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For information, I’ve been to mercadona this morning to pick up a few supplies before we go back to the UK. Shelves are well stocked but not very busy. Got everything I needed like bread, cheese, pasta etc. Staff are wearing masks and gloves and when I came out there was a man spraying all the pavements inside the complex.

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Update …. walked to shop waited for an hour between 12 and 1 pm not open. Sign says 11am till 3pm. I have only just seen the message that it may be closed for now.

I saw the 10,30 am bus go past this morning.

I spoke to Joaquim and I think it will be alright to use him as only justified journeys allowed. A non driver, no shop nearby that is open seems to fit that bill.

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Town 'Fish' Market open this morning but a number of closed stalls - especially fish stalls. Meat, bread and fruit and veg stalls still operational. The stalls that were open had plenty of stock. Please try to support the market as the big supermarkets will survive but the small stallholders will find it very tough to stay in business.

Lidl today, the most stock I have ever seen in the store of virtually everything; middle isles now also food stock; no queues, sanitiser and gloves supplied on entry.

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Further update. My Son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren have just crossed over the bridge to catch their flight back to the U.K. As expected they were stopped by the police and asked to produce their passports and boarding passes. However, the police still wouldn’t let them pass until the police phoned the airport to confirm their flight hadn’t been cancelled.

Regards

Martin.

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I certainly do not want to be a "bird of ill omen", but want to share this information so we all would be aware; and have no illusions and can prepare for what is likely/estimated to be ahead of us.
These are excerpts from the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team views from March 16th 2020 regarding Great Britain (but I have seen same for many other countries too)
You will find a link to the report below.
"Suppression strategy scenarios for GBshowing ICU bed requirements./ A suppression strategy incorporating closure of schools and universities, case isolation and population-wide social distancing beginning in late March 2020./ The blue shading shows the 5-month period in which these interventions are assumed to remain in place."
So we might be looking at something (surpression) that will be in place until the end of August. The other suggestion is to ease the restrictions sometime in July and reinstall them at a point where the infections rise back to a certain level.
Here´s the link to the report https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imp...16-03-2020.pdf

Of course all this is based on what is known NOW, but without a vaccine or other cure, this is the forecast right now.
If this is the case, we are looking at a huge economic and human challenge.
Let´s be careful and take care of each other during these hard times.

P.S. Will revert regarding help needed to get food etc. from the town for people who do not have a car.

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The Belgian government has told people to prepare for the possibility that the summer vacations this year in July+August may not be possible to be taken abroad.

Jon

PS Netflix will cut streaming quality in Europe for 30 days https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51968302

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As we are not allowed to do outdoor fitness classes, here is one way to exercise at home

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This edition of the new daily BBC Coronavirus Podcast is very interesting for a speedy rundown of current issues in the UK and Worldwide. They refer to the Imperial College Article mentioned above during this particular broadcast... fascinating!

Here are a few other links that people might find useful:
Ayamonte Info's Coronavirus Blog with their Spainish-wide and Ayamonte local figures for the day at time of posting. I don't know their since for the figures so can't judge how reliable they are.
Johns Hopkins University Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (USA) figures on the global situation updated on an ongoing basis. This is a world renowned Centre for what they due among the academic and science community.
The Lancet Covid-19 Resource Centre online is providing free access at the moment to published articles on Covid-19 for anyone interested in the Science..
The Novel Coronavirus Information Centre is the Elsevier’s free health and medical research on Covid-19. They have sections on 1) Clinical Information, 2) Research / Drug Discovery, 3) Public Health and 4) Patient Information.

I would be very interested if anyone has a reliable source / resource providing information on how the UK and Spanish infection figures are being identified and authenticated... post here please...

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I believe the source is here: https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/orga...le/233441.html
Copy and paste into your browser.

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Airlines are closing down, there are already cancellations and in days full closure for many. Our airline cancelled our ticket and say they will be closed at least for a month. I am sure you will agree, its not hard to imagine a longer closure especially as we hear on this thread that it could be months.

You don't seem to understand the problem. These 3 groups would object to being called 'not-sensible' (to put it nicely) and worse, irresponsible.

Individuals who want and need to go to their primary homes, family work etc etc. They cant bear the thought of such an extended time away. Knowing that they will be very crowded in the airport and the plane - risking getting the virus and possibly worse.
Airline companies who are rebooking people on any available flight to get them home. Knowing that their customers will be very crowded in the airport and the plane - risking getting the virus and possibly worse.
Governments who are planning special flights to repatriate their citizens (Germany and Belgium already announced) Knowing that their customers will be very crowded in the airport and the plane - risking getting the virus and possibly worse. https://britishexpats.com/forum/port.../#post12823884


Jon

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Hi Jon, I'm confused slightly ( it doesn't take much) ha ha. In post 53 you said you had managed to get two new flights on a different airline back to bxl, because your original flights had been cancelled. Are these the new flights cancelled in the post above ? Like : are you temporarily stranded in CE ? I hope not for your sakes with no restos open !!

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What flight!!

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Hi Keith

Everything is confusing for the moment, and each day something big happens. Sorry for my part of any confusion.

The original direct flight was cancelled because the airline shut down from today till at least 19 April . I think it's very likely that this will extend. The original reservation was for today.

I managed to get tickets on another airline for today, but not direct. We were flexible about this, but I didn't want to have problems with the car rental co if I couldn't return the car due to border closures. So pushed for today. Knowing the ticket allows us to cross.

We left early, crossed the border at 2am PT without problems on presentation of boarding passes and ID. The police were great & friendly and even joked that we should stay in PT next time to save these hassles! I said that I didn't know travel agent was a part of the job description!

We are in Lisbon now on an EIGHT hour wait for the Brussels flight. Aaaaargh! Considering the PT government declared a state or emergency this week... we were surprised to see most things open. Macdonald's, shops, Cafes etc. The cleaning crew is fantastic cleaning continuously.... Including taking the chairs out for cleaning on a rotation.
​​​​​​
I'll treat ourselves to a beer / other when it gets to midday. It will be the last outside drink for weeks. Someone's bound to criticise me for that - but this environment is supported by the government and there are all sorts of procedures in place to protect servers and us. I trust them as mentioned.

However you can't change some people, crowding to get in / off the plane, crowding on the escalators and trying to squeeze in on the bus to the terminal!
'nowt as queer as.....' !!

Why 'last drink'? We are going from quarantine to quarantine... As Belgium like most places is in lock down too. So wherever we are, we are confined to home... No restos, bars etc aaaaargh!

Funnily enough a day after we had booked these new flights, Belgium leased the original airline to bring people home. We don't know when, but decided to stick with today's flights, as we think the virus will have spread more by the time these repatriation flights actually get going, so perhaps a greater risk then, than today. Who knows.

There is no doubt to me that we have significantly increased our risk of infection.. As it's just a undeniable fact that we have significantly increased our exposure to this Vs full isolation. Airport-plane- airport for 8 hours- full plane - airport - taxi home.

Let's see what happens....

Stay well and safe, have fun!

Jon

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Stay Safe Jon x

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Thanks Bill and Claire... take good care too...

As it's now 'beer o clock ' .... Errrr Spanish time.. here it is. :) A 'Super Bock' :)

Good health , Cheers, Santé

Jon

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...aba00dafa6.jpg