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He is completely irresponsible and why Sky News are giving him airtime to share those views is baffling. He seems to think his booze sales are more important than lives, claiming 'there has been very little transmission of the virus in pub'. How on earth does he know? It is that kind of ignorance that will increase the death toll.

Yes the nappies supply is a bit like the toilet paper supply. Other things like formula milk too. So that is an area of real concern. On things like veg, bread and milk, the market stalls in rye lane are still well stocked with plenty of cheap veg and fruit. Asda in Rye Lane also had a restock of bread and milk this morning too, and had new potatoes at 65p a bag. They seem to restock those things. I can get quite a bit in my cycle panniers. If you private message me, then maybe I can help by going tm early morning and getting a bit of a good shop for you all. Even if you only have ?20 to spend, I can get quite a lot for that in Rye Lane and I can spare a bag of pasta from my own cupboard too as a donation. Message me.

Hi all, as we all know, shopping for food and other essentials is increasingly becoming a challenge. Those who are most able, better resourced, are managing, but there are some who are really struggling to get hold of basic food. It's not just about lack of supply,for some people is is also lack of ability to afford higher cost brands. With foodbanks closing their doors, I fear this is going to get worse. Hopefully the supermarkets will get their supplies back to normal levels and the panic buying will stop but until then, I thought it might be useful to create a place where those GENUINELY struggling can ask for help. In turn, those of us who are able to shop for someone, cook something to share, or donate and share food and essentials, can try to help where we can. Obviously, everyone needs to observe the already given advice around not transmitting the virus, but let's see if this can work as another way to ease the struggle that some are going to go through.

Ok, I will start a forum foodbank thread. It will just give another way for those who are genuinely struggling to find enough basic food to ask for help.

Also, we are heavily reliant on food imports. I am sure those imports are shrinking due to the pressures in other countries. And given that foodbanks are now shutting down too, there needs to be some honesty around how those who rely on them will now be helped. Hmm which gives me an idea. Maybe we can set up a forum foodbank thread, where those who are genuinely struggling to get any item of basic food, can ask for what they need, on the off chance someone can get something for them or has something they can share. Could that work?

Thank you for confirming what we all suspect, that the empty shelves are not being fully restocked overnight. The supermarkets have had two weeks now to understand this trend and amend their ordering. So what is the issue? Boris keeps saying there is plenty of everything. So where is it? And why is it not getting to the supermarkets?

In order to get the virus from something like a card, you not only have to touch the card with your hand, you then have to touch your face, nose, mouth. The risk is low, not impossible, but low. The advice to wash hands is good advice. Get into the habit of not touching your face. If you need to wipe your nose, use a clean tissue and dispose of it immediately, then wash your hands etc etc. The way most people will catch the virus is through airborne particles and intimate or prolonged contact with an infected person. Hence why social distancing is the most effective way to stay safe.

I have been finding the small express stores are doing better at getting stock out each morning. The government have also removed restrictions on night time lorry deliveries too, so hopefully more stock will now get to those big supermarkets (providing there are the lorry drivers to do it).

Malumbu, some threads are offering advice, others are a general discussion around COVID issues. On people and pubs. I think there are many people who won't see what is coming until it is before their eyes. In other words, when people they know start getting ill and the numbers of deaths shoot up. Today I heard quite a few people laughing and joking about the situation, and panic buying etc. One person even said to me the whole thing is a hoax! This is the kind of ignorance that leads to governments having to use draconian emergency powers.

I think it is natural to expect prices to go up as demand goes up, but the wholesaler increasing prices one is wearing a bit thin now. A bottle of gin, with it's 40% alcohol content is likely to be a more effective killer of the virus than most hand sanitizers anyway. I made my own using lab grade Isopropyl Alcohol. That used to be ?7 for a liter bottle online. Now it has shot up to ?49 - so it is everywhere.

The place to still get fresh veg easily are the market stalls on Rye Lane. Lots of fruit and veg there all day.

Just a heads up for those living in Nunhead that there is an extensive support group to help get through the coming months. Anyone self isolating can ask for help and volunteers are welcome too. Details here. https://www.nunheadknocks.com/

Good to see technology being used to enforce the rationing. But yesterday in Asda, I saw no-one enforcing the limits on items. I think for many shop workers, abuse from customers is just too much for them to cope with. Shopping has just become a hugely stressful thing for everyone.

Thank you Admin. We are all in it together on this one.

Agreed DF. Other shoppers were offering to help her in her distress. She was not seeking to hoard anything. She just wanted her normal catfood weekly shop. Her other items btw were one carton of milk. One pack of celery and one bunch of spring onions. Everyone else could see she was just trying to feed her cats, but not the supermarket manager. What a situation!

And it literally is like that....just looking for anything to eat. I saw one woman in lidl trying to buy her weekly catfood shop, only to be told she could only buy 8 packets, not 12. She stated that she had four cats and it had taken her three shops to find catfood and that she wasn't even buying more than she normally does. And she could not come at opening time because she had to work! The people in front of her offered to buy the surplus four instead but the supermarket wouldn't allow it. So its not even human food affected. It is just crazy.

The biggest challenge for NHS staff is going to be looking after themselves, eating properly and getting enough sleep in what is likely to be their busiest ever time. Many of them are going to be working ridiculous hours, skipping breaks, and everything else in life is likely to stop. I would say some kind of buddy system that supports NHS staff with other responsibilities they can not meet would be a massive support. That can be anything from childcare to shopping, to sorting a broken down boiler. I think every frontline NHS worker should have a volunteer 'buddy'.

I agree with Prit and think a separate COVID section would be a very good idea, with threads for all the support networks setting up, so not just ED ones, but the surrounding areas, like Nunhead, Camberwell etc. A one stop place for the wide range of forum users (including those located in areas on the fringes of ED) would be invaluable. And thank you, not only for this forum but for thinking of how it could be of best use in this pandemic. We all get to use it for free and absolutely appreciate the work that goes into providing it.

Anything arts and crafts (if they are creative). That could be anything from screen printing to making wicker baskets. There are kits for all sorts of things online. Do either of them fancy drone flying? :D

Many people rely on the budget brands of the supermarkets to get by. M&S for a weekly shop is beyond many people's means. But some of this problem is also the supermarkets supply chains. Supermarkets plan ahead, placing extra orders for known peak times (we never run out of anything at xmas for example, when most people are shopping for a couple of weeks). This is a combination of people stockpiling and a supply chain that is set to normal. The supermarkets have been slow to respond, hence the cynical view that they have had no issue with cashing in from it. Announcement on the News tonight though that they are going to do something, because even rationing is not working. Most shelves were stripped by lunchtime.

It's becoming impossible now to get essentials unless you can get to a store as it opens and do a trolley dash! And there seems to be no end to it! Most shelves are stripped within a couple of hours, even with the rationing.

Folks, trying to mitigate death rates because of unknown cases is a red herring. ALL mortality rates are measured with those who die against those KNOWN to have the condition. So when a mortality of rate of 4 percent is apparent, it IS comparable to a mortality rate of 0.1 percent (as in flu). The fact is that COVID19 which is in fact SARS CoV 2, is twice as infectious as seasonal flu and 30 times more deadly. This is a dangerous virus, have no doubts about that. SARS CoV 1 had a mortality rate of 10 percent in the end. If you measure the global mortality rate for COVID19 vs those who have fully recovered, you are getting into the 9 percent realm. On Boris - his flaws are well known. Has his government made mistakes already? Yes they have. Have they been slow to understand what is coming? Yes they have. As right wing free market conservatives, they are going to have to abandon their belief in libertarian economics. This is going to be as big a challenge for them as fighting this virus is.

In a word, yes. We don't have enough testing kits and we don't seem to be doing enough to order what we are going to need. It is as though someone in government said, we've tested 40k people and only a tiny fraction were positive, so why bother? They completely fail to understand the value of testing in helping people to take the right action to slow the spread of the infection. We are therefore now in a situation where only those who show symptoms, and those who have contact with those people, will self isolate. This means the opportunity for the virus to spread is not hindered as much as it could be. Medical professionals are pointing out the lunacy of this. No-one is listening.

Yes and no malumbu. Where I would agree with you is in that this is a fast moving situation that waits for no man. It is an enormously difficult task to put in all the safeguards needed overnight. But at the same time, they have been too slow to the gate, hence the sudden onslaught of concern from just about every sector of the economy and society. Time for them to get moving now. Personally, I think if anyone is likely to mess it up, its Boris. His gaff 'operation last gasp' yesterday being a case in point. He lacks the self awareness and empathy to really connect with what ordinary people are about to go through. So his best bet is to focus on resources and logistics, and making sure everyone has what they need, and leave the quips and clowning at the door. People have also got to play their part, understand the seriousness of this virus and do as asked. Going to a pub is not a safe thing to do. Because even if you are socially distanced, the table you sit at, the chair you move to sit down on, could easily have just been vacated by someone with the virus that coughed all over it. The only environment you have control over, is your home. And to be blunt. There are going to be people around you that die and you will be shocked it was them. We will all hear people say, 'I never realised it was so serious', 'I never thought I could lose so and so like this'. This is very much the calm before the storm. Things are absolutely going to become very serious within weeks.

Hmmm, might be worth trying to get the idea raised. Will email our MP and see if something can be suggested to the newly formed pandemic cabinet. I think a lot of people are going to lose jobs and I am sure some of those and others would jump at the chance to do something, just to not feel helpless if nothing else.