Thread: Corona Virus

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Health is one side of this crisis, but the other is economic. Already banks and others are abandoning attempts to raise capital. This can only get worse before it improves.

'They would have been slaughtered': Coronavirus crisis causes capital freeze for Australian business

'They would have been slaughtered': Coronavirus crisis causes capital freeze for Australian business | Australia news | The Guardian

Yes. I have been quite sure since mid January that what we are coming in for is going to be something like 1919 + 1929. Probably not as bad as either the flu in 1919 or the Dreat Depression. But the only reason a depression did not immediately follow the flu was that we were already on a war footing, and with the world recovering from the war, there was only a slowing of the postwar boom. And we were not as dependent on transport then. And in 1929 there was no pandemic.

So the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting recession is going to put a lot of plans on hold. The restrictions announced yesterday are only to the end of the month, but I don't think anyone who has given it a moment's thought imagines that will be the end of the emergency. In my view, things are going to get worse at least until the end of next month, and there are experts on epidemiology who are predicting the peak of cases could be as late as August. By that time we should at least be a bit used to it.

A lot of plans are going to go on hold or be abandoned.

Originally Posted by DeeJay

Our son is a fussy eater & only has white bread vegemite slices for lunch & lately has been suffering blood noses, so we went shopping last night for tissues & white sliced bread -Aldi first, they had no bread of any sort except gluten free, no eggs, obviously no dunny paper or tissues, no noodles, flour, rice & bugger all frozen meals or pies etc.
David

I went to our local IGA and of course they had no toilet paper but, to my surprise, they had plenty of long-life bread - are people throwing the bread in the deep freeze?

It looks like our 50th Wedding Anniversary Trip is off - Windsock (on this forum) has just advised me that from Midnight, Sunday, all persons entering NZ will need to self-isolate for 14 days. That would totally screw our holiday. We were going to NZ for 10 days come Wednesday.

Coronavirus: Everyone travelling to NZ from overseas to self-isolate - NZ Herald

Let's hope Qantas, the travel insurance company, the hire car company, and the hotels are understanding and not hit us for costs and fees.

A friend gave us two invitations to the Qantas lounge at the airport for our departure. Oh, well, we won't be using those.

Originally Posted by Arapiles

Yes, but it was the USA's CDC that completely stuffed up and is the proximate cause of their expanding outbreak:

• first diagnostic test was faulty and was withdrawn
• second test worked but either in short supply or overly restricted access
• they prevented the States from using the test to check for community transmission (e.g., had to have been in Wuhan etc - does that sound at all familiar?), so it spread unchecked

I'm a New York Times subscriber and the NYT has been scathing about the CDC.

I don't understand why it is relevant to my comment. USA is not Australia.

We need CDC in Australia. We don't have one yet and that's not a good news. It explains our minister of Heath in Victoria who has a law degree, is at the moment, the most hated politicians among Doctors.

Originally Posted by DeeJay

Our son is a fussy eater & only has white bread vegemite slices for lunch & lately has been suffering blood noses, so we went shopping last night for tissues & white sliced bread -Aldi first, they had no bread of any sort except gluten free, no eggs, obviously no dunny paper or tissues, no noodles, flour, rice & bugger all frozen meals or pies etc. I normally buy 6x diet lemonade & there was only 2 left, so we went on to Woolworths, much the same there, only a few packs of bread rolls on the shelf being the difference. Shoppers there said Coles was no better for bread or tissues.
Wifey decided that an early start was needed so got up at 6am this morning & went to a different Safeway- and still no white bread or tissues, so on to Aldi again & queued up 45 min before opening time- there was a dozen in front even then, by opening time there was 200 waiting, carpark & nearby street was chocka full of cars & before opening a manager walked down the line reminding all that there was a limit on 1 pack of toilet paper per purchase. Persistence paid off & she got both - & a pack of dunny paper for good measure.
If that's what is now, you have to hope it gets no worse.
David

No sign of anything like that up here yet.

Originally Posted by p38arover

It looks like our 50th Wedding Anniversary Trip is off - Windsock (on this forum) has just advised me that from Midnight, Sunday, all persons entering NZ will need to self-isolate for 14 days. That would totally screw our holiday. We were going to NZ for 10 days come Wednesday.

Coronavirus: Everyone travelling to NZ from overseas to self-isolate - NZ Herald

Let's hope Qantas, the travel insurance company, the hire car company, and the hotels are understanding and not hit us for costs and fees.

A friend gave us two invitations to the Qantas lounge at the airport for our departure. Oh, well, we won't be using those.

From the Qantas website. - Not sure about the deal with travel agents, might get tricky, good luck.

If you've booked your flights directly with us and no longer wish to travel, you can choose to change to a new date, or cancel your booking and use the value towards a future flight. Check your fare conditions for change and cancellation information. These are available under the flight section at Manage Booking. Just enter your last name and booking reference.Note: change and cancellation penalties may apply.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Yes. I have been quite sure since mid January that what we are coming in for is going to be something like 1919 + 1929. Probably not as bad as either the flu in 1919 or the Dreat Depression. But the only reason a depression did not immediately follow the flu was that we were already on a war footing, and with the world recovering from the war, there was only a slowing of the postwar boom. And we were not as dependent on transport then. And in 1929 there was no pandemic.

So the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting recession is going to put a lot of plans on hold. The restrictions announced yesterday are only to the end of the month, but I don't think anyone who has given it a moment's thought imagines that will be the end of the emergency. In my view, things are going to get worse at least until the end of next month, and there are experts on epidemiology who are predicting the peak of cases could be as late as August. By that time we should at least be a bit used to it.

A lot of plans are going to go on hold or be abandoned.

We should be prepared to hang on until Spring before things turn around. Worse case, perhaps. Anything earlier would be a bonus. As for like 1929, I still can't see it. A totally different type of circumstances entirely. What I would do now is buy in bulk, bags of spuds, flour for bread, etc, before the people wake up that is what they need, not toilet rolls.

Originally Posted by bob10

No sign of anything like that up here yet.

It just made the news...

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/sea-of-shoppers-empties-shelves-as-virus-panic-takes-hold/ar-BB11axI0?ocid=spartandhp


David