Good grief, and I thought Bo "Didn't die in a ditch" Jo and his cabinet as well as their puppet master were idiots. (They are. Nothing is going to change my mind about that.)
Australia's PM seems to be taking the crown at the moment, tho.
Is he really banking on nationalism (in a sense) to withstand this virus? Or is he disguising a hope for developing "herd immunity" and/or under-preparedness in all of this nonsense?
He claims to be listening to national health experts who are telling him that there's no evidence to suggest children being asymptomatic carriers of the virus is a problem.
It's a little insane here at the moment. Even the press is calling it a hot mess and "as clear as mud". After Victoria and NSW announced their closures last night the PM got on the air and reiterated that it was still the federal stance that schools should remain open, even though it was clearly the states' rights to make those decisions, thereby confusing everybody even more.
I so very much hope it's all going to be OK for you and MT -- health-wise first and foremost, of course, but also for his business. (Though it looks like if / when it does, it will be thanks to pretty much anything *other than* decisions made by politicians. At least, federal politicians.)
The beer thing is just ... I have no words. Nor for people still flocking to beaches, despite official clusures, and for casinos staying open, and for contact sports to still be going on.
Guess what happened just after that tweet from the Brewer? All the bottle-shops (not battleships, thank you very much spell check) were mobbed. The biggest one near us, which is the size of a warehouse, had to shut its doors against the mob. There's been a run on alcohol that's likely going to make the TP debacle look like child's play. Apparently that's how you put the real fear of God into Aussies: threaten their liquor supply. ;-)
In more good news, the federal government has announced all casinos must close, so maybe Kerry Packer will be forced to actually close them this time. The Rugby league, however, is holding out. ::eye roll::
Oh, I think there is a natural progression of insanity, because we've seen the same here: First it was the hand sanitiser/soap, then TP, then pasta/rice, then booze, then canned food,....
The order of panic here was weird; it started with TP and flour, then rice overtook flour, then all paper products, then soap/sanitiser, then chest freezers and a run on - I kid you not - bidets. After that went the meat and frozen foods along with, finally, tinned food. Oh and seeds - because everyone is embracing gardening (yay!). And now, beer.
Oh, yeah, I forgot the freezers.
After all of the supermarkets put limits on buys, it's now the DYI stores. B&Q issued a notice today that due to overwhelming demand they are reducing store hours.
I clearly don't get out to the supermarket often enough. Last time I looked, TP and sanitizer / soap aisles were empty, so were pasta, rice and certain types of tinned food, but everything else was still available ... including beer, wine, booze and frozen food. Also, for that matter, mineral water, soft drinks, and juices. (Haven't been to a store whose merchandise includes bidets in ages, but then, I doubt any of those are even still open at the moment.) Oh yes, and as of yesterday(ish), it's "2 metres / 6 feet distance in queuing at the cashier, please" and limits on how many people can be in the store at the same time ...
Things are a bit better here the last few days, according to MT (he did the store run at the crack of dawn Sunday). Still no paper products, yogurt was all gone (??), but he was able to get a package of minced beef. Still plenty of fresh produce, but there's never been a shortage of that. He didn't go in the frozen food aisle, so I don't know if supplies there have bounced back or not. Still plenty of drinks/juice/etc. The states have all relaxed restrictions about when stores can restock, so they can now restock 24/7, so hopefully we'll see fuller shelves soon.
He also hit the chemist to pick up a prescription and he said it looked like the aftermath of a war zone. Everything of any possible use is gone, and the poor employees look shell shocked.
Well, at least your PM united the nation in declaring him to be a dangerously deluded man.
I know things are going to get worse before they get better. Like you, I find some relief in the acknowledgement that this threat is real, that we can do something about it if we have the will and those politicians who live off denial, deflection and jingoistic nationalism may finally be exposed as the dangerously hollow men that they are.
We can but hope. He did have one good message to Aussies though, that if they can't police themselves, the government will police them and more 'draconian' measures will be put in place. Doubtful many will listen, but at least he stopped waffling for a few seconds.
I stocked my wine fridge and liquor cabinet a while ago in preparation for being distanced with my children (and potentially my husband). Liquor stores are the only stores with full shelves these days. I don't know if they have "essential" status here. I don't even know what essential means at this point. My husband is still going to work every day despite six guys being sent to hospitals for testing. Nobody has said what those results have been. My father-in-law is currently being put up in a hotel by his boss. My father-in-law works in agriculture. They are sort of essential as we move into planting season. My mom works home health so she's essential. My father makes fireworks. He's not essential but there's only one other person who works in his shop so they can distance.
I applaud your advanced preparation. You are clearly more of a long-term thinker than the Aussies who've been mobbing the liquor stores the last 18 hours. I drink so rarely that my little bottle of gin will be plenty to get me through (and I was already very well stocked on tonic), and MT does the printing for a premium vodka brand here who keeps giving him bottles of the stuff, so yeah. Liquor is not a problem. Beer might be, for MT, but he'll sort it out, as I doubt anything short of an actual nuclear explosion will shut the bottle shops here.
I hope your husband will be ok. The words 'criminally negligent' keep popping into my head whenever you describe his work and the owner. Your dad might have the coolest job ever.
I have been well prepared for all of this. I had my pantry stocked and prepped almost a week before they were calling off schools. I took notes from watching Italy. My husband doesn't seem to think I'm as insane as he did two weeks ago.
Neither does mine - last weekend I showed him the exponential math involved with this virus, how the numbers double every 3 days, and I was politely dismissed. Yesterday's flurry of press conferences heard the phrase 'our rates are doubling every 3 days' being made by several officials. Talk about hollow victories.
Went to the supermarket this am (rural area) was surprised how empty the shelves were. No wiff of hand sanitiser within cooee Usually have a bottle in the car for after touching any money - when I get back to the car. Many of my friends are nurses (so glad I'm no longer in the public health sector)
I'm dreading the impact on aged care (where I currently work) I think the horse may well and truly have bolted by now.
Australia's PM seems to be taking the crown at the moment, tho.
Is he really banking on nationalism (in a sense) to withstand this virus? Or is he disguising a hope for developing "herd immunity" and/or under-preparedness in all of this nonsense?
The beer thing is just ... I have no words. Nor for people still flocking to beaches, despite official clusures, and for casinos staying open, and for contact sports to still be going on.
In more good news, the federal government has announced all casinos must close, so maybe Kerry Packer will be forced to actually close them this time. The Rugby league, however, is holding out. ::eye roll::
After all of the supermarkets put limits on buys, it's now the DYI stores. B&Q issued a notice today that due to overwhelming demand they are reducing store hours.
He also hit the chemist to pick up a prescription and he said it looked like the aftermath of a war zone. Everything of any possible use is gone, and the poor employees look shell shocked.
I know things are going to get worse before they get better. Like you, I find some relief in the acknowledgement that this threat is real, that we can do something about it if we have the will and those politicians who live off denial, deflection and jingoistic nationalism may finally be exposed as the dangerously hollow men that they are.
I hope your husband will be ok. The words 'criminally negligent' keep popping into my head whenever you describe his work and the owner. Your dad might have the coolest job ever.
I'm dreading the impact on aged care (where I currently work) I think the horse may well and truly have bolted by now.