Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak

[Peripatetic Phil]

I agree. Phil must be able to seek official clarification as to whether hotel restaurants are able to continue serving residents. To challenge the legality of the Prime Minister's instructions would not be helpful at all - even worse than Gina Miller's attempts to thwart Brexit. I doubt if a Police Officer would be very tolerant if one comes knocking on the hotel's door.

The police officer is there to enforce the law

[Donald Brasco]

Keep the restaurant open if you feel that way Phil. You

[Peripatetic Phil]

You are reading selectively, Donald.  I wrote

"I do not for one second suggest that (e.g.,) restaurants, bars, pubs, etc., should not close

[George]

The police officer is there to enforce the law

[Peripatetic Phil]

No, that question remains moot.  As it is my wife's hotel, it is she who is best placed to seek authoritative advice.  I have already asked if she is a member of a relevant professional body, but sadly the answer would seem to be "no".  It is possible (but by no means certain) that hotel kitchens will be able to operate normally (if they so wish), but the food that they serve must then be consumed in the guest's room (i.e., room service) rather than in a communal dining room.

Nothing I can find in Hansard; there were only a few mentions of the word "restaurant" in the period 17th inst.

[George]

I now gather that you may be right to the extent that the 'advice' to close restaurants does not yet have the full force of the law. But it soon will, when a bill is passed by Parliament, as expected. In the meantime, it must make sense to follow the spirit of the advice and either keep tables at least 2 metres apart or move to serving meals only in rooms. A similar approach didn't stop people getting infected on cruise ships, though.

When I went to a supermarket yesterday, nobody seemed to be acting any different to normal. It seems unlikely anyone would leave a 2m gap in between everyone in a queue for a till, or moving around the shop. Shopping for food and other essentials must be the greatest risk any of us take at the present time, and I guess it's going to get much, much worse in terms of the risk of contracting the virus.

[livo]

Our supermarkets have now installed line and cross markers on the floor showing where individual persons are to stand in order to maintain the required minimum distance between themselves and the leading and following shopper.  Bus loads of raiders continue to hit certain regional targets.  Chicken is unavailable and other meats are scarce.

Public transport and schools are still shoulder to shoulder which is a bit stupid.  The Bondi Beach fiasco over the weekend has generated a shut-down of sorts with confused people trying to guess if they are essential services or not.  Similar to your situation Phil, Pubs, Clubs, Bars, Churches, Casinos, Restaurants etc. are all shut down as of 12.00 noon today.  Restaurants can provide T/A and delivery only.  No dine in.

The immediate job losses caused shoulder to shoulder queues of people trying to line up at the Government Welfare Benefit registration offices around all 4 corners of complete city blocks.  Some wore masks.  The Government website collapsed under the load.

14 day isolation is now required crossing State borders within our country.  Lucky Tasmania.  It's an island State with very little infection at this point.

Test kits have nearly run out so they are now doing random symptom based tests, as opposed to targeted risk group tests, in an attempt to predict how many community spread cases have been missed, and from there extrapolate the actual extent of infection.  This figure is unknown and there are many sick people un-diagnosed, who will remain so.

The Senior Health Officials of Government have been out-voiced by practicing doctors who are advising citizens to ignore Government advice and rules / orders and go into voluntary isolation in discrete family units. They are predicting Italy like situation within 2 - 3 weeks.

Teachers and Health care workers have been thrown under the bus but others still appear to think it's all a bit unfair to be imposed upon in such an undignified manner.

The most unexpected thing is that the largest hardware chain store has all but sold out of Home Renovation materials.  People are preparing to do renovations while they are in forced lock-down.

Subversive reports out of China indicate that the figures we are seeing from them are not accurate at all and the people over there are in desperate fear of the Temperature test guns.  A high temperature means you are on the bus.  On the bus means you are gone.

[Peripatetic Phil]

It seems unlikely anyone would leave a 2m gap in between everyone in a queue for a till

I did, in Waitrose (Truro) earlier this afternoon.  Unfortunately the woman standing behind me did not.
** Phil.

[Garp]

Sometimes the treatment can be more harmful than the ailment. I fear that time is now.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Sometimes the treatment can be more harmful than the ailment. I fear that time is now.

For an individual, yes, so (somewhat unusually) I feel some empathy with Garp's point of view.  But for the good of the nation, and for the good of the NHS in particular, we are all going to have to make sacrifices