Covid-19 pandemic

[Toby Gymshorts]

Anyway, I feel I'm derailing the thread. 25 years of insurance will do that to a person.

[Hot Pepsi]

It's small really, but at this rate my mum will move house and I wont be there to help. Which means that the weekend before last was the last time I will have stayed in the house I grew up in.

Not a big issue in the grand scheme but it does feel like this virus is stealing an important life moment.

It is, that's especially acute around here where a lot of students are missing out on athletics, music and theater performances and, perhaps, graduation ceremonies.

But hopefully it will create some new ones we didn't see coming. I suspect that the first time we go back to a sporting fixture or restaurant or travel to see people we haven't seen in a while will all feel a lot more important and special and maybe at least some of us will hold onto that feeling so that years down the road when we're at, for example, a football match where one's team is getting hammered and it's pissing rain, we can think "I am so grateful to be here."

There have been a lot of mistakes and it is very unfortunate that so many countries have such terrible leadership right now, but overall, I think we're in better position to handle this than we were 25 years ago. Or maybe even 10 years ago. So maybe that's something to grateful for.

I was talking to a friend of mine from college about "What would we have done if this had happened when we were in college?" I think the answer is that we just would have been screwed. We all would have gone home - which would have taken a while - and we would have had to come back for an extra semester and that would have been very confusing, to say the least.

And that's just the personal selfish cost. The number of other variables that are different now than in even the fairly recent past are mindboggling. I know that lots of people still cannot "work from home" but it's a lot more than it used to be, certainly.

[Balderdasha]

I also think Europe might overtake China in terms of total deaths later today (currently about 3,000 for Europe vs 3,226 for China).

Sadly, this was an accurate prediction. So far, Europe has had 3,384 deaths, and we are nowhere near past the peak.

[Ginger Yellow]

Why are all the new measures loans when businesses are all currently struggling with debt already?

Because loans are "free", from a balance sheet perspective.

[Ray de Galles]

The thing is, those three responses are all potentially correct. Most insurance brokers have "pet" wordings they like to recall when asked a question. I tend to err on the side of "let me look that up in specific reference to your query and the policy you have" because that way you can take away the uncertainty.

Grey areas arise due to differences in wordings. I'm perhaps guilty (EDIT: looking back I definitely am, so apologies if you took what I said as being specifically directed at you) of speaking generally about the current attitude to insurance ("organised rackets" and "designed to never pay out money" are comments I've seen on other platforms today) and the fact that most buyers won't have made the same efforts you have to achieve certainty. They bought off-the-shelf products which is by no means a ridiculous thing to do, but only if you're willing to engage in the process and understand what is and isn't (or can and can't) be covered.

No snark here - but find a broker you trust and use them. You're more likely to obtain consistency of advice and a good broker will always deal in specifics. As in:

"No insurance policy in the world will cover Coronavirus" - possibly true, but can you be definitively sure?

"It depends on the exclusions" - absolutely true, but how can we mitigate the impact of these and can we work around them?

"It is absolutely covered under the Communicable Disease cover" - is it? Have you checked the list of notifiable diseases in the wording? If you have and it is, then great, but you might want to have your PI insurer on the other line, just in case.

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't actually canvassing with regard to my own policies, I have an broker I trust and who is always (and often painfully) straight with me. Funnily enough I moved back to working with him after his gardening leave from another company finished in January.

My company and I are effectively middle men in deals so my interest was in how likely either of the parties involved were to be covered due to cancellation because of Coronavirus so I could assess how much of a horrible mess it was going to be for me to sort out if neither were.

Anyway, another differing opinion here :

"Chancellor Rishi Sunak says there are concerns about the impacts on pubs, clubs and theatres.

"For those venues which do have a policy that covers pandemics - the government action is sufficient to allow them to make claims," he says.

For the smaller businesses in that sector who don't have insurance he says he will provide cash grants of £25,000 per business "to help bridge through this period".

He also says businesses in the sector will get a "business rates holiday".

That contradicts everything I've been told or seen in the last 24 hours.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Anyway, I feel I'm derailing the thread. 25 years of insurance will do that to a person.

Not at all. You're adding a lot of much needed expert opinion on the issue. It's been really illuminating.

[Ginger Yellow]

That contradicts everything I've been told or seen in the last 24 hours.

The final sentence at least was already announced in the budget.

Edit: actually, no it wasn't. He's removing the rateable value cap.

[Nefertiti2]

Conservatives putting the cash where it’s least needed

[URL]https://twitter.com/peoplesmomentum/status/1239968654214574089?s=21[/URL]

[Sean of the Shed]

Conservatives putting the cash where it’s least needed

[URL]https://twitter.com/peoplesmomentum/status/1239968654214574089?s=21[/URL]

I'd say both.

[Nefertiti2]

[URL]https://twitter.com/jane_samuels/status/1239976715247640578?s=21[/URL]

[Ginger Yellow]

I'm not seeing anything in the conditions for the loans tied to keeping people employed either.

[multipleman78]

Johnson says we only have a few weeks to build thousands of ventilators. They knew this was coming in January but were too busy trying to get a bell to chime.

All he said during Brexit was no more dither and delay. So far, he has been the dither and delay Prime Minister.

[Arturo]

My partner has been told to work from home tomorrow which she has done before on the odd occasion. Meanwhile, I've got the lovely job of cancelling all our centre bookings for April and possibly beyond. People will hopefully understand as everyone has been fine with the disruption so far and pretty much expected it. The tricky part comes when we can't allow certain people or groups in the building, so I'm expecting a few sharp words on that score.

We've also got to cancel our holiday tonight which is a downer, but that's not the main worry right now. The thought of not getting to see my parents on Mother's Day (having missed my mum's birthday too) really hits home. Worse still for my partner whose mum isn't in the best of health and doesn't have much help down south, bar a lovely neighbour who may have to keep a distance anyway.

[Toby Gymshorts]

My company and I are effectively middle men in deals so my interest was in how likely either of the parties involved were to be covered due to cancellation because of Coronavirus so I could assess how much of a horrible mess it was going to be for me to sort out if neither were.

Ah. Now I know what you do your standpoint makes more sense. Anyone involved in events and cancellation who can't tell you definitively if something is or isn't covered isn't someone you should be speaking to (I know you know that).

Anyway. This article seems pertinent:

https://www.rpc.co.uk/perspectives/i...r-uk-insurers/

[pebblethefish]

My home office is all set up and ready to go. It made me feel proper manly to dismantle and reassemble a desk, although a proper man would probably have done so with less swearing. And although only two of my three screens are working, it's still better than I could have hoped for. Although I do need to find an ashtray - normally I use an empty beer can, but that's probably not a good look to have on my desk for any video chats.

It's scary that I'm going to be in this one room for 99% of the next god knows how long (it's a bedsit, so I eat, sleep, relax and cook in here too). Off to the pub in a minute for one last time (I feel justified in going as I've been at work all day, and anyone in there will be someone I've seen over the weekend - it's that sort of pub - so there'll be no one new to infect / be infected by.)

[Arturo]

Idiot of the day. The guy who came into our building and told us he was self isolating which is offensive on two counts either for isolating in a public building, or simply making it all up. We know he went to Venice in January but he's also a well known obnoxious attention seeker. Looking forward to barring him from the building if he turns up tomorrow.

[pebblethefish]

. The thought of not getting to see my parents on Mother's Day (having missed my mum's birthday too) really hits home. Worse still for my partner whose mum isn't in the best of health and doesn't have much help down south, bar a lovely neighbour who may have to keep a distance anyway.

If you decide to send flowers instead, check the website for coronavirus policy. I hate to say it as they're our rivals, but Interflora's seems the best (we're going to copy it, and so are most others) - the delivery driver will place the flowers on the doorstep, ring the bell, then stand two metres away until the door is answered - no signature or touchpad will be used.

[Ginger Yellow]

Meanwhile in Spain:

he president has announced that the Government will allocate 600 million euros to finance basic benefits for social services in the autonomous communities and local authorities, with special attention to home care for the elderly and dependents.

In addition, protection will be extended to energy and water supplies, and telecommunications services will be guaranteed.

In order to guarantee the right to housing, a moratorium is established in the payment of mortgage payments for debtors in a situation of special vulnerability: "No person in a difficult economic situation will lose their home. In this crisis, nobody he will be evicted from his home. "

Job protection

The set of measures aimed at reinforcing employment protection, as explained by the President, contemplates that salaried workers can adapt or reduce their working hours to meet the reconciliation needs derived from this crisis. Also, teleworking is established as a measure of flexibility, when circumstances allow.

Temporary staff adjustments will be managed through the Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTES), which will benefit all workers. "ERTES caused by the coronavirus crisis will be considered force majeure and, additionally, workers will be entitled to contributory unemployment benefit, even if they do not meet the required prior contribution requirement," explained Pedro Sánchez.

In addition, access to the cessation of activity for the self-employed is made more flexible, which will be compatible with the exemption of payments to Social Security. This group will have facilities so that it can quickly receive a benefit in case of economic difficulty.

The head of the Executive has stressed that these measures prioritize the suspension of contracts and the reduction of working hours as an option against the dismissal of workers and has urged employers not to fire their employees: " We want to keep employment Let the companies know that the Government will help them overcome this temporary crisis. "

Liquidity to companies


The President has assured that "the State will provide the business network with all the liquidity it needs to stay operational" and will not allow "temporary liquidity problems to become solvency problems."

To this end, the Government has approved the creation of a line of public guarantees and guarantees worth up to 100,000 million euros, which will allow mobilizing between 150,000 and 200,000 million in the economic system if the private sector is also incorporated.

Likewise, additional guarantees of 2,000 million euros have been agreed for exporting companies, it will facilitate the restructuring of credits to farms affected by drought and the implementation of programs to support digitization will be accelerated. Public Administrations will help their contractor companies to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 on public sector contracts. The Executive has also reformed the regulations on foreign investments to prevent companies from countries outside the European Union from taking control of Spanish entities in strategic sectors, taking advantage of the conjunctural drop in the value of their shares.

Resources for developing a vaccine

Pedro Sánchez has underlined the Government's commitment to strengthening scientific research to develop a vaccine for COVID-29. The Government will provide 30 million euros to the Higher Council for Scientific Research and the Carlos III Health Institute.

The President stressed that the set of initiatives need the additional support of civil society. To preserve our business fabric and our employment, it is essential that large or small companies, freelancers or employees take on an idea: "This crisis is temporary and must be treated as temporary."

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Johnson says we only have a few weeks to build thousands of ventilators. They knew this was coming in January but were too busy trying to get a bell to chime.

All he said during Brexit was no more dither and delay. So far, he has been the dither and delay Prime Minister.

Do English companies make ventilators? I was under the impression that that was more of a menlo park kind of thing. And I don't mean the one in silicon valley, or at edison's laboratory, I mean the one near the galway racecourse.

[pebblethefish]

I think he wants car manufacturers to make ventilators instead. Or something. Look, this is Johnson, he could mean anything

[Toby Gymshorts]

20,000 empty jam jars with straws in them (sorry, jam industry, but this is progress).

[Hot Pepsi]

Johnson says we only have a few weeks to build thousands of ventilators. They knew this was coming in January but were too busy trying to get a bell to chime.

All he said during Brexit was no more dither and delay. So far, he has been the dither and delay Prime Minister.

The shortage of ventilators to address a major crisis has been known for a long time.

Johns Hopkins did a study about eight years ago and there was one specifically about New York five years ago that's discussed in a NYT article today. We're writing about it for Medtech Insight but it's not really news.

Some of them very well may be made in Ireland. I'm not sure. I'm not on that story right now.

[Diable Rouge]

69 new cases in Republic of Ireland (292 running total), but thankfully, no increase in deaths or ICU cases.

[Sean of the Shed]

20,000 empty jam jars with straws in them (sorry, jam industry, but this is progress).

Straws are in short supply right now as they are all being desperately grasped by Johnson and hus cabinet.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Some of them very well may be made in Ireland. I'm not sure. I'm not on that story right now.

There's a little galway homegrown success story called Medtronic that makes a few I hear.

Unfortunately these are not things that you can rustle up out of thing air. I suspect it would take quite a while to ramp up production.