UK Coronavirus Discussion

[nekkid]

A lot of army vehicles being mobilised locally to here :/

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The issue is the advice for people to isolate when they're ill. It means that much of the essential resource to keep things ticking will be off ill even without COVID so they're going to need these personnel to replace them - not because of Marshall law or anything.

 

[Punished Dan]

Just has an email from GAME.

Our BELONG gaming arenas remain open as normal.
But don't worry. They're clean.

 

[SuperSah]

Northern Rail are slashing trains now.

Another day in the office and management still refuse to wfh. The bus I am on looks like it has not been cleaned for weeks. Stains and sticky floors everywhere.

 

[Kyuuji]

Channel 4 News on Twitter

“"Everyone's gonna get it, it's just one of those things, you've just got to take it on the chin." Gym-goers in Wolverhampton explain why they are still training, despite government guidance to "avoid large gatherings, and gatherings in smaller public spaces". https://t.co/76Qx1uFYdr”

twitter.com

Everyone's gonna get it innit fam

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Literally parroting Boris lol.

 

[jelly]

I mean to drop the fact that GCSE/A Level students won't have a chance to properly earn their grade, "assure" them it'll be okay, then provide no guidance as to how is absolutely shocking.

Healthcare. Education. I hope people remember this.

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Labour would be worse etc. People are idiots. My parents included.

 

[Garfield]

Be interesting to see the key worker list when it comes out, I suspect it will be a lot bigger and include retail workers, cleaners etc... could be a situation where 50% of kids still qualify to go to school..

 

[SuperSah]

Italy officially extended its lockdown now.

I hope this informs our Government to do the right thing - for everyone.

 

[IDreamOfHime]

Just has an email from GAME.

Our BELONG gaming arenas remain open as normal.
But don't worry. They're clean.

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GAME won't be around when this is all over.

 

[SuperSah]

GAME won't be around when this is all over.

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lol, sure. they keep bouncing back.

 

[Eighthours]

It's not shut completely. Just a temporary shut down. Communication has been poor at the moment, so I'm hoping something has been lost in translation. Either way, difficult times ahead.

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SSP is only for people who are actually ill or forced to self-isolate due to Coronavirus. A company saying they're not operating for a bit has got nothing to do with SSP at all. I'm glad the staff will be paid something, mind, even if the company are being complete idiots and essentially committing fraud.

 

[savageturnip]

lol, sure. they keep bouncing back.

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Not sure they will from this. Without adequate cash injection from owners or banking facilities their cash flow is going to be a real problem and not all debts will be deferred regardless of government support packages. Especially when you consider that the impact this will have on retail in the long term will probably take 2 fold the time to recover.

I work for another retail business in the head office function and can see us having a 50/50 chance at best of getting through this if the eventual lockdown lasts longer than 15 days.

 

[Azurik]

Channel 4 News on Twitter

“"Everyone's gonna get it, it's just one of those things, you've just got to take it on the chin." Gym-goers in Wolverhampton explain why they are still training, despite government guidance to "avoid large gatherings, and gatherings in smaller public spaces". https://t.co/76Qx1uFYdr”

twitter.com

Everyone's gonna get it innit fam

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Let natural selection take its course :)

 

[SuperSah]

Not sure they will from this. Without adequate cash injection from owners or banking facilities their cash flow is going to be a real problem and not all debts will be deferred regardless of government support packages. Especially when you consider that the impact this will have on retail in the long term will probably take 2 fold the time to recover.

I work for another retail business in the head office function and can see us having a 50/50 chance at best of getting through this if the eventual lockdown lasts longer than 15 days.

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For some reason people love bailing GAME out. It will happen again and again for the foreseeable future.

Any lockdown won't happen outside of London. They'll operate fine given London is like 10% of the total land mass of the UK.

 

[Kittens McMittens]

I bloody hate the tories but it's finally nice to see one of them finally realise what they did was wrong.

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He knew it was wrong at the time. He did it anyway for political gain.

 

[Gawge]

Needed some bread, so popped out this morning before starting work (WFH) to get a loaf. Queues around the block to get in the local big Sainsbury's, Tesco and Aldi (thankfully all a very short walk from each other, so not too much trekking).

Thankfully M&S had a few left and no queues.

I half hoped after a lot of panic buying at the weekend, that there wouldn't be as much of a panic - but it only seems to be getting worse now.

 

[nekkid]

Let natural selection take its course :)

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They're in a gym - not exactly an at-risk demographic.

 

[Ludon Bear]

Let natural selection take its course :)

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But those people, even if they get the virus, will properly not suffer many consequences. The people around them will ...

 

[Orbis]

Needed some bread, so popped out this morning before starting work (WFH) to get a loaf. Queues around the block to get in the local big Sainsbury's, Tesco and Aldi (thankfully all a very short walk from each other, so not too much trekking).

Thankfully M&S had a few left and no queues.

I half hoped after a lot of panic buying at the weekend, that there wouldn't be as much of a panic - but it only seems to be getting worse now.

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I managed to get some brioche rolls in Aldi yesterday but that's the first bread I've seen at all in 3 supermarket trips.

Morrisons was a joke, there were empty shelves on almost every aisle. No fruit and veg, meat or poultry, pasta, bread, tinned food, frozen food except some rather sad looking ready meals I ended up having to buy as a source of meat.

 

[JeTmAn]

Just has an email from GAME.

Our BELONG gaming arenas remain open as normal.
But don't worry. They're clean.

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This reminds me of one of the local casinos. "We're staying open, don't worry we're cleaning all the time! Please still waste your money here." Then one of their staff members tested positive and they shut down.

 

[Punished Dan]

Well the food shop from ASDA we placed on Saturday is coming.

Toilet roll ✅
Hand soap (substituted for Mr Men antibacterial lol)✅
Bread ✅
Pasta ✅

Those were the main things I was worried about.

Only thing that's been substituted for something a bit left field is the anti bac spray. We're getting CIF kitchen cleaner but as long as its anti bac that's fine.

 

[Arkanim94]

So they still don't want to call a serious lockdown.

Should I believe that there reaware less than 3000 cases?

 

[Fishook]

Northern Rail are slashing trains now.

Another day in the office and management still refuse to wfh. The bus I am on looks like it has not been cleaned for weeks. Stains and sticky floors everywhere.

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Not surprising about trains as they have been dead for the last week or so, I am sat in a Booking Office just doing Season Tickets refunds not selling very many tickets at the moment.. Also train crew planning is a lot more complicated than people think.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

I'm a bit conflicted, it seems like my partner and I may have already had it in mid/late January after a trip to Paris and now afterwards, I'm wondering whether I should enjoy the outside more rather than stay cooped in at home.

 

[Fatoy]

Labour would be worse etc. People are idiots. My parents included.

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I didn't vote Conservative and never have, but you've got to be semi-realistic here. Any plan for students to still earn their qualifications - whether it's modelled on predicted grades or handled some other way - needs to be absolutely airtight. It's not something you can cobble together in a couple of weeks to make people feel better.

I understand that students need reassurance, but we cannot have a situation where, in a few years' time, the workforce is full of people whose actual qualifications are difficult or impossible to ascertain.

Yes, the disruption to the GCSE / A Level students is horrendous. But so is the disruption to everything else. The employers that today's students were hoping to work for may have all folded by summertime.

The cuts to the NHS and social care in the name of "austerity" are legitimate reasons to loathe the Conservative government, but getting mad because Boris and co. can't come up with a viable way to manage exams right now just seems petty.

 

[Fatoy]

I'm a bit conflicted, it seems like my partner and I may have already had it in mid/late January after a trip to Paris and now afterwards, I'm wondering whether I should enjoy the outside more rather than stay cooped in at home.

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Unless you know for sure, I'd play it safe - for the sake of others. By all means go for a hike or something if you're not going to come into close contact with anyone else, but otherwise I'd still be practicing social distancing in your shoes.

 

[Plasma]

Well the food shop from ASDA we placed on Saturday is coming.

Toilet roll ✅
Hand soap (substituted for Mr Men antibacterial lol)✅
Bread ✅
Pasta ✅

Those were the main things I was worried about.

Only thing that's been substituted for something a bit left field is the anti bac spray. We're getting CIF kitchen cleaner but as long as its anti bac that's fine.

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If it doesn't have a picture of Mr Messy on it you should just tell them to take it back.

 

[Rory]

I'm a bit conflicted, it seems like my partner and I may have already had it in mid/late January after a trip to Paris and now afterwards, I'm wondering whether I should enjoy the outside more rather than stay cooped in at home.

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It is not known if you can get reinfected by other strains or even the same virus after a certain time.

 

[RyanPrime_]

I'm really not looking forward to this weekend. I am expecting my pub to still be busy and full of families.

Older people are still coming in for their refillable coffee as usual. All the 11am drinkers. There is no reasoning.

If a Lockdown does happen, it needs to be everywhere and not just London. People arent listening.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

It is not known if you can get reinfected by other strains or even the same virus after a certain time.

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This is true I suppose - its just irritating that 111 wouldn't test back when we were pretty sure, I even mentioned here and here.

Guess we'll continue to hang out at home, pop to Hampstead Heath for a weekend walk at least.

 

[SuperSah]

So they still don't want to call a serious lockdown.

Should I believe that there reaware less than 3000 cases?

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They won't do it.

 

[Arkanim94]

They won't do it.

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Why even do half assed measures then lol.

 

[Azraes]

I had a typed up response got distracted and fell asleep (it's been a bit of a manic week advising businesses on how to stay afloat and maintain their supply chains to say the least).

London being locked down first is not about not giving a shit about the rest of the country. London needs to be locked down due to infection rate (and of course it has the highest of that and deaths at the moment) and there's also the simple fact that the population there is nearly 1/6th (9M approx) of the population of the UK (63M approx) and about 1/5th of England (and larger than both Scotland and Wales). If we take the greater metropolitan area that's around 12M. It would be irresponsible of the media to report a lockdown early and also for people to leak lockdown procedures because people will leave London to other areas (as some are already doing thanks to news and rumours). A London lockdown can also inspire fear hopefully but if London isn't locked down before the nation, then people will just travel within the country and spread it further because you can bet people will just head elsewhere despite a nationwide lockdown. The next urban area for lockdown would be Birmingham from what I've heard if that's how the infection grows or a total national shutdown if it's at that point of infection. The entire country is just heavily populated in the cities+surrounding urban areas and sparsely populated elsewhere and you don't want the spread to get to areas where thanks to the current government there's less than adequate healthcare facilities.

It is equally irresponsible of people and non-essential businesses to keep insisting on travel. As is travel in the city was already reduced silently before these announcements. That's why despite tubes and buses running at 50% and 19% the usual capacity were full. Yesterday's conference was a part veiled threat of the lockdown due to people congregating a lot. You will find transportation getting stopped unnannounced and in rapid succession so that people won't be able to escape and spread it everywhere like they've done in Italy. It is happening right now. People should stay at home and avoid travel because lockdown will come at whatever pace they decide. I suspect the plan was a sudden announcement on Saturday/Sunday when the train schedules are lower as is. If it's moved earlier means the infection rate has reached a point that it's critical.

 

[John Doe]

I bloody hate the tories but it's finally nice to see one of them finally realise what they did was wrong.

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He knew it back then, these people aren't stupid, just greedy.

 

[Garfield]

I'm really not looking forward to this weekend. I am expecting my pub to still be busy and full of families.

Older people are still coming in for their refillable coffee as usual. All the 11am drinkers. There is no reasoning.

If a Lockdown does happen, it needs to be everywhere and not just London. People arent listening.

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TBH you should be thankful as it is keeping you in a job. And that is where we are 100 of thousands of people are about to lose their jobs.

 

[Gavin Robertson]

Worryingly, hearing that Tesco and B&M are offering their staff a two week bonus if they don't need to self isolate during this. Isn't that just incentivising people to do the wrong thing?

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

In other infuriating news, clearly the BBC weren't clear enough in the fake news stories and my mum seems to think that they were saying the 'don't take ibuprofen' stories are true.

 

[Principate]

He knew it back then, these people aren't stupid, just greedy.

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Of course he did, but at least he's done so publically so it can be used against them in the future when they try it again.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Definitely getting scared. I'm looking at 20% hour reduction in the short term for now - software developer - I have twins, and their daycare is now closed as of Friday and I'll have to keep paying, and paying rent, etc.

no idea how I'm going to get through this.

 

[Megabreath]

My workplace got an email from HQ saying that it is a "necessity" to take off all staff on zero hours.

Luckily at the moment i am living at home saving for a mortgage deposit, but many of my colleagues have families and rely on it, my company alone employs over 10,000 people across the country, there has to be some form of payment to staff out of work ASAP.

 

[Gernau Morat Gurgeh]

He knew it back then, these people aren't stupid, just greedy.

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Why not both

 

[iapetus]

Let natural selection take its course :)

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This attitude is about as healthy as the one they're showing. Fine, let them get the coronavirus. What about all the people who then unwittingly come into contact with them? What about their families? What if they do get a serious case and end up in ICU, taking up a bed that someone else needs?

Really the take-home from this is that some people aren't going to follow advice until either something happens that affects them personally or it's made compulsory and enforced.

 

[nekkid]

Definitely getting scared. I'm looking at 20% hour reduction in the short term for now - software developer - I have twins, and their daycare is now closed as of Friday and I'll have to keep paying, and paying rent, etc.

no idea how I'm going to get through this.

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All to save a bunch of gammons who don't give a shit anyway.

 

[Dervius]

All to save a bunch of gammons who don't give a shit anyway.

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Shit take.

 

[Kittens McMittens]

So they still don't want to call a serious lockdown.

Should I believe that there reaware less than 3000 cases?

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I can't find the link, but I saw some graphs by an epidemiologist on Twittter a few weeks ago. They showed that because of the incubation period and the fact that only the serious cases tend to present to medical professionals, in Wuhan the 'real' curve was about 10x the official number. Apparently that was true for SK and Italy as well. So, if the official count is 3k there are probably about 30k people out there with it and that number is increasing by about a third every day.

 

[Fatoy]

All to save a bunch of gammons who don't give a shit anyway.

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That's some cask-strength community spirit right there.

 

[SuperSah]

The discontent at work is growing tremendously

Christ almighty

 

[MrCibb]

Was talking to one of the beepy lasses at ASDA yesterday, said one of her colleagues got physically assaulted because a customer didn't want to stick with the "only 3 per customer" rule they're now enforcing on certain goods, had literally emptied a shelf and fought off staff trying to confiscate the trolley.

People sure are cunts.

 

[Deleted member 31104]

In other infuriating news, clearly the BBC weren't clear enough in the fake news stories and my mum seems to think that they were saying the 'don't take ibuprofen' stories are true.

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Depends on what you mean, there's a bunch of lurid stories about ibuprofen going about which are false, but the advice from the BMJ and NHS is not to use ibuprofen if you have COVID19 symptoms unless you've been proscribed it for another condition and in that case speak to your doctor. This isn't based on any studies about COVID19's interaction with ibuprofen but on some partial evidence from China and Italy along with some studies about ibuprofen in other respiratory illness.

Ibuprofen

There is currently no strong evidence that ibuprofen can make coronavirus (COVID-19) worse.

But until we have more information, take paracetamol to treat the symptoms of coronavirus, unless your doctor has told you paracetamol is not suitable for you.

If you are already taking ibuprofen or another non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) on the advice of a doctor, do not stop taking it without checking first.

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[Orbis]

So they still don't want to call a serious lockdown.

Should I believe that there reaware less than 3000 cases?

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The government already suggested it's at least 10x higher than the confirmed count.

 

[Principate]

All to save a bunch of gammons who don't give a shit anyway.

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It's not really all for them even though it's more than worthwhile for that alone. Left unchecked it would bring the NHS to it's knees which means it doesn't matter if you get coronavirus or something else your mortality rate when admitted into a hospital will increase and you may in fact catch Coronavirus there.