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Coronavirus


Bjornebye

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Just now, Geoff Woade said:

Devil’s advocate but apparently they’re monitored on how quick they scan stuff through and get done if it’s not quick enough. Admittedly it was someone who’d previously worked at Lidl who told me so don’t know if it’s all of them.

 

He also was sacked from there so could be making that up as the reason as it’s just as likely he’d been caught sticking fresh produce up his arse.

@Mook

 

Didn't realise you got sacked from Lidl mate.

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4 minutes ago, Mudface said:

That's one of the pet hates for me in supermarkets at the best of times- till operators flinging stuff through as fast as they can, then ending up sitting there twiddling their thumbs as you or someone else tries to catch up with the bagging. Just fucking chill out, it's going to take about the same amount of time regardless of how fast you scan.

Believe it or not, they’re actually targeted on the rate they scan through the shopping. The ones who are good at it though actually help you with your packing if you’re on your own.

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3 minutes ago, Geoff Woade said:

Devil’s advocate but apparently they’re monitored on how quick they scan stuff through and get done if it’s not quick enough. Admittedly it was someone who’d previously worked at Lidl who told me so don’t know if it’s all of them.

 

He also was sacked from there so could be making that up as the reason as it’s just as likely he’d been caught sticking fresh produce up his arse.

 

2 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

Believe it or not, they’re actually targeted on the rate they scan through the shopping. The ones who are good at it though actually help you with your packing if you’re on your own.

 

Ahh, I thought they might be, then thought, 'nah, that's really stupid, surely it's based on the number of customers they get through multiplied by the number of items per customer'. Whoever thought that up is a dickhead as it benefits no one.

 

To be fair, most of the staff in our local Morrison's aren't frenzied loons and slow down if someone's struggling to keep up. The rest I avoid as they annoy me, especially if it's someone old or with difficulties having trouble keeping up in front of me.

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2 hours ago, DJLJ said:

Surely it is sexist to suggest that someone is doing a great job, purely based on their sex? Male or female.

Yes but I'd be very surprised if that's what the article says. I'd hope for a more rounded article which acknowledges they're good leaders irrespective of gender but which also discusses why being a woman might be a factor in it. 

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Christ, so it was Brexit guiding everything-

Quote

 

UK ministers took a political decision not to be involved in an EU ventilator scheme, Sir Simon McDonald, the foreign office permanent under-secretary said today, so challenging previous claims that the UK did not take part due to missed emails, writes the Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour.

McDonald was asked by a Labour MP Chris Bryant at the foreign affairs select committee whether the ventilator scheme was put to Ministers he said “It was a political decision. The UK mission (UKREP) briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer and the decision is known”. His remarks appear to blow a hole in the case originally most prominently by the cabinet office minister Michael Gove.

He also said the prime minister will consider in the next few weeks whether to go for an extension of the deadline for EU withdrawal date beyond December. He said he was stressing the theortetical possibilities, and added he believed the prime minisyre will confirm the existing timetable.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Moo said:

Yes but I'd be very surprised if that's what the article says. I'd hope for a more rounded article which acknowledges they're good leaders irrespective of gender but which also discusses why being a woman might be a factor in it. 


https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/11/secret-weapon-fight-against-coronavirus-women

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Matt Hancock: The EU have asked if we want to join a bulk-buy procurement scheme for ventilators.

 

Boris Johnson: Filthy hun weasels, fighting their dirty underhand war to steal our money! 
 

Matt Hancock: And fortunately, one of our inventors... 

 

 Boris Johnson: Splendid fellows, brave heroes repurposing their vacuum cleaners for Blighty!

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11 minutes ago, Mudface said:

Christ, so it was Brexit guiding everything-

Too early to say whether declining to join a successful procurement scheme for political reasons was an error, though. I think we'll need to wait for The Inquiry etc.

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3 minutes ago, Duff Man said:

Too early to say whether declining to join a successful procurement scheme for political reasons was an error, though. I think we'll need to wait for The Inquiry etc.

True, especially when those super-duper Dyson ones arrive. Aaaaany minute now... 

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3 hours ago, aRdja said:

In Australia the state governments are running the show. Dan Andrews in particular is doing a sterling job.

Same here in Canada.

 

It’s also the chief public health nurse and doctors who are also showing competencies. Most of whom are women. 
 

Our boy Justin said everyone stay home at Easter and do virtual egg hunts, etc. And then fucks off to his cottage and his wife posts pictures on social media. Also the leader of the opposition loads his wife and five kids on a 10-seater charter plane with the Green Party leader and a cabinet minister. Wouldn’t leave them back in Saskatchewan while we’re all under order not to travel.

 

Doug Ford (some may remember his

brother Rob Ford the crack smoking patois speaking former mayor of Toronto) is leading the way and has thrown all partisan rhetoric away and earned praise from from the left. 
 

 

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14 minutes ago, Anubis said:

I know I keep harping on about them but where are the Dyson ventilators?

Well with everyone staying home and cleaning excessively there is  more money in sucking up dust then blowing air into lungs. Dyson might be worries the Shark is going to suck his profits away. 

 

And everyone knows only the most talented demographic of those who can both suck and blow tend to be females in the adult industry, not smarmy Hoover-suing industrialists. 

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9 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

This is fucking stupid. Really fucking stupid. The decision not to join the EU procurement was purely political.  
 

https://twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/1252619849228079104?s=21

I don't know what the big concern is with all this as they're nowhere near getting the gear anyway, plus the idea that we might run out of ventilators doesn't seem to be a big concern now anyway. 

 

"It will take time for the EU to get a large numbers of ventilators quickly to treat Covid-19 patients, a commission spokesperson said Friday. The executive launched a joint procurement in March, suppliers had been selected, and countries can begin negotiating deliveries. "Taking into account the difficult situation of the markets and the complexity of products like ventilators, their production and delivery is expected to take time," the spokesperson said."

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2 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

I don't know what the big concern is with all this as they're nowhere near getting the gear anyway, plus the idea that we might run out of ventilators doesn't seem to be a big concern now anyway. 

 

"It will take time for the EU to get a large numbers of ventilators quickly to treat Covid-19 patients, a commission spokesperson said Friday. The executive launched a joint procurement in March, suppliers had been selected, and countries can begin negotiating deliveries. "Taking into account the difficult situation of the markets and the complexity of products like ventilators, their production and delivery is expected to take time," the spokesperson said."

It would have required little or no extra effort and could have worked. Given the abject failure of the option the government actually chose it seems crazy. And purely politically motivated. 

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/21/scientists-join-calls-for-uk-public-to-wear-homemade-face-masks-outdoors

 

Scientists join calls for UK public to wear homemade face masks outdoors

The public should wear homemade masks when they venture outdoors to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, according to scientists who claim Britain’s masks policy does too little to prevent infections.

 

Prof Sian Griffiths, who led the Hong Kong government’s investigation into the 2003 Sars epidemic, said Britain should adopt the same approach as the US, where people are advised to make their own “cloth face coverings” and wear them in public spaces.

 

The US policy is being directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is designed to reduce at least some transmission of the virus while preventing a run on medical-grade masks needed by frontline health workers.

 

“The CDC advice in the US is pragmatic,” Griffiths said. “It recognises both the need to ensure the supply of masks for clinical situations where they are obviously needed at the same time as recognising that there could potentially be benefits in wearing ‘masks’ in public to prevent passing on the infection.”

 

The government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage) met on Tuesday to review the evidence on wearing face masks. The Guardian understands that the group is split on the best policy to adopt because the evidence is so weak.

 

Ministers are deeply reluctant to recommend the use of even homemade masks amid concerns that people will rush to buy medical masks and leave the NHS facing even greater supply shortages.

 

Public Health England recommends face masks for the NHS and in social care settings but does not advise healthy people to wear them outside. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines state that while masks can help prevent people from passing on coronavirus, they are inadequate protection on their own from contracting it.

 

Greenhalgh, on the back of a review on face masks, said homemade versions could dramatically reduce the amount of droplets sprayed from people’s mouths, which can carry the virus if the person is infected.

 

“We should be covering our faces with homespun materials like cotton. Medical-grade masks are scratchy and uncomfortable. Your old T-shirt is soft and nice, and with a couple of layers of kitchen paper inside a double layer, it will reduce the droplets coming out of your mouth and nose by about 95%,” she said.

 

She added: “The public should not and must not divert medical-grade supplies.”

 

There is growing unease over the government’s reluctance to recommend the use of face masks. Doctors across the UK have now backed the Masks4AllUK movement, which argues that people should wear homemade masks when they go out.

 

At a press conference on Friday, the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said that while Sage would look at the evidence, it was “absolutely crucial” that masks were available in hospitals and other high-risk transmission areas.

 

Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents healthcare trusts across England, said the impact on the NHS must be fully assessed. “Fluid-repellent masks for health and care staff are key to safety and to avoid the spread of coronavirus,” he said.

 

“Securing the supply of masks, when there is huge global demand, is crucial. This must be a key consideration for government. There needs to be clear evidence that wearing masks, along with other measures, will deliver significant enough benefits to take us out of lockdown to potentially jeopardise NHS mask supply.”

 

Prof David Heymann, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who chairs an independent advisory group to the WHO emergencies programme that is managing the Covid-19 pandemic, said the purpose of wearing face masks was to prevent the wearer from spreading the virus if they were infected themselves.

 

“Masks should not be worn by the general public to protect themselves as there is evidence that masks do not prevent infection by other respiratory infections such as flu,” he said.

 

“The best way that the general public can support government policy is to understand how to protect themselves and protect others if they are sick or believe they may be infected. This is by physical distancing, social distancing and frequent handwashing.”

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The joint procurement scheme isn't just for ventilators; it's for all relevant medical products and devices, including PPE.

 

And it was obvious in March that the reason we didn't join was politically motivated, when the government said it was because we were "no longer a member of the EU", despite knowing full well that was bullshit and they could still be part of it.

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