COVID-19 — Coronavirus

[Summerbuzz]

People are their own worst enemy. Rushing out to stockpile meaning deals have had to be removed to stop people doing it, production has had to ramped up so costs are going up and that adds to the cost, Tesco’s are paying their staff an extra 10% (deservedly I should add) whilst this is going on but that will get passed on to the consumer.

Its the general public that’s caused this not the supermarkets or producers.

Increased demand does not increase baseline costs for the supermarkets. The big expenses haven't changed - the rent on the building, rates, upkeep, and the normal complement of staff. Having said that they've definitely incurred some with the screens for cashiers, and most are running one extra security guard. £10 for staff is a big increase but it's nothing compared to the turnover of these places, they're doing it to meet the increased demand, which is what they want, all the time, because those baseline costs stay the same, margins are at least as good as before, and the number of sales go up.

Production works the same, you have fixed costs, always the same, and from there, increasing production involves buying more materials, and paying for the extra energy used. Energy not only doesn't go up, it often gets cheaper the more you buy. Working through the night means more discount on the unit price per k/w. The other increase is labour, and yes, there will be some overtime premiums, but I'd always expect any increase in the cost of labour per item to be easily offset because those fixed costs were paid off ages ago. They could up ALL wages 30%, not just overtime, and the increase cost to produce each item would be nowhere near %30.

Look at any break even chart and you can see that the more you make and sell, the more profit you make per item (economy of scale). Every business would want increased demand, running 24/7 and pay overtime is not done out of the kindness of their hearts, it's because it's very profitable. Historically, unless it's policed, such situations usually end up with companies strategically withholding goods to keep the price inflated.

Personally, I strongly suspect that Loo Roll was off the shelves for so long is that massive amounts of room in the lorries which they would rather use for expensive high margin stuff. 18 Loo Rolls @ £6 takes up the same space as £30 of soup, £60 of fresh meat... and there are much more expensive products than that.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Frankly, every local authority is in trouble with funding adult social care (a statutory obligation) so they are having to make more cuts to other stuff. Care homes were already closing because they don't make money. 1600 have closed in the last ten years (1 in 8). An arbitrary cut-off at 75 sounds inhuman but if someone has dementia or a chronic painful condition and gets coronavirus...

I've already heard people reminiscing about pneumonia as "old man's friend" (not nice but 100 years ago judged a relatively painless way to go).

It simply isn't always a good thing to prolong life. I have in mind a GP friend who had a stroke and survived but his quality of life was poor and caring for him ruined his wife's health.

Difficult decisions about who gets treated will swiftly become the norm.

Sadly, this is true.
Even those that are successfully treated may be in for a a hard time, as the Fibrosis of the lungs that this dreadful illness will leave behind in it's wake will be a curse on society for the next 25 years.

 

[Chippy_boy]

No it isnt,please do not put words into my mouth or interpret my meaning for me. I referenced the point someone made that all people over a certain age will not be taken into hospital and again, for clarity, that is absolutely not true. Not I dont know or Im not sure. I hope you find that clarity in my post this time.

Well thanks for your OPINION, rather than any clarification of facts which of course you do not have.

And btw that was not the claim. The claim was about people in nursing homes, not all people. As i said previously.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Well thanks for your OPINION, rather than any clarification of facts which of course you do not have.

And btw that was not the claim. The claim was about people in nursing homes, not all people. As i said previously.

OK boss

 

[M18CTID]

True, initially but they let it get out of hand by trying to cover it up.

We are very much culpable for what’s happening in Europe and the US.

I think whilst it’s over there or only over here in small numbers, it’s difficult to go for a lockdown. As silly as that sounds now, the public wouldn’t be on board and it’s unclear if it will spread to such large numbers.

We’re paying the price for gambling on the above.

563 deaths in fucking depressing.

Absolutely. My heart sank when I saw that figure earlier, and while our government certainly deserves criticism for being slow to react on certain things, all those selfish fuckers who went out on the piss the Friday before last and packed out well known landmarks and beauty spots that same weekend, while totally ignoring social distancing advice, have a lot to answer for too.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Just ran past a chip shop, heaving full of builders and site workers in high vis - all packed in the chip shop and sitting having a laugh outside on the wall whilst they stuff their faces.

Stuffing the CPAP mask on their faces may be a little less of a laugh.

 

[Chippy_boy]

OK boss

No probs grasshopper

 

[M18CTID]

Just a general thought .... in a few weeks/month when hopefully by then the curve is on the way down and death rates drop ...
what happens when everything ‘goes back to normal’ and flights resume and some people carrying the virus come over and infect a few people again ... would we back to where we are now ? Or is the hope majority of country would be immune to it or perhaps a vaccine would be available

One would hope a second or third wave would be far less catastrophic but we can't be sure of that. Personally, I think even when restrictions are lifted and it's deemed "safe" to go down the pub/go out for a meal/go to a football match or gig/fly to another country, etc, the worse thing that could happen is that pretty much everybody does it straight away. I, for one, will be wary of going down the pub and might hold off for a couple of weeks at least.

 

[kevin horlocks wand]

Does anyone know whether the game changing test which shows if people have had the disease even exists ? People talk about in press conferences as important but is it out there now and available ?

 

[denislawsbackheel]

The second wave is what the govt is expecting. Their whole strategy has been to keep the peak down so that the second wave peak will also be lower.
As soon as people start going back to their usual social interactions it will return.
It’s another reason why I don’t think you’ll see football stadiums with attendances again this year even if football restarts.

And for the doom mongers out there the second wave of Spanish Flu was the real killer one...