The Coronavirus thread.

[dad_of_jon]

What if the hairdresser has Covid-19 but isn't showing signs all the people that have a haircut are infected then infect close family members leading to deaths, do you not understand why the lockdown is in place and why everyone needs to stick to it, is having a haircut important when it could kill your family?

agreed chippy, but Joe public by and large are pretty stupid re: lockdown measures. Certainly around my area. Those giving out advice generally have a higher IQ and they wonder why Joe public don't get it. Isolate yourself and family, wash hands etc don't touch face . I'd like to think the muppets will only harm each other but unfortunately they'll be taking a number of NHS staff with them ☹

In my job I am making a positive contribution to helping us through this but I do have sympathy for those with no financial safety net rather than those who want to go out to meet up with a mate!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

enforce the lock down on several million Londoners if said Londoners choose not to comply.

It'll be interesting to see how they keep a distance on the tube.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

In my job I am making a positive contribution to helping us through this but I do have sympathy for those with no financial safety net rather than those who want to go out to meet up with a mate!

I also go out to work every day as do Mrs Tea and my son there are days when i think i would rather we were all at home on 80% pay and in a much safer place but most days i am glad i am out of the house for a few hours.

I also feel bad for those that through no fault of their own find themselves out of a job its the muppets who think the rules were not made for them that make my blood boil.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Chippy_Tea]

In Great Britain, the average number of excess winter deaths over the last five years was 39,142.

https://fullfact.org/online/Excess-winter-deaths-UK/

 

[Stephenj]

What if the hairdresser has Covid-19 but isn't showing signs all the people that have a haircut are infected then infect close family members leading to deaths, do you not understand why the lockdown is in place and why everyone needs to stick to it, is having a haircut important when it could kill your family?

My next door neighbours dad has it, had no symptoms that we are told to look out for. He had a loss of appetite and lost weight suddenly. As you say chippy, there's a reason we have the lockdown. Those with it don't necessarily know it, and you certainly can't tell who has it.

 

[Leon103]

I would read this not risk killing my and many others family members.


Coronavirus - if you're self-employed

If your income has dropped because of coronavirus, you might be able to get money from the government.

You could get 80% of your average profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. This is called the Self-employment Income Support Scheme.

If you're eligible, you can get money to cover until at least the end of June 2020.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/coronavirus-if-youre-self-employed/

Only if you have been trading for 3 years.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

So those under 3 years don't get a penny?

 

[MyQul]

Donald 'Preacher Man' Trump has been on twitter as usual today

"And then came a Plague, a great and powerful Plague, and the World was never to be the same again! But America rose from this death and destruction, always remembering its many lost souls, and the lost souls all over the World, and became greater than ever before!"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...se-task-force-death-toll-latest-a9496731.html
https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1256957565562486784

 

[Leon103]

So those under 3 years don't get a penny?

Correct. You have to produce 3 years worth of accounts and they work out the amount due by averaging the profit over the 3 years.
My wife is self employed and fell foul of this.

 

[MyQul]

Correct. You have to produce 3 years worth of accounts and they work out the amount due by averaging the profit over the 3 years.
My wife is self employed and fell foul of this.

So anyone that's been doing a bit of cash in hand work and not declaring it aren't as clever as they thought they were

 

[MyQul]

@Leon103 Im not implying that you (if you are self employed) or your wife have been doing cash in hand work btw. Just pointing out that anyone that has will be getting less money from the government scheme than they would have done had they declared all their income

 

[Leon103]

@Leon103 Im not implying that you (if you are self employed) or your wife have been doing cash in hand work btw. Just pointing out that anyone that has will be getting less money from the government scheme than they would have done had they declared all their income

So anyone that's been doing a bit of cash in hand work and not declaring it aren't as clever as they thought they were

No they weren't. Plus those with limited companies that pay themselves minimum wage but larger sums as dividend

 

[simon12]

The requirements to claim the grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme states you must have filed a tax return for year ending 2019 (that was due by end Jan 2020) have been trading in the tax year ending April 2020 (no return due until Jan 2021) and intend to trade this tax year the amount you can claim is based on the tax years ending 2017 2018 and 2019 but you don't have to have been trading for more than 1 of them. This seems the only way to do it as the most recent year they can base it on is the one ending 2019 and its not for people who left self employment after that year.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks Simon I was sure there was a way for the self employed to get some money as they were left behind when they originally announced the handouts and there was a big stink kicked up.

 

[Leon103]

Thanks Simon I was sure there was a way for the self employed to get some money as they were left behind when they originally announced the handouts and there was a big stink kicked up.

I miss understood it slightly. Still no joy for those who started a business in the last 12 months

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I would read this not risk killing my and many others family members.

You could get 80% of your average profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. This is called the Self-employment Income Support Scheme.

With respect Chippy, I think you should be kinder. Read what you posted earlier :

She was in her 20s and had everything set up in her kitchen: all the proper utensils and a mirror from her bedroom propped up against the table. She said she needed the money. She had just started her own business so couldn't be furloughed and had fallen through the cracks [of the government's different support schemes].

As a new business, presumably she has no trading record on which to base a claim for SEISS. The government schemes aren't perfect - for instance shops in small shopping arcades don't qualify for the grant that's being done via the rates system, as rates are paid in a single payment by their landlord and they don't have direct interaction with the rates system. AIUI a lot of hairdressers are self-employed and rent a chair in a salon, in which case they would be similarly "invisible" to the support scheme.

Whilst obviously we want as little transmission as possible, what really matters is that we keep R<1 and that the health system is not overwhelmed. Given that R appears to be somewhere around 0.6-0.7 and the health system seems to be relatively on top of things, we do have a bit of flexibility on how tight a lockdown we pursue, and I'd far rather "spend" some of that spare R on being sympathetic to people like this hairdresser than the eejits going to the beach.

 

[stevey]

The small businesses (I'm specifically talking about welder fabricators) who employ maybe one person, who for tax purposes were advised to make themselves directors and pay themselves a wage, aren't entitled to anything. They can pay their 1 employee 80%, but can't claim it back until June, whilst no money is coming in.
They could work, as the guidlines say if you can't work from home, you can still work, but most building sites have closed so if they've got work they can't do it anyway.

 

[bobukbrewer]

more venice self isolating

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Two-metre distancing may be eased for work

Employers will not be required to maintain social distancing of two metres between workers under government proposals to reopen the UK's workplaces.

In one of the draft government strategy papers, seen by the BBC, employers are encouraged to do so where possible but where it's not, additional measures should be considered, it suggests.

These should include additional hygiene procedures, physical screens and the use of protective equipment.

However, the section of the documents marked PPE is currently empty, apart from a promise that "more detail" will follow.

Union leaders have expressed concerns, saying few firms currently have this equipment and efforts to acquire it could see them competing with the NHS for scarce and essential supplies.

Worker safety

Employers are also encouraged to stagger arrival and break times, minimise the use of equipment or office space by many users, and avoid chopping and changing worker rotas.

Workers considered vulnerable (for instance over 70, pregnant, or with underlying organ or respiratory problems) but who cannot work from home should be put in the "safest possible roles" in the workplace.

The guidance remains clear that those who can work from home should continue to do so, which suggests office workers will not be returning to work for many weeks - or even months - to come.

Companies, business groups and unions were given until 10pm last night to respond to these proposals and the government will present updated plans on Thursday.

The guidance in the leaked documents covers the whole of the UK but devolved governments have the power to make their own decisions on how businesses get back to work.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52524344