SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Posted in the Newbies by @mehdimike

Weird time in Iran.
Our new year begins on friday morning at around 7.
There aren't many people on the streets which is very strange at this time of the year. But still even those few people shopping outside are worsening the situation.
My 78-year-old uncle has been hospitalized for about a week now after testing positive. Plus I am worried about my father who is suffering from some kind of a respiratory disease. The thought of him getting infected is really killing me. :(
Click to expand...
 
MikeUpNorth said:
Sounds illegal to me in the UK, if you're on a permanent contract. Are you a member of a union?
Click to expand...

How are businesses supposed to keep paying people full wages when they're not there and revenue streams dry up? Many businesses are not making big profits like FTSE 100 companies, they generally just get by year to year. It would be impossible to keep paying full wages through all this.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
How are businesses supposed to keep paying people full wages when they're not there and revenue streams dry up? Many businesses are not making big profits like FTSE 100 companies, they generally just get by year to year. It would be impossible to keep paying full wages through all this.
Click to expand...

But surely they have some sort of insurance? I've come to terms with the fact I'm going to be absolutely financially fecked within a month.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
How are businesses supposed to keep paying people full wages when they're not there and revenue streams dry up? Many businesses are not making big profits like FTSE 100 companies, they generally just get by year to year. It would be impossible to keep paying full wages through all this.
Click to expand...
Governments need to act to either
1) insure payment of wages for the duration of the crisis
Or
2) insure that bill payments are deferred for the duration of the crisis + additional time so that workers can recover lost wages
 
I've come into the office as I've no symptoms and have some client meeeings, the amount of people walking around coughing is really pissing me off.

The office which is around 1500 is more or less completely full despite doing 2 test says last week of people wfh.
 
TMDaines said:
These countries have the specific infrastructure and have learnt from experience how to deal better with these situations though... and still China still completely fecked it up for everyone through a self-paranoid cover up. As the video below explains, neither the UK nor the US have the mothballed systems to be reactivated currently. I only hope that changes going forward.

Click to expand...

We had that option in December last year and it lost. So who knows where we go from here(Mostly likely some right wing authoritarian government or just simple chaos).
 
MikeUpNorth said:
Sounds illegal to me in the UK, if you're on a permanent contract. Are you a member of a union?
Click to expand...

It's not, it depends what's your in contract. Most of us have contractual sick pay but it's not an automatic right.
 
Smores said:
I've come into the office as I've no symptoms and have some client meeeings, the amount of people walking around coughing is really pissing me off.

The office which is around 1500 is more or less completely full despite doing 2 test says last week of people wfh.
Click to expand...
We switched our regular meeting to a video call and the first thing I see behind a speaker in the office is someone picking their ear and nose and continuing with their day.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Social distancing, sure. I've been WFH as much as possible anyway, and have avoided meeting friends out, but we're talking about not leaving the house (well room, technically) for a week to fourteen days. I'd rather not to do that unless I have to.
Click to expand...
I don't want to do that either, but nonetheless it's what I'll be doing for the coming 3 weeks, except for going to the store to buy the essentials of course. I believe anyone who can do that, should. Not everyone will be able to of course, so that's why I think it's important for everyone else to do so. At the very least you should seriously consider it, it makes an immense difference in the hospitals and it saves lives.
 
b82REZ said:
But surely they have some sort of insurance? I've come to terms with the fact I'm going to be absolutely financially fecked within a month.
Click to expand...
My brother in law here in CZ has had his working week cut from 5 days to 3 days. For the next 2 weeks he is compensated by the state for the 5 days, after that he has to take the loss. He is stressing about bills etc. Desperate times.
 
Sweet Square said:
We had that option in December last year and it lost. So who knows where we go from here(Mostly likely some right wing authoritarian government or just simple chaos).
Click to expand...
You could have given any political party a majority and given them 20 years, and they still wouldn't have shaped the country to be resilient to this pandemic. This is going to be one of, if not the, most impactful event since the Second World War. It will change the country far more than a Jeremy Corbyn win would have done.
 
Carolina Red said:
Governments need to act to either
1) insure payment of wages for the duration of the crisis
Or
2) insure that bill payments are deferred for the duration of the crisis + additional time so that workers can recover lost wages
Click to expand...
Fully agree with this. There should be some form of compensation for those people who take a financial hit
 
Carolina Red said:
Governments need to act to either
1) insure payment of wages for the duration of the crisis
Or
2) insure that bill payments are deferred for the duration of the crisis + additional time so that workers can recover lost wages
Click to expand...
I'll vote 2) then please. 1) doesn't help the self-employed.
 
red4ever 79 said:
My brother in law here in CZ has had his working week cut from 5 days to 3 days. For the next 2 weeks he is compensated by the state for the 5 days, after that he has to take the loss. He is stressing about bills etc. Desperate times.
Click to expand...

What annoys me in my situation is I know the company I work for will still keep collecting their weekly fees for the children even if we have to close so they wont be out of pocket. They wont extent that to their staff though, despite the fact our headteacher let slip management and directors will get full pay.
 
TMDaines said:
You could have given any political party a majority and given them 20 years, and they still wouldn't have shaped the country to be resilient to this pandemic. This is going to be one of, if not the, most impactful event since the Second World War. It will change the country far more than a Jeremy Corbyn win would have done.
Click to expand...
I'm talking about the response to this virus. It would be vastly different had Labour won just a few months back. It turns out politics actually matters.

thread



Also if the politics of Corbyn and Sander had been in power for last 20 odd years then yes of course we would be more resilient to a global pandemic. The tweet I posted which you quoted explained this.
 
Last edited:
b82REZ said:
But surely they have some sort of insurance? I've come to terms with the fact I'm going to be absolutely financially fecked within a month.
Click to expand...

I heard a representative from some insurance body saying that many small and medium businesses don't take out pandemic cover because its expensive and well, we've not had one for 100 years so there will be many that do not.

Carolina Red said:
Governments need to act to either
1) insure payment of wages for the duration of the crisis
Or
2) insure that bill payments are deferred for the duration of the crisis + additional time so that workers can recover lost wages
Click to expand...

I agree that there has to be some major government intervention here, deferment of mortgage payments (this will definitely happen) and essential bill subsidies

TMDaines said:
You could have given any political party a majority and given them 20 years, and they still wouldn't have shaped the country to be resilient to this pandemic. This is going to be one of, if not the, most impactful event since the Second World War. It will change the country far more than a Jeremy Corbyn win would have done.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that with this attack we'd not have a better chance of winning?

Burgon-----------------Abbott
--------------Corbyn-------------
 
b82REZ said:
What annoys me in my situation is I know the company I work for will still keep collecting their weekly fees for the children even if we have to close so they wont be out of pocket. They wont extent that to their staff though, despite the fact our headteacher let slip management and directors will get full pay.
Click to expand...
Why does that not come as a surprise?
 
Classical Mechanic said:
How are businesses supposed to keep paying people full wages when they're not there and revenue streams dry up? Many businesses are not making big profits like FTSE 100 companies, they generally just get by year to year. It would be impossible to keep paying full wages through all this.
Click to expand...


An old mate of mine is head chef of a restaurant which is one of four owned by the same couple, I'm in a whatsapp group with him and a few other chefs and they've been discussing the situation at their places. He said that between the four restaurants and the admin team in the main office they have just under £4.5k a week they pay in salaries to a dozen permanent staff. Then they have about another 20 staff on zero hour contracts, some just students making pocket money but the junior chefs and some waiting staff rely on the money to live.

They're just coming out of winter and it's usually Easter -> October when they make their money so the restaurant cash reserves is at it's lowest point. If they have to shut for more than a fortnight it's likely that all four restaurants will close and that's nearly 40 staff out of a job. What they are most worried about though is that this is going to be common place. So while the chef industry has just seen a bit of a shortage of chef's (because it's tough work in shit hours) and wages had begun to be more competitive, this is going to be completely out the window and it's going to be back to square one with really talented chefs opting to be labourers instead because the money is better. The trouble is that there won't be enough labouring jobs this time either.
 
b82REZ said:
I work in a private independent school and we've just been told we won't get paid if/when a quarantine happens.

I'm fuming and honestly don't know what I'm going to. I cant afford to pay my bills on SSP.

Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
I'm a contractor so I'm in the same boat. You're not going to get much sympathy from posters in here though.
 
Smores said:
I've come into the office as I've no symptoms and have some client meeeings, the amount of people walking around coughing is really pissing me off.

The office which is around 1500 is more or less completely full despite doing 2 test says last week of people wfh.
Click to expand...

Same situation here, pretty much everyone coming in as usual, and loads of coughs around me. Colleague stupidly went to London over the weekend to party and has come back with cold-like symptoms, so I have taken my own decision to move desks a few blocks away. Not risking getting this due to someone else's carelessness.
 
Mogget said:
I'm a contractor so I'm in the same boat. You're not going to get much sympathy from posters in here though.
Click to expand...
There's plenty of us who did try to the stress why you have to keep it going as long as possible and not just tank the economy and leave people out of work, unable to pay bills!
 
Mogget said:
I'm a contractor so I'm in the same boat. You're not going to get much sympathy from posters in here though.
Click to expand...

Not looking for sympathy. There'll be millions in the same boat as me, just looking for advice from anyone who has already be directly affected by the same issues.
 
If your office closes up temporarily without offering work from home, and your on a set salary as defined by your contract, do they still have to pay you said salary?

Or whats the legal ramifications here does anyone know?

Secondly how do they change of the government initiates a lockdown?
 
sebsheep said:
Unfortunately it also increases the chances of people passing it on to others, who may suffer much worse than themselves meaning they still don't think about it oo much.


I would like to add a 3rd to this, but it should be shown for the record that I feel it should be expressed in a much more charming way.
Click to expand...
You're right. "She would get pumped". How about that?
 
b82REZ said:
Not looking for sympathy. There'll be millions in the same boat as me, just looking for advice from anyone who has already be directly affected by the same issues.
Click to expand...
Practical suggestions:
1. Do you have an emergency fund to sustain yourself for a little while without income?
2. Do you have family members who could perhaps lend you some money in the short term?
3. Perhaps look for alternative work? I imagine delivery services and such are taking on additional staff to meet increased demand.
 
Kentonio said:
Why wouldn’t you get sympathy? You guys are in a horrible situation.
Click to expand...
There was one poster saying we should have built up savings for these scenarios.

And anyone arguing to delay a lockdown for economic reasons gets jumped on by the majority.
 
11101 said:
60% in Italy are serious enough to require a stay in hospital. I'm assuming only half the cases are known about, so 60/2=30%.
Click to expand...
60%? That's terrifying. Thought this was closer to 15%.
 
Mogget said:
There was one poster saying we should have built up savings for these scenarios.

And anyone arguing to delay a lockdown for economic reasons gets jumped on by the majority.
Click to expand...

There’s no good reason to delay the lockdown. Government should be ensuring continuity of peoples economic health via mortgage/rent holidays and basic cost of living payments to those who need them. They definitely shouldn’t be risking a worse outbreak as an alternative.

That ‘should have built up savings’ stuff is shite. It’s like some people don’t know how many of us have to live.
 
MikeUpNorth said:
Practical suggestions:
1. Do you have an emergency fund to sustain yourself for a little while without income?
2. Do you have family members who could perhaps lend you some money in the short term?
3. Perhaps look for alternative work? I imagine delivery services and such are taking on additional staff to meet increased demand.
Click to expand...

I have no savings due to me recently breaking up with my ex which has left me with no savings.

I may have to look into a second job if I'm forced to quarantine but my car is currently off road with a fault I cant afford to get fixed.
 
Grinner said:
Presumably if you have had it and recovered a test shows that you are safe? Should people be tested for this so they can then move around freely?
Click to expand...
At least to clarify whether you are then immune youd figure they would test
 
Ekkie Thump said:
It looks like its proportional to population growth (a matter of internal nhs policy maybe?) - ie 6.6 beds per 100k population. Whatever the reason it's clearly insufficient to address this impending crisis.
Click to expand...

It is a slight increase...

in 2010 ICU beds per 100k was 6.3
In 2020 it is 7.4

Those figures are England only, and assuming current population is 56 million vs 53 in 2011 census.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.