Tesco heads up - if you have an NHS worker in the household - only one member per household allowed into the store for the NHS special time on Sunday mornings.

(Bloody annoying - wife (NHS nurse) hasn't been into Tescos for @ 2 years, and I had the list of what we needed in my head!) .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
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Tesco

NHS staff will be allowed to do their shopping for an hour ahead of usual opening hours on Sundays upon displaying their NHS employee card.
This is only available at Tesco’s larger stores and not their Express stores.
A statement from the supermarket brand said: “We know that those working for the NHS may be finding it hard to find time to shop for their groceries at the moment.
“So, from this Sunday, we’re going to introduce a special hour in stores for NHS staff as a thank you for all they are doing.”
The statement also asked their customers to be respectful of this and to shop during usual opening hours.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s have introduced their dedicated shopping slot for NHS staff and social care workers, between 7:30am and 8am, Monday to Saturday.
A statement from Sainsbury’s said that anyone with an NHS ID would be allowed to shop during this time.


Asda

In Asda’s larger stores, priority access will be allotted to NHS workers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am to 9am.
Asda CEO, Roger Burnley, said: “We all have a clear responsibility to look after each other during this crisis, particularly our most vulnerable groups.
“I was heartened to see how our customers respected this priority access and am proud to be able to extend it to more regular days and also include our amazing NHS colleagues who can access our stores with a little more ease.”


Morrisons

Morrisons does not have a specific shopping hour for elderly and vulnerable shoppers, but will give NHS staff early access to their stores between 7am and 8am every day apart from Sundays.
A statement from the supermarket chain said: “It is really important that we stick to this to help support out vital services at a time when they are going to need us the most.”


M&S

NHS workers will be given priority access to M&S shelves on the first hour of Tuesday and Fridays.
The statement from M&S regarding checking ID’s said: “We will ask NHS and emergency services workers to show their staff passes or other relevant ID such as a Blue Light Card.
“Of course, in this unprecedented time our colleagues may not be able to always check ID and we’re relying on our customers to respect this request.”


Waitrose

While Waitrose aren’t setting aside a specific time for NHS workers to do their shopping, they are setting aside “hard-to-find” and “essential products” exclusively for NHS staff, on production of an NHS card.
Waitrose also said that they would be giving NHS staff priority on their checkout service, to ensure that they can get their shopping done as quickly as possible.


Aldi

Aldi announced recently that they are introducing dedicated shopping times for Emergency Workers.
Aldi will open between 9:30am and 10am on Sundays (and 8:30am and 9am in Scotland) soley for key workers in the NHS, Police and Fire Service.
These customers will also take priority at checkouts when they open at 10am.
Entry to Aldi stores during this time is dependent on relevant ID.


Lidl

Lidl has not announced any dedicated shopping hours. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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Last edited by stan on 29th Mar 2020 9:09am. Edited 1 time in total

We really need people need to be more scared - judging by the behaviour of a reasonable proportion of the 'great' British public over the last two weeks, the messaging of 'stay at home' and 'essential travel only' isn't getting through

The problem is only going to become apparent over the next two weeks as NHS capacity starts to get overwhelmed

Like Italy and Spain, there will be thousands of patients who, with appropriate care and ventilation, would live, BUT our hospitals won't be able to provide care to everyone who needs it because there won't be any beds left....

ICU consultants will have to choose who gets care and who doesn't - they will literally choose who dies

This is why flattening the peak is hugely influential in reducing overall deaths and why the government needs everyone to follow the advice

I'm not a doctor, I am a physicist, but the maths behind the spread and likely mortality is pretty simple

Stay safe everyone  2007 Zermatt Silver TDV8 Vogue SE - now sold but was a great car!

Following on from Graeme C's great chart, I have been doing some number crunching as well. It is all a bit "back of a fag packet / man down the pub" but based upon numbers derived from worldometer / office of national statistics / bbc news.

As of 28th March

@ 115,000 people in the UK have been tested
of those, 14,500 tested positive (12.6%)
of those 759 people have died (5.2%)

If we extrapolate that up to the UK population:

67,000,000 population would mean
8,442,000 would test positive
438,984 people would die

However this is before any isolation and social distancing measures. it is indicated that without any measures 1 person could infect 406 people after 30 days, but with social distancing measures in place, one person could infect only 15 people.

If we apply this to the figures above then
17,500 people would die

Govt indicated yesterday they were aiming to keep the number of deaths below 20,000.....


Also, historical data from the OFN indicate that on average 1428 people die every day in the England and Wales, of those, 207 die of some form of respiratory disease. A question was asked earlier in a thread about how many of the Coronoavirus deaths might be in this number. If we said all the respiratory deaths, then as of 29th March figures (260 deaths) we have for the first day exceeded the average (207). However, this is unlikely, and one could make a guess that perhaps only 10% of Coronavirus deaths form a part of the average (207).


There are also a few mutterings on the interweb about the normal influenza virus, and how many people that kills every year. Coronavirus appears to be as virulent but more deadly, but it is valid comment to question why it is any different or worse.....

No matter how you look at it, it is all very scary, self isolation and social distancing is paramount for success against this thing. .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
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Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Getting the infection rate down to 15 for each person infected seems optimistic given behaviours at the moment, hence you'd have to consider 20k optimistic as well....

The big unknown is how many people have already had the virus with mild/no symptoms

If you find out the true number of cases has actually been 150k plus, all of a sudden the mortality rate drops 0.52% and the 20k deaths scenario seems achievable

This is why we need millions of simple tests which give pretty instant results - not a simple ask, lets hope the companies racing to develop this can achieve it! 2007 Zermatt Silver TDV8 Vogue SE - now sold but was a great car!

This is why, at the moment, your chart was so valid Graeme, number of deaths attributed to Coronavirus is the only statistic we can really work on. Testing is all over the places across countries, low vs pop in UK, high vs pop in say Switzerland, doesn't give a clear indication of how things are going.

It is a Donald Rumsfeld - knowing the unknown unknowns !! .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

 2007 Zermatt Silver TDV8 Vogue SE - now sold but was a great car!

A thought for those who love the disaster theory: every virus has a cycle, next year covid 19 or 20 or 37 will be back, what are we going to do? 8 weeks, 3 months in quarantine? Vaccination obligation ( great for pharma industry profit) or are we all going to build some resistance because we were exposed to it this year. The long term result of isolation might be a bigger disaster.

Brexit spending was not a choice between spending on Brexit or spending on preparing for a once in 20yr health emergency. Whilst you seem to criticise the government for Brexit spending (and btw I voted remain) you need to remember that it's what the majority of the UK voted for.

I wouldn't argue against capacity building for something like this but it has to be proportionate. As the head of the NHS said a few days ago when asked, you can't have fully kitted out and staffed hospitals sitting around "just in case". In my experience parts of the NHS are managed very inefficiently in spite of the hard work and dedication of the frontline medical staff.

Unfortunately there's no easy fix, regardless of how much money you throw at it. If vaccines and anti-viral drugs could be developed, tested and distributed in a matter of weeks, rather than the usual 6-18months then we'd be in a better position but again, there's no easy fix.

I see you're living in Spain. We hear some of what's happening with your health service but its clear that's overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the crisis. Do you have any more insights over there? 2021 D350 Fifty Edition - Carpathian Grey
2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography (2021-2024) - Santorini Black
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Hope Spain is ok  2007 Zermatt Silver TDV8 Vogue SE - now sold but was a great car!

Rob, it’s not just spending money (or lack of) I have issue with as I understand choices have to be made, it’s the lack of leadership with clear message and fast action plus the lack of prior planning, the planning and drawn up action plans shouldn’t have cost a lot. The money and procurement has been very slow from the gov., they say one thing, probably to stop panic but the result lags weeks behind.

From what I am seeing in Spain, it’s a horrendous situation due to shear numbers. Initial our government had the same inaction and wrong mixed messages as the UK, wash hands, it’s just a cold/flu like, only old/ill effected but they got back to clear messages and quick action and the public got on board quickly with strict policing with stops on all main roads and shops- they now stop you on the way in to the shops, ask what you are doing out then check you on the way back out for what you actually did/bought. All shops were shut down straight away, leaving pharmacies, pet shops (for food) and supermarkets, you have to shop at your nearest supermarket.... no options, fines are hard at 600-30,000 euros (not like the poultry 30 GDP you have there) and now the army are out manning check points and assisting the police. You can only go out for the perviously mentioned reasons alone, you will be stopped if driving with two people in a car, if you have to take someone to the doctors for instance the passenger needs to sit in the back opposite the driver, both wearing masks and gloves.

From what I see no one flaunted the rules, everyone wears gloves and masks when out or when making or taking deliveries.

DIY stores were shut straight away and no one is aloud out for ‘exercise’ at all. It’s strick, simple and very clear on.what you can and can’t do from The off even though I speak limited Spainish.

The medical system here is modern, well supported with normally very low to no waiting times and ranks 3rd for service and care in the world compared to 36th for the UK’s old and habitually under funded system but iSpain still buckled quickly after a couple of weeks, like Italy did to the point where they now have to choose on mass who dies or who they help, for those they choose don’t meet the ‘help’ criteria they just sedate and let them die, alone... bloody horrible and difficult decision but it has to be made and often now.

Living with parents in their 80’s, who suffer from various serious illnesses Including respiratory diseases means we are acutely aware of what is happening and what could happen. Watching people go down the pub in the UK for the last time when bojo closed them saying “as soon as possible” made my blood boil for those who will die and those who will have to take on the risk and mental stress of trying to help in the NHS, it’s the same for keeping unnecessary businesses open with no clear guidance on who should shut, plus what’s with the ‘you can go out and exercise once a day with family for may be an hour and near your home’ how are people supposed to translate that and why go out at all, it will kill people and thats a fact.

The UK gov and people (as does the US) seem to think the UK is special and it won’t be as bad as Italy or Spain even with the higher density living and much bigger population than either Spain or Italy, plus the slow actions on lock down and lack of procurement of PPE,and ventilators and mixed messages I would guess it’s going to be even worse.

10 years of austerity was a political decision and obviously not required, now with devastating results... the tories have a lot to answer for, not just Brexit.

Last edited by ur20v on 29th Mar 2020 3:23pm. Edited 1 time in total

@urov20

You keep knocking the healthcare system in the UK (36th in the world - where is this from ?)

This study puts the UK 1st !
https://interactives.commonwealthfund.org/...or-mirror/

This study puts the UK 18th !
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countrie...the-world/

Difficult to know what to believe, and depends on how all the factors are weighted I guess.



Moving on,.... China has gone very quiet. Things seem to have stopped in their tracks over there (and in South Korea). Strikes me as a bit odd, the downward curve is just a sheer cliff ? .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

UR20v nice to tell people who do not agree with you to volunteer for death and tbh quit a childish and boring way to end a discussion. Nowadays we say "go float yourself".
But go along with the panic-herd and blow up this thing to pandemic proportions.

Did you know that Italy had aprox. 68000 influenza victims the last years? An incidence of 9%.....Why...because they have the eldest population of Europe, nobody ever thought of locking down the country and that while they have the same healthcare problems every year. But hey, that was not interesting enough, it was just the common flu.

Have a nice day

My ‘knocking the NHS’ comes from facts and from having serving members of the family past and present. I love the NHS but I don’t wear rose tinted glasses when look at the lack of funding and waste year on year, the staff are in a impossible situation and have been for years.

Where you place the UK isn’t that important other than the Spainish health system has for years been seen as a top performer with little to no waiting lists and great care of patients in modern hospitals (seen first hand) you cannot say that for the NHS.

Again the NHS system in general is something to be proud of and to protect, my ‘beef’ is with the gov. And their propaganda around spending and support of the NHS isn’t mirrored on the front line, little PPE, no extra funding, lack of staff and equipment, this isn’t a new issue.

I am not a political person but the Tory governments over the last 10 yrs has done the UK untold harm with its self driven ideology of austerity, it wasn’t needed 10yrs ago and every year since.

Robert, my question was a genuine one, we are now asking our NHS staff to make these decisions, people ignoring the rules are making this situation worse and the gov. actions are making it far worse. The question makes a point, don’t make comments and decisions where you won’t make those hard decisions yourself... a bit like don’t do the crime if you cannot do the time.