CORONAVIRUS

[Placido]

Chancellor promising to do everything to Save The Nation, so that's all right then.
Meanwhile .... the £ has gone through the floor vis a vis the dollar and the euro. Bank of England considering quantitative easing; the last time that happened was under Gordon Brown and we all know how that turned out .
A neighbour went to Morrison's yesterday morning at 7 am and there was a rugby scrum. I drove past an Asda car park at 8.45 this morning and it was barely half full . Difficult to predict all round.

[Kev]

I wouldn't be surprised if 50,000 people had it but very few are being tested at the moment. The company that makes the test kits has run out of the reagents. But if those people are staying home it's not really an issue. They'll be immune in 7 days. My brother's got it but he just feels like he's got a mild cold.

Super super quiet here. We're gradually winding down. Long term experiments have been put on hold and we're just mopping up what's left. We're going to switch to shift work from next week as half the people can handle all the work and then we'll swap after a week and go from there.

[Willpar]

Have been doing some reading, and the Chinese are using a drug called Chloroquine to treat covid 19, and very successfully. Is an anti malaria drug from the 1940s. Is generic and widely available. But they have to be approved like nice do. Can also help prevent people getting the virus in the first place. If it works like that then you would think that rules would be set aside and trial it at once. Waiting for a vaccine could prove too late.

[Kev]

I had no scheduled bookings at work today so I stayed home but got up at 6am to hit Tesco. It was packed!!! Crazy. I managed to get enough to keep me going (no loo roll though but I've got 6 left!).

[Kev]

Just been chatting to my brother who tested positive 4 days ago (now about 7 days post infection).

If you're wondering whether you have Covid or a cold, there is no doubt whatsoever which it is.

Constant dry cough that just sucks the energy out of you, so much so he's been sleeping for almost 2 days. Uncontrollable shivering, very high fevers, drenched in sweat, exhaustion and a runny nose.

[Placido]

That sounds right, Kev !! Commiserations to your brother . "Real" flu is no joke at all.

My next door, 70+ lady, went to Sainsbury's this morning at 7 am (elderly hour only) and said it was worse than Christmas Eve. The car park was heaving, the aisles were packed - couldn't turn round, couldn't cross the aisle, half the shelves were empty and the check-outs were a nightmare. At 8 am 'ordinary' people were flooding in which made matters worse. She says she won't do it again so I'm adding her weekly order to my online order from now on.
That "elderly only" rule won't work - They'll have to think of another way to look after the vulnerable.

Our libraries are closing - but you can take out 30 (!!!!) books to keep you going until heaven only knows when. After about half an hour all the books will be gone at that rate.

[Jacksparrow]

I am venturing out to Tesco tomorrow in the vain hope that something will be left. Tesco are claiming that 0900-1000 will be for pensioners and those at risk only but I 'll admit to having doubts about how well that will work My old uncle ventured into his village shop today but could not find any bread so I'm hoping to get some for him. We'll see.

[Placido]

I learn on Radio 4 News that the insertion of police into supermarkets is on the table due to the growing aggression of the public. Whether that's true I don't know, or whether it's the BBC's usual attempt to keep the pot boiling
Either way, the panic buying shows no sign at all of abating and the strain on supermarket staff must be dreadful.

[Willpar]

Would not surprise me Placi if people are buying an extra chest freezer to pack even more food in. Me I am going for my weekly shop Saturday first thing. My usual time. Will get there around 12 minutes before it opens. If there is a que around the block, then I am coming back home. But will look in Iceland on my way back to the bus stop. Am not fighting . Looking on the bbc online I see there are 7 recorded cases in Plymouth against a population of around 260,000.

[Placido]

I use the NHS telephone prescription order number for my repeat medication - so I rang at 9 am and was told by the automated voice that I was 41 in a queue !! Hung up and tried again at 11 - 39 in the queue. Hung up and tried at 12 noon, 21 in a queue so I hung on and got through, eventually.
It seems that people are even trying to panic about their usual prescription.
I don't know why - they must think the world is going to end by about the end of next week .