollies! And I guess Coles will follow suit. A dedicated hour for elderly and those with disabilities to shop in the morning for essentials before the rest of us get a chance to hoard.

I don’t know about other states but in SA they have dedicated 0700-0800 for the elderly and those with disabilities yet the stores open at 0600 so people will rush to the stores earlier won’t they?
Would make more sense if the vulnerable and elderly were given the 0600-0700 slot whilst the stores are still freshly stocked and cleaned

 

[Denali]

Just announced in my office no more than 5 people in the same room at any one time and domestic travel now cancelled. No visitors/guests, all meetings to be done via hangout.

Special leave will be instigated if we are affected by positive results but no real details but my office is generally really good at leave/looking after us.

All the usual, social distancing and no shaking hands ect. We will be updated every 2 days as a goup but business as usual, "proceed with caution but proceed with calm heads".

 

[Beano]

Wrong kind of home office. You need a large comfy chair, feet up on a low stool, coffee handy on a low table nearby and your favourite media playing, and away you go. No need for headphones.

 

[Lynda2475]

Apparently by presentation of relevant government id (Pension card?).

Would hope drivers license proving that over 70 would be enough, my Mum is immuno copromised and doesnt have a pension card, self funded retiree.

 

[Lynda2475]

Some here have suggested that resturants and coffee shops should close - if anything perhaps they should offer take-out only. With the supermarkets being largely empty of the items I like to eat, I'll starve if all the little food places close, and this would do more unecessary damage to our economy.

 

[serfty]

Would hope drivers license proving that over 70 would be enough, my Mum is immuno copromised and doesnt have a pension card, self funded retiree.

Here a link to the woolies announcement:

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/community/stock-level-update?icmpid=sm-hp-hero4:other:other:wk37

In the content is the following:

Woolworths Supermarkets will open to all customers from 8am. Access to the store prior to this time will require a relevant Government issued concession card*.

*Full terms and conditions and any store that might be excluded will be available on the woolworths.com.au website later today (Monday 16th March).

 

[dajop]

True. But the government isn't making it easy... why did the self isolation only kick in at midnight? Why not immediately? These things, without an explanation, don't make a lot of sense. And can undermine confidence.

Most governments gave 24-48 hrs notice of such restrictions, even Singapore & NZ, to get their house in order. I wish they'd given 24 hrs, as I would have been on a flight overnight.

Midnight was probably a pragmatic choice, to account for most flights that were already in the air headed towards Australia. Only a small number (from Texas and Middle East) would have been in the air before the announcement and arrive after midnight. To be frank, unfettered access for people who had been in any but the highest risk countries had been continuing for some time, and extra 7-8hrs would make very little functional difference compared to the several weeks previously.

 

[dajop]

Some here have suggested that resturants and coffee shops should close - if anything perhaps they should offer take-out only. With the supermarkets being largely empty of the items I like to eat, I'll starve if all the little food places close, and this would do more unecessary damage to our economy.

What is going on in Australia? We've been living with this for weeks now in Singapore. Most things remain open and there is little pressure to close places other than churches and mosques and other mass gatherings. Sick staff (whatever the ailment) are instructed to remain at home, and the social pressure is immense if showing the slightest symptom in public. Additional sanitation practices are employed. Handwashing is practiced routinely.

Even Universal Studios is cleaning down rides after each person has ridden and implemented a "social distancing" queuing system .....

But perhaps our Australian culture is less accepting of government instructions on how to behave, so more draconian steps are necessary (plus the cooler climate).

 

[TheRealTMA]

good article from Dr William Hanage, professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard

I’m an epidemiologist. When I heard about Britain’s ‘herd immunity’ coronavirus plan, I thought it was satire | William Hanage

Vulnerable people should not be exposed to Covid-19 right now in the service of a hypothetical future, says William Hanage, a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard

www.theguardian.com

 

[SeatBackForward]

But perhaps our Australian culture is less accepting of government instructions on how to behave, so more draconian steps are necessary (plus the cooler climate).

Yeah people are quick to call such things as being part of a "nanny state"..

 

[33kft]

We've been living with this for weeks now in Singapore. Most things remain open and there is little pressure to close places other than churches and mosques and other mass gatherings.

Having lived in Singapore for many years previously I have seen all of the cheers and celebration from a lot of my Singapore-based friends and acquaintences. Much like China currently, there's a lot of opinion that the measures until now have been wildly successful (same with South Korea) and the countries have largely escaped the terrible current fate of Europe and future fate of US and others (seen as one category - "the west"), with the exception of China who obviously paid a steep price, but are now relaxing many of the controls that allowed them to flatten the curve of infection.

No doubt the west has dropped the ball in containment but I can't help but feel all of these densely populated and heavily transited countries celebrating now is akin to a victory lap at first quarter time. I can already see that the narrative going forward will be that the west dropped the ball and dumped it back on Asia, but the global nature of the world today is that no country is safe, and blaming other countries (as the west has tended to do to China) is pointless, we are literally in this together.

So whilst I applaud Singapore in its handling, I have no doubt they are potentially a couple of bad weeks away from the MRT, HDBs and hawker centres spreading this thing wildly, and I hope that the good work done in phase 1 is similarly upheld in the upcoming phases, and that the celebration does not turn out to be premature.