Coronavirus

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

8 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

Trump : "Our people want to go back to work. I'm hearing it loud and clear from everybody."

 

Everybody.

 

First class fucking loon.

We’re loons, he’s an out and out fucking sociopath.

[Anubis]

Speaking of loons...

 

 

 

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

Just now, Anubis said:

Speaking of loons...

 

 

 

To be fair, they are yer classical loons, what with the calendar and shit.

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

Get on this utterly fucking snide, arse licking Tory bellwhiff:

 

 

people are Ill and dying unnecessarily including medical staff, and you get utter fucking gobshites like this tru g to curry favour on a fucking job website.

seriously, how empty has your soul got to be to turn in something like this.

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

1 hour ago, davelfc said:

Give it a few more weeks....

Not even in fishnets mate, standards have to be maintained I mean, he’s a fucking fascist. 

[Anubis]

 

 

[Anubis]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/27/millions-to-need-food-aid-in-days-as-virus-exposes-uk-supply

 

Millions of people in the UK will need food aid in the coming days, food charities are warning, as the coronavirus outbreak threatens to quickly spiral into a crisis of hunger unless the government acts immediately to reinvent the way we feed ourselves.

 

In just a few weeks, experts say, the pandemic has exposed the extraordinary fragility of the food system. And they worry whether it will withstand the growing pressures expected in the coming weeks and months.

 

Supermarket distribution systems, based on “just in time” supply chains, are struggling to cope with a sudden surge in demand since Covid-19 took hold. The most pressing concern is finding a way to feed the country’s most vulnerable and isolated people.

 

Figures produced by the Food Foundationusing government statistics suggest some 17 million people fall into the higher risk category for coronavirus because they are elderly, have underlying health conditions, or are pregnant. At least 860,000 people in this category were already struggling to afford enough food before the crisis. And at least 1 million of them report always or often being lonely, and therefore may struggle to find people to deliver food to them.

 

 

Anna Taylor, the Food Foundation’s director, said that between 4 million and 7 million people in lower risk categories are also affected by severe food insecurity or loneliness, so having to self-isolate could tip them into crisis.

 

“These numbers show the massive scale of the food aid challenge from Covid-19,” she said. “Government leadership to deliver a properly coordinated response with local authorities, charities and businesses is desperately needed.”

Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, and a former government adviser, said ministers have worked on the assumption that feeding Britain can be left to the market and big retailers. While ministers have been in discussion with supermarket chief executives during the pandemic, Lang argues they are failing to grasp the structural weaknesses in the food system and the scale of food poverty.
 

“The official line has been that it’s all seamless and would be fine if only stupid consumers would stop panic buying. It is not,” he said. “The just in time system is breaking. Government were only talking to a narrow range of people in industry rather than local authorities and community groups, who know where vulnerable people are.”

 

Lang added: “Borders are closing, lorries are being slowed down and checked. We only produce 53% of our own food in the UK. It’s a failure of government to plan.”

In normal times, about 30% of calories are eaten outside the home each day, in restaurants, cafes and canteens. The lockdown has significantly increased the amount of food people are eating at home, most of which is sourced from supermarkets.

 

Shortages have eased in recent days, but many products are still out of stock and supermarket shelves are unlikely to look the way they usually do for a long time.

“Some £1bn extra food and groceries were bought by households in the last two to three weeks. That’s like Christmas but worse because it’s gone on for three times as long,” said Andrew Opie, director of food at the British Retail Consortium, the supermarket trade association.

 

The problem, Opie says, is “sheer logistics”. There is food, but not the capacity in terms of trucks, drivers, packers and pickers in warehouses to deliver it faster. Supermarkets are recruiting thousands more workers, running trucks through what used to be curfew hours, and editing down their ranges so there is less choice. “We’re nowhere near a wartime economy but supermarkets will not look the way they did in 2019 [for the foreseeable future],” Opie added.

 

Supermarkets have built supply chains of immense complexity and sophistication over the last four decades, affording customers a choice of more than 40,000 lines from around the world – from dozens of different kinds of pasta to a permanent global summertime of fresh fruits and vegetables.

 

They have done this by developing long international supply chains and keeping little actually in stock. Shelf space is constantly replenished from centralised distribution centres where, every 24 hours, thousands of products are trucked in from suppliers to be unloaded, reorganised, reloaded and sent out again to stores.

The logistics are controlled by barcode scanning and complex algorithms, with little slack in the system, so a sudden rise in demand can be unmanageable.

The consequences of a disrupted supply chain will be most acute for the millions in households whose incomes are so low that they have depended on food banks or free meals at school or in daycare centres, which have now closed.
 

Local authorities and other food poverty organisations who want to step in to deliver food directly to vulnerable people have expressed frustration at the lack of clear guidance or funding from central government. They are calling for ministers to keep alternative networks to the supermarkets open, and to use the army if necessary to make sure food reaches them.

 

“Food banks will not be able to cope with the extremely high level of need and are not the answer when people are being asked to minimise contact with others,” said Kath Dalmeny, head of Sustain, the food and farming alliance. “The most important thing is for the government to staunch the flow of people needing food aid by giving low-income households money directly to buy it for themselves.”

 

She added: “We may need the army to oversee biosecurity as caterers, for example in school kitchens, supply hubs and to enforce social distancing as people collect food from them.”

 

If you have been affected or have any information, we'd like to hear from you. You can get in touch by filling in the form below, anonymously if you wish or contact us via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056. Only the Guardian can see your contributions and one of our journalists may contact you to discuss further. 

 

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced last weekend that the government had identified some 1.5 million people in England who were most vulnerable to Covid-19 and was advising them to stay at home at all times over the next 12 weeks, promising that military planners would be helping to set up a new system to deliver food to those who did not have family support.

 

The first wave of food parcels is expected to go out soon to about 300,000 people identified from prescriptions, but the Food Foundation said these represented just “the tip of the iceberg” of need.

 

The government has also been working on a scheme for parents of the 1.6 million children who had been on free school meals, with vouchers which can be redeemed in supermarkets. Campaigners, however, argue the vouchers should be usable for nutritionally-balanced meals from school kitchens, which could be kept open.

 

They point out that this would also make use of the tonnes of food that got stuck in the wholesale system when companies that supply pubs, bar, cafes and restaurants were forced to close and lost their business overnight.

 

This stock cannot be diverted to retailers because it is packed in bulk and labelled in the wrong way. “The whole food service sector is working hard to find a way to get this food to market, but you are asking it to redesign a whole supply chain in real time. It’s not like throwing a switch,” said Andrew Kuyk, director general of the Provision Trade Federation.

 

The industry can see other threats on the near horizon. The British food system is largely built on a cheap and highly flexible labour force, which can be turned on and off like a tap. Now that is drying up as Brexit, travel restrictions and fear of illness are keeping away the migrants who have typically done that work.

 

Out–of–work Britons have been responding to calls from farmers and food processors to plug the gaps with a new land army, but with the harvest season only weeks off, many labour providers say they are still facing huge shortages. The British Meat Processors Association has also warned that red meat and poultry factories are at risk of serious disruption if, as predicted, up to 20% of their staff go sick or into quarantine.

 

The London borough of Newham, an area with high food insecurity, is one of several local authorities that has been scrambling over the last week to set up a new food distribution system.

 

It is creating around eight new hubs from which children in low-income families and isolated adults can have food delivered to their doors. “We have the data to identify people who are likely to be struggling and have mobilised staff,” said its director of public health, Jason Strelitz, but the council was still waiting for government to commit money.

 

 

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

South Africa just announced first 2 deaths.

 

 

[cloggypop]

4 hours ago, Nunavut Patrick said:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-us-wont-post-troops-at-canadian-border-ottawa-says-it-strongly/

 

 

VICTORY!

SOON AS TRUMP HEARD STACKSY AND I WERE ON IT THEY BACKED DOWN!

 

TWO BORDER WARS

ONE WORLD POUTINE

 

 

They aboot turned. 

[Creator Supreme]

Just heard from an old mate who works in the NHS on Merseyside, reckons the next two weeks are going to be bleak. Lack of trained staff, lack of critical care beds and equipment are going to have a huge effect in the next fortnight.

 

Not clear if they're expecting the infection rates to rise, but the death rates are another matter. I hope he's just looking at worst case.

 

I'm not liking this shit one little bit.

[Elite]

My chest is a lot worse today, every deep breathe I feel a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest. I phoned 111 last night and they said it's a common symptom and it should pass.

[Oh Buoy]

10 minutes ago, Elite said:

My chest is a lot worse today, every deep breathe I feel a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest. I phoned 111 last night and they said it's a common symptom and it should pass.

 

RIP YNWA etc

[elvis]

Possible ray of hope perhaps?

 

https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2020/03/26/blood-transfusions-from-coronavirus-survivors-being-tested-as-potential-treatment-in-madrid/

[clockspeed]

1 hour ago, 1892-LFCWasBorn said:

South Africa just announced first 2 deaths.

 

 

Years of corrupt government pre and post apartheid I think this could turn messy.

[Spy Bee]

16 minutes ago, elvis said:

Possible ray of hope perhaps?

 

https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2020/03/26/blood-transfusions-from-coronavirus-survivors-being-tested-as-potential-treatment-in-madrid/

How much blood do they need to infuse someone with?

 

[Barrington Womble]

11 hours ago, Rico1304 said:

No. 
 

are you saying that the deaths are under reported now, or will be from now on?  I haven’t seen anything saying the dead aren’t tested but will happily read it.  If they aren’t tested but classed as Corona deaths does it matter? 

There's been stuff in this very thread from a forum member who's family member was deemed to have pneumonia and they never tested them. There's been people all over twitter saying exactly the same. If you can't be bothered looking or you choose to ignore what's in front of you, I can't help you. 

[M_B]

28 minutes ago, Elite said:

My chest is a lot worse today, every deep breathe I feel a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest. I phoned 111 last night and they said it's a common symptom and it should pass.

I had that. Plus a slight headache, but nothing else at all. Still got the cough but the pains have gone.

[Elite]

6 minutes ago, M_B said:

I had that. Plus a slight headache, but nothing else at all. Still got the cough but the pains have gone.

How long did they take to go mate?

[Champ]

45 minutes ago, Creator Supreme said:

Just heard from an old mate who works in the NHS on Merseyside, reckons the next two weeks are going to be bleak. Lack of trained staff, lack of critical care beds and equipment are going to have a huge effect in the next fortnight.

 

Not clear if they're expecting the infection rates to rise, but the death rates are another matter. I hope he's just looking at worst case.

 

I'm not liking this shit one little bit.

My neighbour is a practice nurse in a GP surgery. We messaged last night. She told me she was being redirected into community palliative care. Absolutely chilling

[elvis]

19 minutes ago, Spy Bee said:

How much blood do they need to infuse someone with?

 

Dunno . 

Don't shoot the messenger!

[RedPaul]

1 hour ago, 1892-LFCWasBorn said:

South Africa just announced first 2 deaths.

 

 

It's looking a bit grim sadly, over 1000 cases now and starting to rise more quickly. A lot of the initial cases were imports from travellers from Europe, the UK being one of the main exporters (why is the UK border STILL open??). So they banned travel from the UK and other high risk countries. Then a week later as cases have started to increase more rapidly and with evidence of local transmission, to be fair the government here has taken quick and very decisive measures to try and hopefully stem the spread. Whatever your politics, the president gave an authoritative and clearly explained speech which I feel has galvanisied the population to an extent. He showed true leadership in his words (unlike one or two others around the world I can think of...). There was no ambiguity, just clear, well-presented instructions. International air space is now closed.

 

We have started a proper full on lockdown here for 3 weeks ( I suspect it will be more), not even allowed out to parks and stuff. Only reason to leave is for food, medical and if you are an essential worker to keep the country running. It's scary though as obviously there are lots of high density settlements and a high % with HIV, a number of whom are not receiving treartment. If this virus gets into any of those groups it could start to get really grim. I'm here working and there is talk of an evac back home if the healthcare side of things gets overwhelmed. But there is little evidence of major panic buying. We went to the shop yesterday and very few people were buying excessively. Plus there was a queuing system and the elderly were given priority.

 

There has been some social media stuff which has turned a bit anti-european, we are receiving the blame for introducing the virus into the country. Hoping that that doesn't create any security issues here.

 

Anyway, look after yourselves back home and I am hoping that these lockdown measures here will have been in time to prevent a health crisis.

[Dougie Do'ins]

49 minutes ago, Elite said:

My chest is a lot worse today, every deep breathe I feel a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest. I phoned 111 last night and they said it's a common symptom and it should pass.

Should have told them your name was Charles Windsor. 

[elvis]

10 minutes ago, Champ said:

My neighbour is a practice nurse in a GP surgery. We messaged last night. She told me she was being redirected into community palliative care. Absolutely chilling

Hopefully that's because surgeries aren't opening as much and practice nurses wouldn't be in such demand ? If local palliative care team have been hit by the virus then this might explain the need for back-up

[clockspeed]

3 minutes ago, RedPaul said:

It's looking a bit grim sadly, over 1000 cases now and starting to rise more quickly. A lot of the initial cases were imports from travellers from Europe, the UK being one of the main exporters (why is the UK border STILL open??). So they banned travel from the UK and other high risk countries. Then a week later as cases have started to increase more rapidly and with evidence of local transmission, to be fair the government here has taken quick and very decisive measures to try and hopefully stem the spread. Whatever your politics, the president gave an authoritative and clearly explained speech which I feel has galvanisied the population to an extent. He showed true leadership in his words (unlike one or two others around the world I can think of...). There was no ambiguity, just clear, well-presented instructions. International air space is now closed.

 

We have started a proper full on lockdown here for 3 weeks ( I suspect it will be more), not even allowed out to parks and stuff. Only reason to leave is for food, medical and if you are an essential worker to keep the country running. It's scary though as obviously there are lots of high density settlements and a high % with HIV, a number of whom are not receiving treartment. If this virus gets into any of those groups it could start to get really grim. I'm here working and there is talk of an evac back home if the healthcare side of things gets overwhelmed. But there is little evidence of major panic buying. We went to the shop yesterday and very few people were buying excessively. Plus there was a queuing system and the elderly were given priority.

 

There has been some social media stuff which has turned a bit anti-european, we are receiving the blame for introducing the virus into the country. Hoping that that doesn't create any security issues here.

 

Anyway, look after yourselves back home and I am hoping that these lockdown measures here will have been in time to prevent a health crisis.

Look after yourself have relatives who keeping me informed. An option is to come home but at the minute no real difference. The difference as you say will be when the health service becomes overwhelmed. 

[PestiRed]

We are in a lockdown (sort of). Everyone must stay at home except for essentials and basic errands. Food shops and pharmacies will be open to over 65’s from 9-12 every morning and no one else. Over 65’s can only go at this time. That bit is clear and good. You are not allowed to be within 1.5m of anyone else. Also you can be fined €1,400 if you break the rules - also clear and good
 

The not so clear bit is the list of exclusions and how you prove to the police that you have one of them

 

Quote

 

Leaving home ("place of residence or stay, private residence") is allowed for the following purposes:

• Work,
• Taking children to daycare,
• Fulfilling medical needs,
• Individual sports activities and recreational walks,
• Weddings and funerals,
• Shopping for groceries, medication, pet food, drugstore items, tobacco, and fuel,
• Administrative procedures that require personal presence,
• Walking pets and caring for animals,
• Fulfilling parental rights and obligations,
• Participating in religious activities,
• Having haircuts and manicures,
• Cleaning and hygienic services,
• Car and bicycle repair services, 
• Veterinary services,
• Postal, shipping, banking, financial, and insurance services,
• Providing assistance to those who are unable to take care of themselves

 

• .