Covid-19 Isolation Support Thread

BooJewels

My sister found the same on Sunday suki - only waited outside for 2 people ahead of her and was able to move through the store well removed from other people and got everything she wanted. She was impressed at how well it worked.

suki1964

BooJewels said:

My sister found the same on Sunday suki - only waited outside for 2 people ahead of her and was able to move through the store well removed from other people and got everything she wanted. She was impressed at how well it worked.

I have to admit the last time I went into a supermarket was the week before the schools shut, and I was petrified about going back into one again, but the need of certain things that I can only get in Tesco made me go in today. Had my box of disposable gloves and bottle of hand sanitiser, paid contactless and only lifted the things I intended on buying,

There was one woman in the queue for the tills in front of me who was rather wavering on where she was standing, no problem, I just left an empty box between us so she didn't encroach on my space. And standing to the side and waving someone else through and turning away, helped when you got to a junction

YORKSHIRELASS

BooJewels said:

In respect of earlier discussions about the food boxes being delivered to people on the 'extremely vulnerable' register, this story on the BBC web site popped up in my husband's news feed this afternoon.  It looks - at least from this story - like they must be able to identify single people on the list (not sure how they know if you've no friends), as they're only actually delivering to 50,000 of the 1.5m on the list. 

I can certainly understand the rationale of this, but we've made the decision that the only way to properly protect my husband is if I don't go out either - because if I do, I have to then isolate myself, within the house, apart from him - eating separately etc.  When you're being asked to stay indoors for 12 weeks, to then add further risk by some members of the household actually going outside and the further pressure of living very oddly (not that we have space and amenities to do so) is a big ask.  We would prefer to live as normally as possible and tough it out together and keep the risk to minimal.  Not to mention that I actually have to help my husband at close quarters for some of his medical and practical needs, so isolating wouldn't be possible as thoroughly as it should be.

I think we'll actually be okay, as long as I can get shopping slots on-line, supplemented by local farm shops and delivery services etc. (need to sort medication yet), but there must be many more than 50,000 who are facing difficulty in getting food and supplies - not everyone can use technology to place their own orders etc.

This is so true.  My DS is one of the most vulnerable and there seems no point in him self isolating if the rest of us are going out, so we are all in complete lockdown.  He is struggling emotionally and trying to isolate him from the rest of the family would be tough.  Food has been a bit of a worry, DS is not sleeping so managed to get a Tesco delivery at 2am this morning which means we now have two deliveries booked in April.

YORKSHIRELASS

Oh, just to say that if Asda is snagging on the checkout process try clearing cookies and having another go.  This worked for me.

BooJewels

Thanks for the tip YorkshireLass, I  did try it on several devices and the first time that worked straight away, but didn't the second time. I'll have to do battle all over again in a week or so.

I'm reassured that we're not the only household taking this approach. They want the 'patient' to isolate to keep themselves safe and reduce the risk to the resources of the NHS - but then suggest that it's okay for family members to continue as normal - undermining much of the advantage. 

GaleSF63

Instead of trying to catch the new day on Tesco's delivery schedule by trying just after midnight (failed several times) I tried a bit earlier in case they were sneaky. At 23.52 I got a page saying I was in a queue and to leave the page open as it would refresh automatically. Just over 20 minutes later I was on, and got a slot on the 21st April, the latest day to be added. 
So that seems to be worth a try - I expect there's a good deal of luck involved though. 

I'm nearly always up at that time of night but it's not very fair on those who can't be, to never have the chance to jump in when the new day is added. 

Chrystal

I finally managed to pay for my Asd* online order!!  YIPPEE

I got a message to remove Chrome which I did, and it worked!   Can't tell you how relieved I am, and I've now got a delivery due on 5th April

BooJewels

I thought they'd add a new day around midnight, but one of the Asda orders I got timed out on, it asked me to choose another delivery slot and the new day had been added in the meantime and was pretty much available for all day and that happened around 8pm, so I've no idea what their rationale is.for adding new times.  I tried different browsers and different devices (PCs and tablets) and nothing seemed to make any difference, I put it down to pure luck that I got checked out when I did.

Miró

Been through my usual morning routine of trying all the supermarkets to get a delivery slot with no success.  I see that Asda now only show slots for 1 week ahead....all taken of course!

Had a text from Gov.uk saying 'If you told us you needed help getting food and supplies, but you are not on the extremely vulnerable list, we'll share your details with supermarkets.  They may be able to help.'

Does anyone know what happens as a result of this sharing info as they don't say?  Am I supposed to do anything or do I just wait to hear more??  All very confusing and worrying.

BooJewels

I don't know @Miró - my husband is on the extremely vulnerable list and registered very early on for help and I'm not sure they're doing anything much with it **  I think Sainsburys and Waitrose are using the list and contacting people (no stores near me and I'm not already a customer, so it wouldn't be right to register now), but not the likes of Asda or Tesco, who I do use.

What about click and collect spots - were any of those available to you - might be compromise worth considering, rather than shopping in person?   It might be worth trying to start a shop at more unsociable hours, as if people get timed out (happened to me twice, first time I managed to snag the same spot again, but lost it again later, then got a different one) or have to walk away from their computers, you might then be able to snag a suddenly vacated spot.

** on the plus side, he did just ring the pharmacy about a prescription request he has in progress and before he could ask they said "please don't come and get it, as we can see you're on the list and intend delivering it, along with your wife's, but it might not be today."  Which was the one thing concerning me, as the GP said they might not deliver unless we're both housebound and unable to get out at all - not just choosing not to (i.e in my case) - and I'd allowed a week for it to be processed anyway, so certainly don't need it today and told them so.   So if they come good on that I'll be very happy, that was the one thing I thought we might struggle with.  So my fingers are crossed.