Shops & supermarkets under lockdown!

[Archer]

John, I think for most people on here, nothing much changes, apart from seeing an increase in traffic/activity for some business.

From Janet Anscombe's pages:

Here is a reminder: 

• to buy food, medicines or other basic necessities (like loo rolls, not like nail varnish)
  
  
• to go to the doctor or medical establishments (this includes dentists for urgent work and opticians but they are allowed not to open)
  
  
• to go to work 
  
  
• to go home after being out for a permitted reason
  
  
• to provide assistance and care to the elderly, children, dependents, or people who are disabled or vulnerable 
  
  
• to go to banks and insurance offices (post offices are also open)
  
  
• where there is compelling reason or need (this is on the level of the house being on fire not that of feeling a need to stretch the legs) 
  
  
• for any other similar activity 
  
  
• to take out a dog for a wee or to do its business but no more
  
  
• to feed colonies of stray animals
  

[Archer]

Lidl: Please don't send your cat shopping

[milestone 11]

Tamara, I think you are correct. The additional law, introduced last week up until tomorrow has not been renewed and by definition those businesses can resume on Monday

"Updated 6pm, 8/4: Tomorrow, the “lockdown extra” law regulating recoverable paid leave for employees whose services are not deemed essential, and who are therefore required to remain at home to reduce public movement during the covid19 outbreak, comes to an end. The measure was only put in place until 9 April because from tomorrow Easter bank holidays mean businesses closing in any case, and then there’s the weekend. And so, the measures are really going to be obviously lifted from Monday.
The measures were based on scientific recommendations about flattening the curve, and they seem to have been effective in that respect and so will not be renewed. Please be very clear that this is the “lockdown extra” law, NOT the State of Emergency, which remains in place, and indeed will be extended to the end of 25 April after being approved by Congress tomorrow.  
From Monday, therefore, businesses deemed non-essential will be able to reopen but they might not be open to the public. Indeed, since the State of Emergency is going to remain in place we are still restricted on what we can leave the house for in any case. "

If anyone has seen any information that illustrates this law was renewed, please advise the source of the information. Thank you.

Have a look at this, https://www.efe.com/efe/english/portada/...mpaign=rss

[milestone 11]

I had the misfortune of being obliged to go into Hyper Dino in La Capellania yesterday, cat treats if you want clarity . Sadly their precautionary measures don't have a patch on those of Mercadona. The trolleys are still stacked in the car park, no sanitisation method is available including for the small baskets that are inside. There is a requirement that you have to wear gloves which are provided but there were none available until I asked for them to be restocked in the area defined. It was also quite busy which, for a relatively small shop, wasn't particularly comforting.

I certainly wasn't instilled with the same confidence as shopping in Mercadona. I'll try El Campanario next time where the experience may be more aligned to what one has come to expect in these awful times.

[milestone 11]

If anyone has seen any information that illustrates this law was renewed, please advise the source of the information. Thank you.

In theory construction sites can return to work. It's an economic position that Spain finds itself in whereby they would not be able to pay these workers. Do you honestly believe that it's anything other than sheer folly putting a million plus workers back on the streets?

Onda Fuerteventura report says,

En teoría todos las actividades que se paralizaron el día 30 podrán reactivarse el próximo lunes, aunque este es un extremo que todavía debe confirmarse.

Translated,

In theory, all the activities that were stopped on the 30th could be reactivated next Monday, although this is an issue that still needs to be confirmed.

This is still being discussed.

[beachlife]

I had the misfortune of being obliged to go into Hyper Dino in La Capellania yesterday, cat treats if you want clarity  . Sadly their precautionary measures don't have a patch on those of Mercadona. The trolleys are still stacked in the car park, no sanitisation method is available including for the small baskets that are inside. There is a requirement that you have to wear gloves which are provided but there were none available until I asked for them to be restocked in the area defined. It was also quite busy which, for a relatively small shop, wasn't particularly comforting.

I certainly wasn't instilled with the same confidence as shopping in Mercadona. I'll try El Campanario next time where the experience may be more aligned to what one has come to expect in these awful times.

To be fair the trolleys are not used in the supermarket. Did you use a trolley or see them being used? There has always been gloves when I have gone in which is probably more often as we do all our shopping there at the moment. Usually its not that busy but its Good Friday today, so might account for the fact there were more people.

[milestone 11]

I had the misfortune of being obliged to go into Hyper Dino in La Capellania yesterday, cat treats if you want clarity  . Sadly their precautionary measures don't have a patch on those of Mercadona. The trolleys are still stacked in the car park, no sanitisation method is available including for the small baskets that are inside. There is a requirement that you have to wear gloves which are provided but there were none available until I asked for them to be restocked in the area defined. It was also quite busy which, for a relatively small shop, wasn't particularly comforting.

I certainly wasn't instilled with the same confidence as shopping in Mercadona. I'll try El Campanario next time where the experience may be more aligned to what one has come to expect in these awful times.

To be fair the trolleys are not used in the supermarket. Did you use a trolley or see them being used? There has always been gloves when I have gone in which is probably more often as we do all our shopping there at the moment. Usually its not that busy but its Good Friday today, so might account for the fact there were more people.

The trolleys that are in the car park are the only ones available to customers, the only thing that is inside are the baskets. At one time they had a few trolleys inside at the side of the checkouts, I've not seen them there for a long while. Not that I needed a trolley for a few bags of catisfactions. I couldn't get out of there quick enough.

[beachlife]

I had the misfortune of being obliged to go into Hyper Dino in La Capellania yesterday, cat treats if you want clarity  . Sadly their precautionary measures don't have a patch on those of Mercadona. The trolleys are still stacked in the car park, no sanitisation method is available including for the small baskets that are inside. There is a requirement that you have to wear gloves which are provided but there were none available until I asked for them to be restocked in the area defined. It was also quite busy which, for a relatively small shop, wasn't particularly comforting.

I certainly wasn't instilled with the same confidence as shopping in Mercadona. I'll try El Campanario next time where the experience may be more aligned to what one has come to expect in these awful times.

To be fair the trolleys are not used in the supermarket. Did you use a trolley or see them being used? There has always been gloves when I have gone in which is probably more often as we do all our shopping there at the moment. Usually its not that busy but its Good Friday today, so might account for the fact there were more people.

The trolleys that are in the car park are the only ones available to customers, the only thing that is inside are the baskets. At one time they had a few trolleys inside at the side of the checkouts, I've not seen them there for a long while. Not that I needed a trolley for a few bags of catisfactions. I couldn't get out of there quick enough.

The trolleys are not used at this time, so the only thing you can use are the baskets. Gloves are provided as you discovered, the fact that a human error caused gloves not to be restocked as they should be, is disappointing but something I have never experienced. There are markers inside by the till to get people to stay 2 metres apart. If it gets busy the door is manned & people stand in the car park well away from each other, until asked to enter by a staff member as 1 person leaves. The baskets are kept inside so nobody can touch them & they normally make sure you put gloves on before you touch the basket. This may be because they have already santiised the baskets before they are put out for customers. The supermarket caters for local people who by now all know how the system works & would ask for gloves if they were not there Every time we are in since lockdown never seen anyone we have not recognised. I am perfectly happy with the procedures they are adopting will have to disagree on this issue but we all have different view points.

[milestone 11]

The trolleys are not used at this time, so the only thing you can use are the baskets. Gloves are provided as you discovered, the fact that a human error caused gloves not to be restocked as they should be, is disappointing but something I have never experienced. There are markers inside by the till to get people to stay 2 metres apart. If it gets busy the door is manned & people stand in the car park well away from each other, until asked to enter by a staff member as 1 person leaves. The baskets are kept inside so nobody can touch them & they normally make sure you put gloves on before you touch the basket. This may be because they have already santiised the baskets before they are put out for customers. The supermarket caters for local people who by now all know how the system works & would ask for gloves if they were not there Every time we are in since lockdown never seen anyone we have not recognised. I am perfectly happy with the procedures they are adopting will have to disagree on this issue but we all have different view points.

Of course, we're all entitled to our own opinion. My point being that I did not have the confidence there, relative to Mercadona's precautionary measures, remain. It wasn't crowded when I went in yesterday afternoon, it was however, busy, I deliberately left it until I guessed it would be quieter. There was nothing stopping me from taking a trolley were I to have needed or wanted one and certainly nobody monitoring numbers at the door, nevertheless, there were more people in the shop than I was personally happy with. What is the norm when they control numbers, 20? Equally, there was no evidence of any basket sanitisation going on, this I believe should be a pre-requisite, maybe even governmentally decreed. It would be of no great cost to them to employ someone specifically for the purpose.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

I've copied this article in full and placed it in this thread although it covers pieces relevant to various threads. It's not intended to spark political debate here, just an update on the 'Spanish' position.


courtesy of El Pais:

Daily Coronavirus deaths in Spain fall to 605, the lowest figure since March 24

The Spanish government has changed its position on the use of masks, and is now recommending their use in some workplaces and on public transport from Monday, when many will return to work.

Spain saw 605 Coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, according to official figures from the Health Ministry. The figure marks the lowest daily number of fatalities since March 24.

The total of coronavirus-related deaths came in at 683 on Thursday, 757 on Wednesday and 743 on Tuesday. April 2 saw the peak of fatalities in Spain, with 950 reported by the Spanish health authorities.

According to Friday’s figures, Spain has now registered a total of 15,843 COVID-19 deaths since the outbreak began in the country.
Total confirmed infections now stand at 157,022, with an extra 4,576 in the last 24 hours. This puts the growth rate in Spain compared to the total as 3% for the last day, which is the lowest rise since the official data started to be collected by the Health Ministry nearly a month ago.
The number of patients who have recovered from the Coronavirus and have been discharged from hospital now stands at 55,668, which is 35% of total registered cases.
Speaking at the daily press briefing on the Coronavirus crisis, Dr María José Sierra from the Health Ministry’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts said that “the descending trend is continuing.”
However, these latest figures should be taken with caution, given that since the start of the crisis, data has been underreported at weekends and on public holidays. Today is a national holiday across Spain for Easter Friday, and Thursday was also a holiday in many parts of the country.
What’s more, the official figures from the Health Ministry are not supplying a complete picture of the reach of the epidemic, with 90% of total cases thought to be undetected given that testing is only carried out on the most serious patients. A large number of deaths are being left out of the official statistics too, such as those who have passed away in senior residences or their own homes and who were not tested for the COVID-19 disease.
By region, Madrid remains the hardest hit by the crisis, wth a total of 5,972 victims. Catalonia comes next, with 3,231 confirmed deaths, and then Castilla-La Mancha, with 1,431.
For three days now, the Health Ministry has not been offering the numbers of patients in intensive care units (ICUs), given that Spain’s regions have been using different methods to track these figures.
Madrid, however, has supplied these numbers, reporting on Friday that there were 1,399 patients currently in the region’s ICUs, 34 down on the previous day. There are also falls in the total number of Coronavirus patients in Madrid hospitals, with 12,432 on Friday, 421 down on the day before.
María José Sierra also referred on Friday to the return to work for many employees across Spain on Monday. On March 30, the government put the Spanish economy into “hibernation,” obliging all non-essential workers to stay at home on paid leave. These restrictions ended on Thursday, but the effect will not be noted in most parts given the Easter national holidays.
“We are returning to the situation of two weeks ago,” she said about the return to work on Monday. “The Health Ministry will be issuing recommendations. If someone has symptoms it is important that they stay at home and isolate, and that they get in touch with the health system. But more specific instructions are on their way. We are returning to a situation with a lot of social distancing, which we believe is going to reduce transmission. We do not think that infections are going to rise.”
María José Rallo del Olmo, the general secretary for transport, also referred to returning workers. “We are asking companies to be flexible when it comes to start times,” she said. “Rush hours should be stretched out so that the number of workers on public transport is reduced.”
Use of masks
Speaking at a second press conference on Friday, after a meeting of the Spanish Cabinet, Health Minister Salvador Illa explained that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control had recommended that a particular kind of reusable hygienic mask be used by the public. The Spanish government, he explained, is recommending the “complementary use” of such masks, above all on journeys via public transport to work. Illa explained that this product would be distributed in places where usage is recommendable, such as Metro stations, from Monday.
This marks a U-turn on the use of masks by the Spanish government, which up until now had not recommended their widespread use. They will not be obligatory, according to the government, but advisable both on public transport and in workplaces where safe distances cannot be maintained.
The type of mask the government is talking about is not the surgical mask typically used by health staff, nor the filter mask, which is necessary for those who deal with the sick. Rather, it is a new kind of hygienic or barrier mask, classed by the Spanish Standardization Association with the code UNE 0064-1 for adults, and UNE 0064-2 for children. Illa said on Saturday that national production of these masks is underway in order to guarantee their supply.

The minister said that the government considered the measures that have been adopted to be sufficient so that those who are returning to work on Monday can do so safely, and guarantee that the curve of the epidemic continues to fall. “I would like to remind everyone that we are still in a phase of very tough measures,” the minister said. “What finished yesterday was an exceptional measure that was aimed at alleviating the pressure on ICUs.”

Illa added that between today and tomorrow, a million more rapid Coronavirus tests will be distributed to Spain’s regions. “We are seeing the fruits of this impressive collective effort by Spanish society,” he stated. in reference to the effect of the ongoing lockdown.

Illa also referred to the fact that children have been confined to their homes for nearly four weeks now. “We are very aware of the efforts that are being required from children, but the government is acting with maximum caution,” he said about the lockdown measures. “There’s nothing we would like more than to introduce more permissive measures,” he added.

The health minister explained that the three “key” measures to prevent new infections were interpersonal distancing, handwashing, and hygiene in public and private spaces.

Political debate

The latest Coronavirus figures come the day after Spain’s lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies, voted to extend the state of alarm and current confinement measures for another two weeks, up to April 26. During the debate ahead of the vote on Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) warned that a further extension, to May 10, is highly likely, although it is as yet unclear as to what the conditions would be. The Spanish government has been hinting at a gradual deescalation of confinement measures based on the data from the pandemic.

“Humble” response from Podemos
The coalition government, led by the PSOE and backed by junior partner Unidas Podemos, came in for harsh criticism for its handling of the crisis from opposition parties at the debate ahead of the vote on Thursday.
Speaking this morning on state broadcaster TVE, Unidas Podemos leader and Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias responded to that criticism saying that “we have to be extremely humble and recognize that neither us nor other governments were ready for this pandemic. The first [thing that must be done] is to strengthen the public health system. A country must be autonomously producing personal protective equipment, and not have to resort to a speculative international market.”

Iglesias added that “unity is essential to face an emergency like this one.” Referring to the relationship between his party and the PSOE, he said that “of course we have debates, we speak about many things, but when we reach an agreement we are united. And we are offering our hand to other political forces, business leaders, unions, civil society… in defense of the general interest.”
Support for small businesses
The Spanish government is due on Friday to facilitate a second wave of public backing for loans, with another €20 billion to be made available. The objective is to guarantee liquidity for production, and will be reserved for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and the self-employed. Half of the first wave of backing, which also amounted to €20 billion, was destined for SMEs and the self-employed.
According to data released on Thursday, in just four days there have been 33,000 requests for loan guarantees worth more than €2.8 billion, of which practically all is destined for SMEs and the self-employed.