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

[tgh]

Same disease different name

 

[Flashback]

Just been down to my local and now almost out of booze too. The crisis is real!!

 

[dajop]

Same disease different name

Yeh, worked it out now. The virus has the name SARS-CoV-2, the disease it causes ....COVID-19.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Australia is now only 4 cases away from overtaking the cases from the Diamond Princess.

 

[Flashback]

One thing I have noticed in the shops, is that the hoarders are targeting things that are on sale, or supermarket own brands; I suspect as they tend to be cheaper. If you're willing to pay a little bit more, then for some items availability isn't a problem. That includes bread i.e. packaged vs baked fresh.

Mrs FB has been busy baking lots of Irish brown bread (yum!), but getting some of the ingredients like flour and oats at times, are proving a bit of a challenge.

 

[amaroo]

UK closing schools and universities from Friday.

How long can our Government ignore the bleeding obvious??

Rejecting medical advice is not recommended. Why are you so keen to promote it?

Why do you have zero confidence in the medical profession, are you qualified to promote such views?

 

[drron]

And NSW leads the testing.On population Victoria lagging a bit.

 

[amaroo]

Australia is now only 4 cases away from overtaking the cases from the Diamond Princess.

Given the population difference - no wonder!

 

[amaroo]

I wonder what his thought process was. Was he just an angry, hateful person to want to spread it , did he have a breakdown?

Man who went to bar to spread virus dies

A Japanese man, accused of “terrorism” after he went to a Filipino pub earlier this month saying he wanted to spread the deadly coronavirus he was infected with, has died at a hospital in central Japan.

www.news.com.au

No different to the people who went out and intentionally spread HIV/AIDS. Evil has lived with us since the dawn of time.

 

[jakeseven7]

An important announcement about the source of COVID-19 and how we can prevent the spread! Great way to end the day.

 

[amaroo]

Well frankly I think most countries have pretty much emulated China (except for notable exceptions- Singapore, Taiwan, South Kora) and at least when China responded they responded hard. I know there are plenty of China bashers on this forum but haven’t seen many western countries with better records yet. Without fail most have underestimated this.

Massive assumption based on the news you are consuming is correct. The manipulation can only get better when you're actively deporting foreign journalists.

 

[amaroo]

Mrs FB is on the train into work today, usually fights for the last seat...... today has a whole carriage to herself.

Reports are that the London Underground has been very quiet too.

She works for a GOV department, so they're offered WFH options but have been asked to come in if they can due to the work going on around the crisis. The biggest risk is the journey to/from the office, given that offices in general are quieter anyway so given Mrs FB gets her own private carriage into the office should be OK. Hands to be washed before/after as well in case any nasties are left on the seats/doors etc.

Reported 42 stations closed ... all the busy ones.

 

[Flashback]

Having just completed a survey on this subject, I'm interested in other people's views on food shopping etc.

Mrs FB and I tend to just buy as we go, gives me an excuse to get out of the house (WFH when I'm not travelling to a client's office) walking to/from the shop and back; sometimes even just buying day at a time / every day.

To a large degree, we're not really going to change from that approach as it still works OK'ish for us.

With the chaos that is currently supermarkets, has anyone changed their approach to shopping? Is anyone buying more than they usually would or still just doing the weekly shop?

Or are you column Z, hoarding, but won't admit to it?

 

[Flashback]

I think this is very telling, Qantas' default position is that all flights cancelled will be given vouchers, not a refund. It's a poor position to hold really.

Qantas International network changes | Qantas

View information on our latest International network changes.

www.qantas.com

Options for our customers

We are currently working through plans to ensure we have suitable options available for everyone, including providing new flight details where possible for impacted domestic customers and processing a flight credit for all other customers from early next week.

Please standby and wait to hear from us before changing your booking. We'll be contacting anyone whose flight has been impacted over the next week to let you know your options.

If your flight was booked through a travel agency or third-party website and is impacted by the above network changes, you will need to contact this company directly from early next week to obtain your credit voucher or make booking changes.

For information regarding the Australian Consumer Law click here.

 

[Flashback]

Restaurants starting to close in the UK now also, suspect this will start to expand to other countries. Holland did similar at the beginning of this week.

Today we will temporarily close our Prezzo restaurants during this COVID-19 crisis. We need to do this in order to protect the health of our teams, our customers and our local communities. After the Government stated last Monday that people should avoid restaurants, it was always going to be question of when, not if, we would need to close our doors for a time.

 

[Must...Fly!]

With the chaos that is currently supermarkets, has anyone changed their approach to shopping? Is anyone buying more than they usually would or still just doing the weekly shop?

Or are you column Z, hoarding, but won't admit to it?

I am normally a just in time shopper, but tend to have a supply of basic things in the freezer and I always have a rather significant amount of pasta, frozen mince and canned tomatoes on hand...favourite food

I ate almost everything down before a month long holiday which I got back from last week - Dad was house sitting. About a month ago I was in NYC and having followed the COVID-19 outbreak very closely from the outset, I could see what was coming, plain as day (well, I had an inkling anyway - if it was plain as day I would have sold my share portfolio!!). As such I got him to stock me up on essentials I no longer had - baked beans, chopped tomatoes, pasta, rice, oats, toilet paper.

Very thankful I had the foresight to do this, as when I got back, the chaos had well and truly begun reigning down on us all. But, I picked up 2kg of frozen veggies, and 2kg of mince myself when I got back, the latter frozen in portions so I have easy bolognese sauce when I feel like it.

The way it looks now, work will be forging ahead on site regardless of lock downs (essential service), and given I don't have a car my ability to visit 10 different supermarkets for what I need is very low and I probably won't have the time.

 

[Denali]

......
With the chaos that is currently supermarkets, has anyone changed their approach to shopping? Is anyone buying more than they usually would or still just doing the weekly shop?
Or are you column Z, hoarding, but won't admit to it?

I usually do a big home delivery shop per month and then a few smaller ones during the month for fresh fruit/veggies, milk.

Im limited by the size of my fridge & freezer. Freezer is pretty full so not hoarding but not buying bulk either. We have chicken, beef and mince (for lasagna or tacos) for about a month so thats standard for my cooking plans. Didnt buy any extra pasta, rice ect

I did buy extra mince and 1kg of sausages as hubby had a friend who was really stressed/contacted us at 6am one day as he couldnt find meat for his family so Ive told him I have extra here if ihe needs it (I went to our shops 10mins after he called to get him supplies). If someone else is in a similar situation, I will be offering to help out. I also take a few meals per week to mum in law.

Helps that hubby fasts for 2 days per week so 2 less meals I have to prepare.

 

[Flashback]

There's never been a better time to diet!

 

[Vic]

I shop as you go person, usually 1 weekly shop. Have had to change the time of shopping to get stock, evenings being not the best, so shop in the morning.

 

[p--and--t]

Having just completed a survey on this subject, I'm interested in other people's views on food shopping etc.

Mrs FB and I tend to just buy as we go, gives me an excuse to get out of the house (WFH when I'm not travelling to a client's office) walking to/from the shop and back; sometimes even just buying day at a time / every day.

To a large degree, we're not really going to change from that approach as it still works OK'ish for us.

With the chaos that is currently supermarkets, has anyone changed their approach to shopping? Is anyone buying more than they usually would or still just doing the weekly shop?

Or are you column Z, hoarding, but won't admit to it?

Depends on what kind of goods you are referring to.

As we only have one income and significant outgoings, we are careful with how we spend.

For perishables, (AKA fruit, veges, dairy) we tend to venture out once or twice a week having picked the specials from the market or supermarkets where possible.

For non-perishable items we normally don't buy unless there is a half price special from the supermarket. We then try to recall the last time they were on the 1/2 price special and buy enough to last until the next big special is anticipated to come along. So depending on the item we might have a months worth on hand or alternatively an almost empty container or no supplies waiting for the specials to come around.

The chaotic situation of the last couple of weeks have stuffed up our buying practices totally as the 1/2 price specials have ceased and the items we are in need of are missing off the shelf. Consequently there are several items we no longer have in the pantry and cannot currently source or at least having some difficulty.