Corona virus

[dog-man]

Just come back from my local large Tesco store.
On the shelf there is a sign saying no more than 5 tins of beans.
Fair enough, I took 5. At the checkout I was told very curtly that only two cans per shop. I tried to explain nicely that the sign above the beans states 5 cans but she would not listen. I didn't want an argument and I appreciate that she has probably got a load of abuse from some since the outbreak.

Plenty of nappies this time. Not much canned stuff available, no pasta, no toilet rolls or kitchen roll. There were loads of gaps in many areas of the store. We only popped in for a few things so didn't have a good look around.

[CokeAddict]

Just went to the co-op (end of my street) to grab something to drink, some snacks and some air freshener.

They had 1 can of air freshener left, no bog roll, 3 packs of kitchen roll, no coca cola, no bottles of water, no bread, hardly any milk, not many tins of anything other than soup, hardly any packs (4 bars) of chocolate left.

[dog-man]

Just listening to Boris on the radio and he was asked why when the World Health Organisation are saying all countries should be testing and we are not.
He just avoided the question and rambled on about other things.

I know why we are not testing. The NHS can't bloody cope, and he knows it and is scared that it will collapse and the Tories will lose votes.
The Tories are now reaping what they sowed.

[mrdude]

Just listening to Boris on the radio and he was asked why when the World Health Organisation are saying all countries should be testing and we are not.
He just avoided the question and rambled on about other things.

I know why we are not testing. The NHS can't bloody cope, and he knows it and is scared that it will collapse and the Tories will lose votes.
The Tories are now reaping what they sowed.

Keep politics out of this - it's against forum rules. Keep on topic - this thread is about Covid-19, not about governments. (Rule 14)

[crabber]

Yes I was tempted to respond but restrained myself as I would like to see the thread kept open.
As I am so lucky to spend quite a bit of time in Australia in our winter I can compare the media coverage in both countries, in the UK all we ever seem to hear is how dreadful the NHS is, underfunded etc where as in Australia the media tend to praise everything including their health service. We were constantly told how they are "leading the world in vaccine development" and how well placed they are to deal with the outbreak. Our neighbour is a nurse in casualty at the local hospital, she took us to the airport yesterday and was astonished when we asked her about how well the system was coping. Apparently all intensive care beds are full even before any cases of covid-19 have appeared, she said she does not know how they will cope and that management give the staff no back up as regard making a decision about who deserves treatment the most urgently. So the moral of my tale is that you may not be able to believe everything you hear on the news.

Edit as a matter of interest I am writing this in Dubai waiting for a flight back to Stansted, the airport here normally bustling 24 hours a day has areas roped off with people in hazard suits directing passengers. At present they seem to be interested in anyone returning to USA, I have no idea why unless I have missed a tweet from that well known world leader!

[catseye]

This virus situation has bought out the worse in some
Today i popped in supermarket
As usual shelves empty etc
An old fella was struggling to grab one of few remaining packets of bog rolls left
So did the right thing & got him one
Then a young women in her 20's
Dashed past & filled the trolley with the remaining stock
Me & the old fella looked on at her actions
I found the security guard & reported her
He said she would have to put most back as restrictions on amount

What a selfish horrible bitch
Sums up whats wrong with this bloody country at the moment

[CokeAddict]

This virus situation has bought out the worse in some
Today i popped in supermarket
As usual shelves empty etc
An old fella was struggling to grab one of few remaining packets of bog rolls left
So did the right thing & got him one
Then a young women in her 20's
Dashed past & filled the trolley with the remaining stock
Me & the old fella looked on at her actions
I found the security guard & reported her
He said she would have to put most back as restrictions on amount

What a selfish horrible bitch
Sums up whats wrong with this bloody country at the moment

Nipped into our Tesco super-store earlier to grab a few bits and pieces.

No bread at all (fresh or otherwise).
No fresh meat other than 2 steaks and 1 chicken
No fruit or veg at all
No microwave meals
No toilet rolls anywhere
3 packs of kitchen roll
No cereals
No ketchup, mayo, vinegar etc
No biscuits
4 packs of lion bars, 3 packs of twixs and a handful of packs of kitkat chunky's left
No pepsi max
24 tins of Heinz Mushroom soup left
Freezer section was pretty much bare
No soap, hand sanitiser etc etc
No milk at all
Not much butter / marg

Everyone was walking around with pretty much empty trolley's looking at the shelves and muttering this is pathetic.

[Barney]

it is pathetic ...shops need to limit each customer very strict that's what they done now in my local shops in Eire
the madness and pure greed and selfishness was pretty pathetic and needed something done .
Also perspex glass at all tills and in all the butcher departments and all supermarket staff required to wear disposable gloves
Conveyor belts at tills are being sprayed before and after each customer so there is no drama and rushing about like retards , people are happy to wait longer than normal as shops are steadily being fully stocked up and staying that way too , a little common sense,patience and respect is being implemented for everyone's good that is what badly needs to happen in both UK and N.I proper safety measures which take so little effort but mindless greedy and selfish people will never understand or comprehend this fact it needs to be enforced upon them , [ a d u l t s ] should behave as such and be seen to set a far better example than they currently are doing , retardation is just a very lame excuse for whats going on at the moment and no consideration for the people that are in desperate need of essential stuff there needs to be help lines set up and proper support for those that have real mental health issues and are out there panic buying trying to cause a famine
COVID-19 will only go away when things are done right and much better examples are being set its not rocket science : )

[saintomer1866]

"shops need to limit each customer very strict"
exactly what my local supermarket is doing now,
They refused to sell me 5 tins of baked beans because there is now a limit of 4 items,
however they have no problem in selling me 16 tins of the same baked beans in 4 x 4 pack
go figure.

[dog-man]

As from tomorrow morning, Tesco will only sell 3 of each item per customer.
No more multibuy deals.

I am happy with that, better late than never but I hope that doesn't include beer. I have yet to do my beer shop for the weekend.
I might have to stay sober!

[JOE.MADDISON]

just tried home delivery,with three supermarkets,no joy,first available 29/03

[CokeAddict]

just tried home delivery,with three supermarkets,no joy,first available 29/03

Morrisons are taking on 3500 new staff, so they can up there home delivery service.

[crabber]

We are safely home after enduring two flights with many people sneezing and coughing, several of them not into a tissue or their elbow. We had no food in the house and as has been reported earlier Tesco home delivery was not available until April. We stopped in a Tesco store in North Norfolk and were relieved to find that although there were gaps in the shelves we were able to buy almost all of what we needed so quite a relief. Perhaps the panic hasn't quite reached our sleepy part of the world.
As a follow up to our neighbour who is a nurse taking us to the airport I thought you may be interested in the decisions that health staff fear making.
A patient on a respirator at her hospital was a woman of only 26 who weighed 180 Kilos. Normally health systems treat you equally whether you are 9 or 90 and make no judgement on your lifestyle.
The problem when beds and equipment are in short supply is do they continue to treat all people the same? it must be a nightmare for them, I suppose if you had to decide between someone at the end of their lives compared to a young person the decision would be fairly obvious but what about lifestyle choices. Say you had two patients of the same age both needing the only remaining respirator, one could be a doctor while the other could be using crime to fund a drug habit, who would get it then?
Edit I have been sent a link to a you tube video that claims all you need do is to heat your sinus with a hair dryer to kill corona virus, I expect many of you have seen it? I haven't bothered to watch, perhaps I should?

[CokeAddict]

Edit I have been sent a link to a you tube video that claims all you need do is to heat your sinus with a hair dryer to kill corona virus, I expect many of you have seen it? I haven't bothered to watch, perhaps I should?

It's a myth (was discussed on the tv here yesterday), they basically said that you would have to sit there with the hair dryer on hot against your nostrils 24/7 and that doing so would cause you far more harm than the coronavirus would.

[dog-man]

My GP surgery is clearly overwhelmed by this virus.
My wife has recently discovered that she has internal bleeding. It's quite prolific at times. She was sent for a blood test and the result came back today.
When she phoned for it, she was told all levels normal except for one which is very low.
She now has to wait 3 weeks for a GP to phone her to discuss it.

She is now worried sick that she has cancer. I shall be busy trying to keep her calm over the next 3 weeks.

[CokeAddict]

My GP surgery is clearly overwhelmed by this virus.
My wife has recently discovered that she has internal bleeding. It's quite prolific at times. She was sent for a blood test and the result came back today.
When she phoned for it, she was told all levels normal except for one which is very low.
She now has to wait 3 weeks for a GP to phone her to discuss it.

She is now worried sick that she has cancer. I shall be busy trying to keep her calm over the next 3 weeks.

From the way I understand it, for those with cancer (or suspected of having it) and other serious conditions then it's business as usual.

So if they suspected she had cancer then I would think she would have an appointment within 2 weeks (and probably not with the GP, but a specialist).

I am no expert on this though, but that is just how I understand they are trying to work things.

[crabber]

@dog-man sorry to hear this, I asked my wife who is a retired district nurse what she thought and immediately said "it is most likely to be only the iron level low given the brief details you have described."
Did they not say what was low? apparently iron tablets can be bought from a chemist although not as strong as the prescribed ones. Vitamin C is meant to help them absorb more quickly.
I hope I have not given you any misleading or false information, I suppose the thing to do is find out what your wife's blood is low in and go from there. All the best.

[dog-man]

Transferrin saturation level very low. She thinks it was -15. Minus 15. That is what it sounded like over the phone.

Could just be iron levels low. (Hopefully)
Could be liver or kidney issues.
Could be advanced cancer.

Only symptoms she is aware of is the bleeding which can be quite heavy at times and feeling a bit shaky.

It's the bleeding that worries me as it is possibly something serious. I am not aware if having very low iron levels could cause bleeding. I would have thought the other way round, bleeding causes low iron levels perhaps.
She is a worrier, I am not so will be doing all I can to divert her attention from it.

[TonyO]

Panic buying has gone up massively in the last few days, the car next to me in the supermarket car park today had two big trolleys loaded up to the gunnels with loads of stuff, they could't put it all in their car.

[johnhenry]

Thankfully smaller shops are doing a better job of stopping the panic buying than the larger stores. I have got an old fridge down my shed which is still working well, it would be a good time to sell. However it would most likely be bought by some idiot who wants to panic buy so it will stay in my shed for now.