News Worldwide impact of the novel coronavirus (covid-19)

[Sideways]

Please prepare for Coronavirus by stockpiling food,

This is not good advice for many places in the world.

Here in Australia, we produce a surplus of food (and plenty of toilet paper). There is no evidence from anywhere in the world that this virus has been interrupting the production of food, so for Australian's, that situation is extremely unlikely to change. Unlike Germany, food shortages isn't an issue here.

There are, however, very real issues for many folks in Australia about accessing that food, and for many people, that's now requiring some flexibility with their ordinary shopping routines. The problem here in Australia isn't whether we have enough food, it's retailers having to find new ways of getting that food onto supermarket shelves quickly enough to deal with demand.

All 3 major supermarkets in Australia (Woolies, Coles, Aldi) are changing their regular store hours from place to place, often reducing those store hours to allow longer periods for staff to restock shelves (because there is still plenty of stock;) ).

Best bet is to check with your local store about their changed hours, and when is the best time at your local store to visit the supermarket when shelves are freshly stocked.

Woolies in most places will be closed tomorrow. All day. Dang! But that's simply so that they can give their stores a proper clean (good thinking, Woolies!), and restock all the shelves for us.

For people living remotely, Coles is still available to you online if you live a long way from your nearest store, but you may need to call their customer hub to access that. Check Coles' website for the latest details. Online and click and collect is no longer available from Coles from most stores. Woolies, I understand, is following suit.

Community hours (for people holding seniors, disability or pension cards) are continuing from Wednesday at most Coles outlets from 7am. Woolies will be resuming their Community Hour from Thursday. Aldi and some IGAs are following suit, and again, the best place to confirm store times is their respective websites, or giving your local store a call.

For people in major centres - the hot tip for large bags of rice is Asian and Indian supermarkets and stores;)

 

[Neverthesame]

There's something I wanted to mention in light of the delays in aid from the US government amid politicising and bipartisan nonsense.

While it is disheartening to see that the leaders of a country are too busy bickering about unrelated interests rather than doing something to help those they claim to represent. It makes it the dominant news story, but not the only one.
One thing I have been seeing is every day people going out of their way to help their neighbours.
One of the Twitch streamers I regularly watch has been using her non-profit charity to give food to people whose kids are stuck at home.
Good egg fund. (I am not personally involved in this charity. I'm just a fan of Mrs.Ruvi's channel.)

That's just one example of many out there. I know this pandemic is scary, especially when it seems like everyone is out only for themselves. Just don't forget that there are countless people out there who are happy to pick up the government's slack to aid people when they need it, because it's the right thing to do.

TLDR: Don't lose hope people, we'll get through this.

 

[RVA21]

I went out because people are saying their online deliveries are being cancelled as the shops don't have the stock. I managed to get enough to do me a little longer. No toilet paper and only about 4 packs of kitchen roll (I took one). A lot of empty shelves.

It's quieter, maybe 20% quieter on the streets. Roadworks and construction stuff are still going on. Most shops are open but empty.

Some people kept walking right up near me and I kept having to move away. That really irritated me! Most people kept at least a metre or more away from each other. Didn't see one person wearing a face mask (me neither).

Buses had only a few people on them, usually they are crammed full. Trains quite quiet too. Can't believe I'm saying this but .. I don't like it. But I know it's for the best. ?

I'm ignoring all the mainstream news now because it's just making me angry and feels pointless.

 

[Friday]

You’d think it would be common sense... but? <whistling Yankee Doodle>

My city has declared it will stop shutting off people’s power and water, and all evictions are halted/paused, for the duration of the emergency. Similarly, they’re lifting the 6 month “processing period” for half price power/water for those below the poverty line. Since that’s a $400 bill for most people (in houses, not apartments)? That’s a big deal. Especially as the wait is only 6 months the first go ‘round. If your paperwork has any errors, it has to be resubmitted for another 6mo wait.

Our homeless population is in the tens of thousands... so it’s one of the “Finally! Something smart!” things being done.

Similarly, state/ govt. employees aren’t being charged their sick days/PTO/vacation days for the next 2 months (or as long as the state of emergency lasts for), and can’t be fired for missing work. Private businesses are being encouraged to do the same, although, clearly the govt. can’t mandate that. (I know all y’all from socialized countries are probably baffled that the govt. would be shutting off power in winter, evicting sick people and kids into the streets, and firing employees who don’t have enough sick days built up to pay for their own mandated quarantines and company shutdowns, but this is ‘Merica. And all of those things have been happening for several weeks, now. No word, as yet, if people are getting their power turned back on / allowed to return to their homes/ or are being “rehired”. But this just happened.

There are also donation sites for restaurant workers, and other industries who live on tips, “school” lunches, and a few other vulnerable blue collar groups through the govt. pages. I doubt those will be used much by private citizens, but hopefully that will be this year’s tax write off for some of the local mega-corporations.

 

[Mach123]

Are you in the US? I haven't heard of this in the US but I am not like reading a ton of the news on this as it makes my panic goes insane. So, been sort of getting a bit of local info for a small timeframe and then closing the site. I ask around at work and all my coworkers all say food will be back in a week. That's doubtful.

I'm wondering cause I am disabled too. I have a little bit of meat (2 lbs chicken thighs, 2 pounds of Angus stew meat, and a pound of ground beef. I think I have beef or bison ribs from the raw food I was buying for my service dog and a package of hotdogs) in the freezer, milk, 4 boxes of cereal, oats (instant and raw), rice, beans (canned), ramen noodles, pasta of a few sorts, opened but still good pancake mix and syrup. Coffee and creamer and sugar. 2 bags of frozen mixed veggies and a few cans of mixed veggies.

That will def do me for a few weeks. Should I hold off for a few weeks do you guys think? Or start to call around to see of stores are doing this opening early for the elderly and disabled? It doesn't hurt to know but just wondering if I should even try to find anymore food at the moment. I just fear that food will get more scarce and it will be harder to find what you need. I don't want to over buy and then those that have less won't find what they need but I just have that fear of what if a few weeks goes by and food becomes less and less available?

Maybe that's just my PTSD and triggers kicking in too. Food was super scarce and super hard to get growing up and when I did get it, it was given in a really abusive way. I always had a fear, as an adult, of not having enough food and so maybe thats what this is?

I need input!



This reminds me so much of the 3 sea shells from Demolition Man. Someone tell me the secert of the toliet paper!

Someone replied to me on Reddit and said it was because when one person sneezed 50 shit themselves.

Calling police for dumb f*cking shit is really ridiculous. Use a god damn wet rag. Jesus!

Yes I'm the states in the Northeast.

I'm thinking martial law isn't too far away so I braved the grocery store. No potatoes or bread. I did score milk, butter, eggs, noodles, ground beef a few canned goods and chocolate. ?

No toilet paper, paper towels, bleach or antibacterial anything.

While I was there J was home watching the news. A clip where people were fighting.? Called me in a panic to make sure I was ok. My phone was on silent and I didn't know he was calling until I checked my phone as I was leaving. I called him and he was in the parking lot in panic mode. Kind. But panicking. Told me he'd meet me at the house. When I got home he was calm. And sick to his stomach. Told me "we have to go out together from now on. At least for a little while. Ok?". "Ok, Baby Love. We can do that". (He says this is reminding him of when he was on the Ukraine border during Chernobyl. This has the making of most of J's triggers and stressors to be constant. Give us strength!) Everyone's symptoms are going to spike. And for good reason. This is surreal. At least in my lifetime.

Be safe everyone. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. XO

Yes martial law. That's what I've been saying for the last couple years. Everyone laughed at me. I'm not sacred though. I think it's going to be a good thing. There are many places in the country where order needs to be restored and they got like that before the virus. I could be wrong but it's certainly a possible outcome . That's how it looks. One of the first announcement which I noticed because one of my sons is in the military stationed a couple states away, was.they stopped all non essential military travel. Right at the same time they announced national emergency.

 

[Mach123]

yep - I was in germany. It was pretty intense.

I would love to tell you it's not real -- but yep. People call for that (people. plural). They ask if we can tell them when corona will be over, how they can get food from their favorite closed restaruant, ask if the police are coming to arrest them if they leave the house, if it's ok to drink bleach (my personal favorite), the list is endless. Stupid People Questions (yep - it's a title) is a daily thing but during something like this? It totally explodes

That is awesome!!! LOL -- just swear into the little machine....... :roflmao:

I had to run to the store today for some stuff for my dad (he's self isolating because, well, 85 and diabetic) and while it was really busy it was not horrible. They were out of the normal --cleaning supplies and tp and such, but other than that it was ok. They even had stuff on sale!

We have a little town paper that publishes the police log. Its the best thing in it. We used to read it out loud and laugh our heads off. They babysit more than anything, they know all the townies. Taking.people home.drunk.and helping them find their cars. It's mostly drunken nonsense. About all the domestics are fueled by drinking.

 

[SeekingAfrica]

I bought some pantry things( just to have regular stocked pantry, not obsene amounts- it was always in the plan), but I was just feeling a bit out of control and doing something made me feel better. But our stores are pretty much doing okay, restocked and all. You could see them running of certain items faster than usual, but not enough to panic. And hours are reduced just with 2 hours from regular so not concerned about that. However, I did go to the store twice- once for myself and once with roommate. The first was morning and that seemed like regular day. But in the evening people were all rushing and in hurry and I felt like I had to be in crazy hurry trying to put away my change and grocery bags. So will try not to shop in evenings or something.

All the restrictions and unknowns of this emergency state are seriously starting to affect me and it's been way too short to hyperventilate. Can't wait to manage to see my T and hope she has something useful.

On the plus side- the government that had a rule of giving 6m prescriptions over here for prescription meds is saying all of these will be extended to 9 months to help people not have to rush to doctor to renew things right now. To stay safe at home. I think that's cool. And the National Theater is planning to do free ballet/theater/opera streams soon, which is cool of them.

On the downside.... this is really setting of my PTSD hypervigilance, the anxiety and isolation and constant unknowns. I slept fine and then woke up and it hit me like a ton of bricks. This current reality. And it's not even as bad as in some more affected countries. I'm trying to concentrate on what I can do like home projects, and hobbies and work from home, and occasional shopping, but it's hard. Still doing so. You'd think that since I work from home this would not affect my work, but the constant stress is starting to affect my ability to concentrate. Within 10 days we somehow went from 1 case to more and more cases and state of emergency and it just feels surreal. Sorry that this is so long. I just feel ... well, I think we can all feel that. Everyone is going through it right now. And it's hard.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@lostforgottensoul - I'm thinking perhaps write out a meal plan for yourself. Breakfast lunch and dinner. Take your time doing that.

This thing is going to be around for months, so the question isn't whether to rush out today, it's about planning ahead so that when you start running low on things, you're very clear in your mind about exactly what you need and how long till you need it.

Thing about going out to the shops without a plan right now? Is you almost guarantee that you'll start panic buying. Not because you're you, but because you're human. There will be empty shelves, and that will cause your brain to automatically shift to "better get it now in case..." mode.

Thanks Brain, but that's not helpful. In case what, exactly? The grocery shops aren't going to close. They haven't closed supermarkets anywhere in the world (including Wuhan!) over this virus.

So get a meal plan going. That gives you reassurance at home that you're okay. And it gives you plenty of advanced warning about what you'll need and how long till you need it, so that when you do go out, you know exactly what to get, and what not to bother getting.

Meal planning is a great way to get rid of anxiety around food supplies. It also gives you agency - you're actively doing something to help yourself.

And if that weren't enough great reasons to meal plan? It also means that the food you don't need? Gets left on the supermarket shelf for the person that does need it:)

Thank you! I have saved many meal planning videos in a private playlist on my youtube as I was needing to meal plan before this. I will brush up on that and start to plan out meals. What a great idea. The last thing I want to do is hoard things I don't need so that those that actually need it can't get it!

If anything, it’s going to be safer to go out when things settle and they control the access much more in a week or so, like they have started to do here.

What kind of access control are they doing there when it comes to grocery stores?

 

[Mach123]

I feel good in the morning. Meditation worked and I slept last night. I monitored the news yesterday and I felt like not good when I went to bed I was exhausted by being buffeted by them. I think I won't watch it today.

It's just not productive sitting around getting my anxiety cranked through the roof when I can't do anything about it. If I can do something I’ll be more likely to do a good thing if I’m less anxious.

Keep your head down, watch your back, do the next right thing.

 

[Strangelongtrip]

Lots of stress, especially with recent state orders, but I've been setting boundaries and logging out of social media and checking out of conversations when I can't handle them anymore.

I'm trying to think of the positives: this lull in business will allow me to transfer to my preferred career, as long as I can get a job with all this going on. I think I will. This will also make my eventual move easier, because I'll have a source of income.

We have food in our cabinets that could probably last us two-three weeks (we didn't hoard, just stuff we already had).

We have televisions, a house, water, subscriptions to streaming services, and internet access.

We have plenty of coffee ?

We have a dog to walk, and who loves to cuddle, and we live in a neighborhood with tons of trails to walk on and awesome neighbors to talk to from a safe distance.

I have this site! And tons of people to talk to online.

Books. So many books. And I have so much to write.

Music. I have that, I'm fine.

This does have me thinking though, I've been panicking about my psych medications lately, them having them and me being able to. pick them up from the pharmacies--if they even are open. I'm thinking about when I'm moved trying to go off of it again. I'm realizing the mistakes I made last time--overworking, ignoring emotions instead of sitting with them until I got so depressed I wanted my pills again lol. I'm gathering more and more coping mechanisms and eventually I'll be able to go off of them. They just make me nervous, in cases like this. Or lapses in insurance. Or any myriad of things. I've also gained like 30lbs on them. My other meds, I think I could go off eventually too. The only one I probably can't is birth control, due to pelvic pain, but I think I may get an implant just incase.

 

[blackemerald1]

Today my gp phoned and told me to stay inside till they get covid19 under control or find a vaccine. That might be forever.

I texted my sister the news. She recommended tonic water and loads of gin. I don't think the grog shop is emptied out yet. I think I could sit out this entire epic historical pandemic pissed and am seriously considering it. lol I can even get that delivered too.

No more excursions into the wild or wherever there are or were ppl.

She's going to ring me every week & make sure I'm ok for my medications & come around to give me the seasonal flu injection when it arrives in a few weeks. Nothing fluffy just stick an arm out of the door and get jabbed but hey - not a problem.

I'm now officially allowed to ask for deliveries from the supermarket etc., because she has informed me I'm in the high risk category.

She told me not to bother lining up with the elderly and disabled at the supermarkets because that's still too risky. And the supermarkets have not restocked sufficiently to cater for even them. And there seems to be no proper & safe way of checking who is elderly & disabled.

Still trying to shake this non covid19 virus - which is hanging on & on. ugh.. Started a course of antibiotics today.

There's a lot of panic where I am and yet... not one official case reported.

We truly are like a bunch of gazelles on the grass... certain the lions are circling & not sure which way to run so running in circles.

Unless they can trace community transmissions effectively with the tests - it will be much worse. Some countries have done this and have kept their infection rate very low. But they were also countries that experienced SARS or MERS. So they know how to socially isolate!

My area just built a great big hospital and moved the staff into that. They left behind a empty building. That empty building is now up and running again with icu's and staff prepped to take covid19 sufferers. Why not??!

@Sideways - completely agree with you. Stockpiling food in our country is so stupid.

Have you heard the rumour that Tom Hanks died in one of our hospitals? If so, be aware it's not true.

 

[Neverthesame]

@blackemerald1 I for one have been craving a bottle of Corona since this whole thing began. ;)