uk_grenada

So now we are on 24/7 curfew, shops are only allowed to open 8-12 [maximises human to human contact and general FUD], only food stores and chemists are open [no gas stations or taxis allowed [most have to use busses or walk] but exercising outdoors and alcohol sales stopped.

Gordon Barlow

Busses are out of business now, in Cayman, and taxis. Fosters supermarkets are bussing five employees at a time into work and back every day - five, because that allows for some social-distancing inside the van! Our government won't allow supermarkets to open on Sundays, for religious reasons. Tchah! It seems they would rather squeeze people into the shops rather than break the Christian sabbath. I've argued to allow them to be open 24/7, but no go; that would ease the congestion, by allowing us to shop in the middle of the night if we wanted. Employees would love the extra hours, as you'd imagine.

Employers in general are caught in a bind, in regard to migrant workers whose Work Permits are up. They can't be sent off the Island because no planes are flying, and nobody will take foreigners. So the Filipinos, Indians, Latin Americans and even Jamaicans, are stuck here. So far, their employers are continuing to pay them, but I can't see that lasting for long.

I went shopping this morning at Fosters Airport - my first venture outside my house for nine days. A very pleasant experience, as it happened. Everybody very cheerful and courteous. As an "elderly", I was ushered to the head of the line, and even the people I was put ahead of didn't begrudge me the privilege. A very "Battle of Britain" attitude, which was lovely to see.

Gordon Barlow

Jamesy, I don't think this is the place for a political argument, so I'll let your little grumble about Trump pass without comment. Except to say that I see nothing racist or wrong about calling the disease "Chinese Virus". Many people still refer to the 1918 influenza as "the Spanish flu", without it being considered as reflecting poorly on the people of Spain. We talk about "the mafia" without regarding it as bad-mouthing Italy, or even Sicily. "Russian roulette" doesn't insult the people of Russia. As for "corona" virus - well, corona is a Spanish word, isn't it? So... "Chinese virus" or "Spanish-word-for-crown virus"... Not much in it, really, is there? Smile.

Jerseygirl

I agree. Too many threads on BE are taken over by political posts. Anyone who wishes to discuss politics please open a new thread.

Thank you

uk_grenada

Lets talk about brexit NOOOOOO!

though there are some who hark back to the good old days of those arguments, replaced by covid trumpism

BEVS

All you chaps out that way - I simply wish you all the best that you stay safe and healthy during these times.
It's not what we would have wanted for any of our lives at the moment is it but we can take heart and smile at the little things.

I also haven't left our property in a good three weeks now. Husband has no work so is the designated grocery shopper if there is a need.

Lovely to read people being kind Gordon. That's what we need. Care and kindness all round.

and sometimes a little tipple.

Gordon Barlow

This is news from New Zealand, but it will be welcome everywhere, I expect... I've just read that the NZ Prime Minister has formally assured the young children of her country that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are both considered "essential services" during the lockdown. A nice gesture, eh?

uk_grenada

Well thats nice, something to eat at least.

Here the government have decided to extend its 24/7 curfew for another 2 weeks. They had what they call a shopping day yesterday, allowing the food stores to open for 8 hours, people queued for 4-5 hours to panic buy what they could, many could not get into a store, to then be told at 6 that the next 'shopping day' would be for 4 hours next Saturday. [Adventists up in arms of course...]

Its ok for those agile folks who stocked up before this, but i do believe the poor are now suffering, and i do feel that some time, deaths will result specifically from these decisions, from the poorest oldest and sickest in the community, meanwhile deaths from the bug, zero...

Their logic for the lockdown is that they think we are in a critical phase of eliminating spread so nobody must be near anybody. What is your opinion on this logic given the overall situation?

Gordon Barlow

It's all over-hyped to billy-oh! As far as I'm able to gather, the death-rate is quite a bit below the death-rate of the ordinary flu. The newspapers give full publicity to those who get really sick from it, but much of that is click-bait designed to scare us all. As Trump has said, we don't want the cure to be worse than the disease - and it will be worse if it accelerates the world's descent into an economic depression.

scot47

1929 again "Buddy, can you spare a dime ?"

spouse of scouse

Keep yourself and others safe Mr Barlow. The Cayman Islands have gone from 14 confirmed cases on 31 March to 45 confirmed cases as at 7 April. That might seem like a tiny number, but it's not when you consider the size of your population. Your number of confirmed cases per head of population is greater than in Canada, Australia and Turkey, and is very close to that of the UK and Iran.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

I had a quick look but couldn't find this information, you might know - how many hospital beds are available there and importantly, how many intensive care beds and ventilators are available?

Let's all keep our fingers crossed for a vaccine for this bastard, sooner rather than later.

BEVS

She did & it really is. It is kind and that is something I value very much in our current world. It is something I think may have got a bit lost along the way with the societies of today. Maybe its hiding place will be found this year.
The kids next door are a little bit relieved as one has been concerned over said Tooth Fairy and the other older one, the Easter bunny. It's good to include the young'uns isn't it. Make them feel a part of the drive rather than just a load of dictated rules from parents.

For all the bluster, curmudgeonly and contrary posts I have read over the years, I love my senior older lads just for being themselves in all ways. Yes. I do see you that way. You just keep yourselves safe .
I want to read reports from you all later on that it was all, in your opinions ,just a storm in your teacups.

M

Gordon Barlow

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know how many hospital beds there are here in Cayman. I also don't know how sick the people are who have the Virus, here - or indeed anywhere. I can't even get a grip on the mortality rates because some countries count those who die of the Virus and some count those who die with the Virus. There's a huge difference, of course! Cayman's single recorded death was a man who died of a heart attack (he was medevacced from a cruise ship) but the autopsy showed he also had the Virus. I don't think he should have been listed as a casualty of the Virus. I remember asking my doctor some years ago about prostate cancer; he said most old men have prostate cancer when they die, but it's rare for them to die of the cancer itself. So I guess it's much the same with this Virus.

The virus is very contagious, we know that. And it kills mainly old people with histories of illnesses. Old people like me, who have been pretty healthy all their lives, ought to be safe enough. Well, that's my working theory...!

old.sparkles

On the worldometer site, there is info on serious / critical amongst the data. Cayman Islands was at 53 total cases as of midnight GMT, of which 46 are still active, 3 are serious / critical, 6 have recovered and 1 death.

On the plus side, Cayman Islands have conducted 536 tests which is equivalent to 8156 per million population.

Gordon Barlow

As I said before, the one death here was of someone who died OF a series of heart-attacks (medevacced from a cruise-ship) but WITH a trace of the virus in him. From what I read, the mortality-statistics everywhere are being falsified by adding those who die with the Virus to those who die of it. That falsification makes it easier for the bullies among us who want to instigate a more docile and less free society. There's even talk of keeping the social-distance rule for up to two years, for goodness sake; and talk of "the new normal" is commonplace.