Coronavirus And The Broads

[Smoggy]

My stocks & shares isa has certainly taken a hit, worth less now than it started with, I daresay it will recover to some extent but it effectively locks the savings away till the markets recover as it's a big loss to withdraw, better to sit tight and wait.

[TheQ]

On 18/06/2020 at 11:08, FreedomBoatingHols said:

There is mounting pressure on the English government to develop a proper plan to open schools. 

No such thing as an English Government, there are Scottish, Northern Irish , and Welsh Parliaments , with limited powers which include education. 

But the Government In Westminster, is elected by the people of the whole of " the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" the cabinet may contain members of any of the Four countries. It is the British Government

MPs from S, NI and W can and do vote one bills for England , even when they have their own powers in their home countries..

[vanessan]

I see the COVID19 alert level has been reduced from four to three today meaning a possible further relaxation of social distancing measures. Just in time to reduce 2m to 1m and open things up on 4 July. Call me cynical if you like but I’m not complaining..........😁 (Fingers still crossed though.)

[ExSurveyor]

8 minutes ago, vanessan said:

I see the COVID19 alert level has been reduced from four to three today meaning a possible further relaxation of social distancing measures. Just in time to reduce 2m to 1m and open things up on 4 July. Call me cynical if you like but I’m not complaining..........😁 (Fingers still crossed though.)

 

Anyone else remember this message distortion from the 70's

[vanessan]

Are you calling me a lert?? I don’t remember that from the 70s, what did it relate to?

[ExSurveyor]

32 minutes ago, vanessan said:

Are you calling me a lert?? I don’t remember that from the 70s, what did it relate to?

No idea where it came from, when they announced the alert system I had a chuckle, maybe from the cold war era and a  rebellious childhood.

[Oddfellow]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

No such thing as an English Government, there are Scottish, Northern Irish , and Welsh Parliaments , with limited powers which include education. 

But the Government In Westminster, is elected by the people of the whole of " the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" the cabinet may contain members of any of the Four countries. It is the British Government

MPs from S, NI and W can and do vote one bills for England , even when they have their own powers in their home countries..

Thanks for splitting hairs. I think everybody would understand the point I was making. 

[Bexs]

On a topic more related to the Broads, I was having a chat to the bloke who runs NYA in Horning, and I have just looked at their website!
So much for all those doomsters saying how secondhand prices would fall away rapidly - their stock has diminished rapidly at all levels so someone is spending their pennies!!

Certainly several of the yachts, I had my eye on down here, went straight under offer as soon as the brokers could do viewings again!!

I was still working as a Yacht Broker when we had the 2008 crash (Lehman Bothers collapsed whilst we were in the middle of a Southampton Boat show).

There were plenty of buyers expecting the second hand market to be flooded with cheap boats, ‘fire sales’....

For us that never really happened. Yes purchasers dwindled, but few boats came on the market ‘having’ to be sold. People just kept what they had, rather than moving up the ladder.




Sent from my iPhone using Norfolk Broads Network

[finny]

I put a property I have on the market last week hoping to generate some interest when normality returns the agent told me prices as a whole are very strong and the market was good .he also said he could only send people in a position to buy  - no tyre kickers ,my thoughts was " yeah right " there is no urgency for a sale - anyway I accepted the asking price offer today and to be honest i would have put money on the house sitting empty for a good while 

 

Finny

[ExSurveyor]

Good news, it has to be now or next year to sell.

Mortgage valuers have been instructed to down value between 5 and 10% ( I know this for a fact ) and 90%  mortgages have been withdrawn.

The market will be dire for at least 9 months but should pick up again.

Make sure you keep on to solicitors and agents to get it through quickly, it can be done in six weeks if everyone acts promptly. I got two properties completed in 6 weeks and finalized on the 3rd April.

Go for it.

[TheQ]

I think there is 3 months of held up demand for boats and houses,  I think once that is over things might be different.. 

[RumPunch]

Well, I braved Tesco in Stalham for the first time since lockdown yesterday - and won't be returning anytime soon. The local populace's idea of how to avoid getting or spreading this disease in nonexitstant. Grab trolly and saunter past cleaning station, reach past you to get things on the shelf, totally ignore one way arrows ( and the look I got for saying AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SEE THESE ARROWS in a loud voice went down like a brick ) staff who when you express concern respond with 'yeah, well people are getting a bit fed up with it.... '

Sorry - will use Roy's next time. They seem a bit better behaved and set up

[marshman]

Strange - I must be very lucky as I have been braving the supermarkets from the outset and still not caught it!!

[SwanR]

Sainsbury's has been dire where I live. I think that they start out controlling the numbers going into the store in the morning, but by the afternoon seem to have given up. It was uncomfortably busy when I went on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago because I needed a couple of things I couldn't get online. Mind you ... they haven't put in a one way system and I'm very glad about that. Means I can nip round for the few things I need and avoid the dawdlers. The spaced out queues for the checkouts are all very well but they extend up the aisles so I've given a few of those a miss and not bothered with any items that they're standing in front of.

Boots, on the other hand, have been brilliant and really well controlled. Five people in the store at a time. And they stick to it. Means you get in and out quickly and don't queue for long. 

Will be interested to see how things are organised around the Lowestoft area when we eventually are allowed back.

[Oddfellow]

5 hours ago, RumPunch said:

edit...

''yeah, well people are getting a bit fed up with it.... '

Lockdown effectively ended a few weeks ago after it became obvious that the rules didn't apply to everyone equally and it was clear that there were no sanctions being handed out.

It's been obvious in many places I have been since. 

I won't do it; if the car park is busy, I turn around and go somewhere else or go later in the day. How people have the patience to queue for Primark or any other store for anything other than food and essentials is utterly beyond me. I won't even queue at the supermarket if there's more than a handful of people ahead. 

[Broads01]

2 hours ago, marshman said:

Strange - I must be very lucky as I have been braving the supermarkets from the outset and still not caught it!!

How lucky you are. You still think you're immune evidently. 

[JennyMorgan]

A lot of people clearly do consider themselves and their children immune. For example a local to me playground has had the gates forced open and yesterday scores of small folk were playing on the rides. Irresponsible or what?

[Chelsea14Ian]

For a number of weeks now,there's  been mixed messages. The very fact that many protests around the Black lives  matters demonstrations. The warm weather having the affect that's lots of people  gather on beaches, parks etc.And yes some think it won't  get me.We still have to be careful  of this virus.

[vanessan]

I visited our local Tesco on Friday, a large queue to get in but it moved quickly. I have religiously used a face mask in supermarkets but only 2/3 others had face coverings on this visit. Seems the suggestion of face coverings for indoor public areas has fallen by the wayside already. 
 

[Chelsea14Ian]

It's worth mentioning, there are exemptions regarding  face coverings.Small children  and those with breathing  problems. Some deaf people who lip read.For me when I went to hospital  a few weeks back,I had a face mask and found it very difficult to breathe .At present  only going out once a day not coming into contact  with people, its not a problem  for me.

[grendel]

face coverings, so far i have bought several face coverings online. one size fits all is a misnomer,  they dont, most are designed to hook under the chin, and cover the nose, well none so far have managed that for me, several have straps that while elasticated are too short, and even when i can get them on, leave me with prince charles ears, and threaten at every instant to slip loose. most to cover my nose sit half way between my chin and mouth, and as i have a beard, none have formed anything near a seal around the edges.

I could wear a scarf across my mouth, but then i cannot breath properly, for me i need a mask with the breathing valve incorporated so i can wear it for more than a minute or two.

thus so far i have not found a mask i can comfortably wear for longer than a few breaths, so have been having to make do without, while i am sure most people can fashion a suitable mask, for some this is not an option.

[Meantime]

There are so many unresolved issues around face masks. It is generally accepted that they do not protect the wearer, but those around them. If everyone wears one, then everyone is protected. The one person who doesn't wear one is benefitting from everyone around who is, whilst putting all those around him at risk. You mention about the seal around the edge, but many do not seal properly, and are not really designed to, It is meant to stop the forward projection of the virus by the wearer. However what about if you are sitting side by side as on the tube or train. Sideways transmission could be more the issue.

You mention breathing valves, but they typically work on the exhale and do not filter the breath. On the basis that you wear a mask for the protection of others around you then the type with an exhale vent are potentially dangerous because others may think you are taking precautions, whilst in reality you might as well not be wearing a mask, as far as others are concerned.

I was doing some work up in the loft before Christmas and purchased three FFP3 masks from Homebase. They have far greater inhale protection than the more standard N95 or FFP2 masks in general use today. So in theory offer me greater protection when out and about. However they have an exhale vent for ease of breathing, especially when working hard. This means that I am offering no protection to anyone around me who might take a more relaxed approach to me because I'm wearing a mask. To date I haven't worn them out because I think they defeat the overall purpose of everyone protecting each other.

I was working in a data centre all day yesterday under Covid secure conditions and like everyone else wore a standard N95 mask. If you don't wear a face covering of some sort you would be politely escorted from site.

When out and about shopping I see a few people wearing FFP2 or FFP3 DIY masks all with exhale vents. The government really needs to get a grip on this issue and make face covering mandatory in public places and also insist on face coverings even over face masks that have exhale vents if people insist on wearing them for the inhale protection. 

[MauriceMynah]

I think that many people who are wearing masks believe it protects them. A myth that Parliament rather wisely is doing nothing to dispel.

 

[vanessan]

15 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

I think that many people who are wearing masks believe it protects them. A myth that Parliament rather wisely is doing nothing to dispel.

 

To be fair, I have heard it said many times that wearing a mask protects those around you, not the wearer. I believe that is why many people choose to ignore the advice - because they can’t be bothered to help protect others. 

 

50 minutes ago, EastCoastIPA said:

If everyone wears one, then everyone is protected.

Exactly, and in public indoor places I think they should be made mandatory. Either that or scrap the idea altogether. 

[Victoryv]

I had a telephone consultation with my oncologist on Thursday with a view to starting treatment again, initially their thinking was that the epidemic would be in and out fairly quickly, they are now of the opinion that it is here to stay in one form or another, having said that she was of the opinion that the chances of catching it were now extremely small, excepting hospitals! and care homes, more than one national health worker has told me the same, now this I assume is more relevant to where I live and attend hospital, other areas I guess are different. I have now  had my "severely at risk" classification reduced to just "at risk", this means I am now allowed to roam at will, not much change to recent activity then !

I refuse to be frightened of something as abstract as this disease, when the treatment for  the disease I have very real experience of, has been halted for very vague reasoning.

I trust the people treating me but would much rather fight the disease I know.