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Hi Fleur, follow all the advice above and hopefully you can tap into a local volunteer network. If not, come back to the forum. Someone will step up to help you.

Yep, this is not going to be over in one month. But on a lighter note, I will be offering a half price home cross trainer when the gyms reopen :D

I agree sweetgirl. A lock down involves police enforced curfews and the other stuff. BUT, people were warned and failed to heed the advice given. The PM had no choice.

I went jogging today and crossed the road if I came across anyone I needed to pass. Easy to do in an area like ED.

Yes, the messaging from the top has been confused, but that is because they are populists and not science based professionals. Science based facts have a habit of undoing populism. On this, Sue is right. This is a real full scale pandemic (according to all the medical definitions). We ALL have a duty to save lives through our own behaviour. And we do not need to wait for government to act to do the right thing. Listen to the medical professionals...they trained for exactly this kind of scenario. And lobby any politician who is slow to the mark x Edited to add; we have an issue with people who think the MSM is fake news. This rebellion was a seed sown by the lack of censorship on social media, and has been exacerbated by Brexit. THIS is why the messaging is failing.

I agree with all of that blackcurrant. Leave the professional masks for the health professionals, who come into contact with the virus every day. For everyone else, it is about finding the best way to make everyone put the advice given at the fore. A lot of that is about changing behaviour. Not an easy thing to do but we are getting there.

Agreed. But there are some online suppliers that are not raising prices to be fair. Because of demand, it means the cheaper versions of things are selling out fast. But you don't need expensive equipment to work out and youtube is full of great routines you can follow to keep up any previous gym or exercise routine. I just wanted a cross trainer because that was my most effective piece of gym equipment for High Impact Training. I already have bar and dumbells and a weights bench, and a cycling machine. For most people, they can find whole classes online, they can do in their own home, with very little equipment needed. Maybe we should start a new thread to share links for useful at home exercise? Exercise is a great thing for combating depression too.

No issues here. Can not see why any internet providers would struggle to cope to be honest.

Everyone in Asia started wearing masks right away and they flattened their curves very quickly. Sometimes, a public shared behaviour sends out the right message, whether it scientifically has an impact or not. In other words, if everyone were wearing surgical masks, everyone would be aware of the virus and transmission. Surgical masks are cheap to produce, and are a cheap way of raising public consciousness and therefore changing behaviour, especially in a West that isn't used to seeing them used. This for me is a trick missed by Western governments early on. Had everyone been told to wear masks, you can bet they would have been more consciously abiding by the other advice.

I completely agree Alison and mental health is going to be a challenge over the coming months. This is why I think government should have a think about internet access for those who don't have it. There are now 4G and 5G modems that require no cables (plug and play). It won't be the answer for everyone, but getting as many people online as possible would be a huge help in sharing mental health treatment and solutions.

If there were a like button, I would be upticking Penguins post :)

Hi Seabag. The NHS are not just judging what they need now, but what they will need when the numbers needing treatment shoot up. It is a race to get everything needed in place. Anyone admitted to hospital suspected of having the virus is tested for it though. Even if you are not a carrier of the virus who is asymptomatic, until we have an effective treatment or vaccine, the advice would be the same. Only making journeys that are necessary and social distancing. You are not going to be the only person who is thinking about purchasing a test, so encouraging that as a course of action is going to have an impact on kits available for front line workers. The government has already requisitioned private healthcare services for the moment that NHS facilities become filled to capacity. Try and look at it this way. The more we all do not panic and follow advice, the more likely we are to stay well, and the more likely the treatment we need will be available if we or anyone in our family becomes unwell enough to need hospital treatment. It sounds to me as though you are doing all the right things already. Try not to worry too much. This is going to be a difficult time for lots of people, so you are not alone.

I personally would leave available test kits for those who need them most. Work is ongoing to develop a test that looks for antibodies, which is an easier thing to test for and results can be processed more quickly. That will be used to test for those who may have had the virus and now have some level of immunity (although caution on that as any viral mutation brings us back to square one). So unless you develop clear and obvious symptoms, I would wait for that to become available.

Agreed Sue. A leaflet to every door spelling it out is easy to do. Should have been done a week ago in fact.

I too am backing Admin in this decision. The virus can live on both hard and soft surfaces for several hours at least. To beat it, there has to be an all or nothing approach. Every life saved will make us better for it.

LOL indeed John. There is a run on exercise equipment now :D

Can I just correct one point above Admin,because it is important. Penguin, all mortality rates for infectious illness are calculated from known cases, and those namely presenting for treatment. The 0.1 percent mortality rate for flu is calculated in exactly the same way. COVID is at least 30 times more deadly that that. The mortality rate at present is showing as anywhere between 3 and 7 per cent. When compared to recovered cases only, it is getting up to 9 per cent. Not out of line with SARS CoV 1 that had a mortality rate of 10 per cent. It is really important to not downplay the figures because of the number of unknown cases. That is not how mortality rates are calculated.

Marmattee, you need to get used to the idea that life is not going to carry as before for a while. The message is clear.

The alcohol thing is surely just a reflection of the pubs being closed? On the news that gyms are to close I thought, I will use the park gym. Then there came the news that the parks are closing, and, I have just bought a cross trainer online :D - See how it goes?

The reality is that not enough people are taking this seriously enough, and government and local authorities have no other option than to force compliance. There is no other way to beat a virus for which we have neither effective treatment nor vaccine. On mental health. This is going to be a real challenge on so many levels for many people. There are still lots of things people can do without congregating in groups for fresh air and exercise. And the internet is going also to be a lifeline for lots of people. We have to help each other to find ways to get through it.

Cafes are supposed to be closed, except for takeaway food.

supersammyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Heading to Heathrow with a friend who is heading > back to Peru with her little girl and we need to > find some protection. haven't had any luck finding > faces masks so far. If anyone has any in Dulwich? > Cheers I have some basic ones that are better then nothing and can give you four, so they can change them when they get off the flight or wear two at the same time. If you see this in time, message me xxx

Loulou Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hello > If you can do one thing today > Listen to this link, Switch on and Stay in. This > is REAL! > > > LL This is what I have been trying to tell people for the last month! They have no idea what is coming. And it is those people who ignore the message, that require governments to take the draconian measures. Thank you for the link. We can all share it widely. And we can all understand the risk our front line workers are taking to keep us safe. Some of them will have children. All of them have people who love them. Some of them are going to pay the ultimate price. It's a sobering thought.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Perhaps we need a virtual pub! > > We could all sit at home with our drink of choice > and make inconsequential chit chat over Zoom or > something (not quite sure how that works, is it > like Skype but like a conference call??) > > Cheers! Zoom is great for this and is totally free to use. We have already been arranging virtual pub nights with our friends this way. Having a supply of whatever your favourite tipple is, is necessary though ;) It is a great way to face to face converse and musicians are also using it to do free online gigs.

Mahoody Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sure, there has been lots of gouging with > isopropyl but you can still get 5 Litres of 99.9% > pure for ?6.66. Having got some, I've been > offering free top ups to friends and neighbours if > they bring along their small bottle. That is what I was also doing. Making sanitizer to give to at risk groups. Just my way of using my chemistry knowledge to help in a crisis. Was just a bit shocked to see the inflation on something I have been ordering for years (as a lab cleaning material).