Covid-19 pandemic

[Ginger Yellow]

One of the judges in a case I'm covering is working from home.

[That Night In Barcelona]

[URL]https://twitter.com/david__osland/status/1240218372987592704?s=21[/URL]

Quite unnerving that these are the people in charge of the relief effort.

[Antepli Ejderha]

25% of teachers at my school not in. Many admin staff working from home and attendance really low. People are heeding the should advice but the government still effectively does nothing by refusing to make difficult decisions.

It appears most unis are either closed or closing on Friday.

[HORN]

It'll be like Beau Geste at AE's school soon.

[Nesta]

Which one is the Grammar School oik?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Our Department sent as many people as were able to home yesterday with instructons to work from home, and by 10am this morning the system's keeled over and no-one can log on.

[Nesta]

All staff at my work (Uni library), WFH from today, one manager's gone in to dish out laptops for those as need them when teaching goes online next week- library itself open on self-service basis until friday, don't know after that.

[hobbes]

The cub's school Put this out this morning...

We have been asked to compile a list of all parents who are frontline workers - such as blue light, health and social workers.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/lmartods/status/1240231059398299654?s=20

[Satchmo Distel]

Bloody hell.

University of Essex library is now closed.....dunno about other UK libraries.

University libraries at FGCU and FSW (Florida) are still open but under reduced hours. Not sure how long that can continue.

The only viable solution is that all teachers switch to online materials or we have some legal ruling that textbook suppliers must put their stuff online at an affordable cost (or just free). Cancelling student debt should be a no-brainer but, hey, not happening.

[Nefertiti2]

Cambridge University Press have put all their text books on Line Free

[URL]https://twitter.com/mishee54/status/1239960873982144512?s=21[/URL]

[Satchmo Distel]

My nephew* in the UK has symptoms so my entire UK-based family is self-isolating. Scary and I am just numb at this point.

*He's 25 but both my parents are still alive, in their 70s.

[Flynnie]

The cub's school Put this out this morning...

I got this too. Schools be closin'.

[Bruno]

My university is paying time-and-a-half to anyone who has to show up for work (the fabled essential staff) and giving them free food.

[HORN]

Our Department sent as many people as were able to home yesterday with instructons to work from home, and by 10am this morning the system's keeled over and no-one can log on.

We are going the other way.

On Tuesday 25% of the workforce worked from home in order to check system resilience..
On Wednesday (a different) 25% are working from home to check system resilience.
Same plan on Thursday and Friday.

By the time we are granted permission to all work from home we will be none the wiser as to whether the system will cope. These people really are that stupid.

[gjw100]

My son is a manager at AXA-PPP (by some distance the largest private sector employer in Tunbridge Wells). The majority of their staff are being given a new laptop and mobile plus the wherewithal to access the secure network that will allow them to work at home, although call volumes are apparently running at 40%/50% lower than usual. Some employees have already been taking the piss though. When the self-isolation instructions were first issued, my son said to one of his sub-team managers, "I bet X and Y (notorious shirkers) will self-isolate now". Sure enough, they were the first to call in sick on Monday morning.

My mother-in-law (86) has been grumbling about having to stay indoors, trotting out the old 'if I get it, I get it - I'm not afraid to die at my age' line. After my wife and I had rolled our eyes in exasperation, I explained to her that a) she would be taking up valuable NHS resources if she did fall sick after leaving her flat and b) it's a pretty fucking horrible way to die, gasping for breath on a ventilator as your lungs fill with fluid. Obviously I didn't say 'fucking' to my mother-in-law but it was a close thing. Still not sure it sunk in though.

My wife is a nurse at a high-end care home of approximately 60 residents. They have no cases yet, nor any staff self-isolating. All visitors are barred from the premises but otherwise the day-to-day routine is unchanged. Should the virus strike in a big way, the plan is to have any staff who have returned from a period of self-isolation (and are presumed to be immune) looking after the residents with coronavirus, and the rest of the staff looking after unaffected residents. The obvious flaw in that thinking is that not all returnees will necessarily have had the virus, but I suppose its the only way they can see of dealing with it.

Earlier this morning I had to visit our local B&Q for some DIY bits and took the opportunity to pop into the Aldi next door for some flour as I wanted to do some baking later. Fortunately I have plenty of eggs as my ducks and hens have resumed laying after their winter 'break'. Overall the store wasn't too busy and relatively well-stocked with plenty of bread, but there was no flour to be had nor, I noted, any toilet rolls. The Asda about 200 metres up the road from Aldi looked like a horde of Visigoths had rampaged though the store, with shelves holding packaged and canned goods virtually stripped bare. There seemed to be plenty of fruit and veg, and the freezer section was OK - I guess because a lack of freezer capacity at home is keeping something of a lid on the panic buying of these items. Quite depressing how so many folk become selfish bastards when push comes to shove.

[lambers]

An employee from our local Sainsbury's said that this week there have been hordes of people waiting for the store to open at 7am, then working like locusts through the aisles. Fresh and frozen vegetables stocks are now permanently low, plus frozen pizzas and ready meals, in addition to all the usuals like bog roll, pasta, cereal etc.

How long before formal rationing has to be introduced to stop this panicky/predatory behaviour?

[That Night In Barcelona]

An employee from our local Sainsbury's said that this week there have been hordes of people waiting for the store to open at 7am, then working like locusts through the aisles. Fresh and frozen vegetables stocks are now permanently low, plus frozen pizzas and ready meals, in addition to all the usuals like bog roll, pasta, cereal etc.

How long before formal rationing has to be introduced to stop this panicky/predatory behaviour?

Their CEO has already said that as of this morning, customers are limited to only 3 of any grocery item and 2 of soap, toilet paper and UHT milk. I prefer the approach of tracking the hoarders and liberating their toilet paper.

[Arturo]

For the second day in a row I'm trying unsuccessfully to cancel our holiday for the end of May. We're committed to a deposit, but the rest of the money is due out of our account on Saturday unless we cancel it before then. It's proving impossible to get hold of the company by phone or email, so we're cutting it fine. As yet, their newly installed reschedule policy doesn't cover the time period we are going.

[ursus arctos]

A number of groceries in the US are instituting special early shopping hours for seniors only (either over 60 or over 65), which strikes me as both wise and helpful. I'm yet to know of any Manhattan stores to take this up, though.

[Nefertiti2]

For the second day in a row I'm trying unsuccessfully to cancel our holiday for the end of May. We're committed to a deposit, but the rest of the money is due out of our account on Saturday unless we cancel it before then. It's proving impossible to get hold of the company by phone or email, so we're cutting it fine. As yet, their newly installed reschedule policy doesn't cover the time period we are going.

couldn't you contact your bank and stop the payment

[Capybara]

For the second day in a row I'm trying unsuccessfully to cancel our holiday for the end of May. We're committed to a deposit, but the rest of the money is due out of our account on Saturday unless we cancel it before then. It's proving impossible to get hold of the company by phone or email, so we're cutting it fine. As yet, their newly installed reschedule policy doesn't cover the time period we are going.

Is contacting the bank to stop the payment an option?

Edit: ha!

[Arturo]

Yes, that's my last option. I have proof of emails and call history too.

[lambers]

Their CEO has already said that as of this morning, customers are limited to only 3 of any grocery item and 2 of soap, toilet paper and UHT milk.

Unfortunately, that doesn't stop those shoppers who buy, then immediately come back. Shop staff are unable to police this.

I prefer the approach of tracking the hoarders and liberating their toilet paper.

I like this idea. Maybe expand it to force them to finish their boxes of Shredded Wheat first.

[Arturo]

So we're supposed to be closed to the public today, but the creche is still open. Which means children are coming and going in a building which is only meant to open for essential medical services.

I understand the decision to shut was at short notice and inconvenient, but you either close or you don't, and stick to it. However we are nearer the former than the latter the way things stand.