Cheltenham Festival/ Corona Virus?

Before we get carried away with that story it's important to note that she has absolutely no signs of the condition and is doing this by choice - as there were so many at the festival.
 
Apparently 3 from Willie Mullins in isolation too but I've no source for the rumour. It's only a matter of time before they will be forced to call off racing but by **** I hope I'm wrong.
 
Racing’s name already getting dragged through the mud on Twitter. 240k through the gates at Cheltenham, all it takes is one or two high profile names and racing and government alike will be lambasted.

Unfortunately as Slim says rest of the NH season and start of the flat looks bleak. 1 or 2 jockeys and a trainer get it it’ll all be off. Very sad.
 
Diamond Geezer said:
....who usually stays with Nicky Henderson during The Festival
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Incubation period is 10-14 days IF she does have it could have been caught any time over the last 2 weeks, and she may be just being cautious. Our department manager has put himself in self isolation but he goes sick if he sneezes twice in less than 5 minutes.
 
The general medical advice to race goers returning to Ireland from Cheltenham is to stay out of circulation as much as possible. Our horse Getaway Gorgeous runs at Wexford tomorrow. One owner per horse is allowed to attend. I happen to be holed up nearby for the next couple of weeks, so will attend on behalf of our syndicate. The handful of people I will be meeting for a few minutes, and at a social distance, were at Cheltenham too. Given the number of people wanting to congratulate them there so I hope I won’t be adding to their risk.
 
I decided to come home from Cheltenham after the 2nd day. When we left on Sunday it seemed a low key and rational decision to go, but through Mon-Weds the reality began to dawn on us (all family) that this was not the place to be as we collectively care for aged parents. To be honest I felt that sense of unease to be palpable on the course, particularly among Irish travelers whose Govt when to Defcom 3 containment measures whilst Boris was still invoking the spirit of the blitz and talking about herd immunity. I really wish I'd stayed at home and am recluctant to mention to people that I travelled - seems somehow unpatriotic now.

There is some positive consequences. I am in self isolation and can't see the grandkids, my wife has a pain in her arse looking at me moaning around the house and my golf club has remained open.
 
Yes, our group also left Cheltenham early.

But not before meeting Paul/Maruco and Kirsty/JinnyJ on the Wednesday.
 
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All British racing suspended after today

The British Horseracing Authority has confirmed that all horseracing in Britain will be suspended with effect from tomorrow.
Last night, The Jockey Club announced that The Randox Health Grand National has been cancelled due to coronavirus.
Two race meetings are scheduled to take place behind closed doors at Wetherby and Taunton today, but as of tomorrow race meetings will cease up to the end of April. The decision will be kept under constant review.
The formal decision was taken by Board of the British Horseracing Authority this morning based on the statements made by the government yesterday and after consultation with senior industry leaders. Medical Advisers to the RCA and the BHA, who have been advising an industry group on the response to the crisis, have also been consulted.
The BHA took the decision to protect essential emergency services and the health and welfare of staff working in the racing industry. Racecourses and racing have obligations to ensure the safety of participants and provide medical cover which clearly cannot be fulfilled in these circumstances. This follows the new advice issued by government yesterday to combat the spread of the virus.
Nick Rust, the Chief Executive of the BHA, said:
“This is a national emergency the like of which most of us have never seen before. We’re a sport that is proud of its connection to rural communities and to the local businesses that support our industry. But our first duty is to the health of the public, our customers and to racing industry participants and staff so we have decided to suspend racing following the government’s latest advice.
“Racing is a family and I know we will pull together over the coming days, weeks and months and support each other. By stopping racing, we can free up medical resources, doctors and ambulances, be they private sector or NHS, to assist in the national effort to fight this virus. And we can support racing industry participants and staff as they face up to the personal challenges ahead and care for their own families.
“There will be difficult months ahead for many of us. We need to focus now on ensuring that we can continue to look after our horses as the virus affects the thousands of participants and staff who dedicate their lives to caring for animals. We need to do what we can to support businesses inside and outside racing and the many people whose livelihoods depend upon this £4 billion industry.
“We are in constant contact with government which understands the very significant consequences of this decision for jobs and businesses. We will work with them to do our best to manage the impact.
“Racing leaders will keep today’s decision under constant review and endeavour to keep all customers, participants, staff and dependent businesses informed as the situation progresses.”
 
End of April is end of jumps season. Trainers/staff going to be hit hard financially by people taking their horses out of the yards early as can't run.
 
Self isolating is looking like becoming difficult.

More and more people are booking shopping deliveries online meaning time slots are becoming scarcer, although some have a notice saying they will be looking to increase capacity as soon as possible. The problem I am finding with my local supermarket is that until one order has been delivered I cannot order the next delivery even though I have paid for a six month delivery pass.By the time my first delivery on Thursday has happened all time slots will be gone.To work round this I created four separate accounts with them and have a delivery booked for the next three weeks but have now run into a situation where I cannot book a delivery with the fourth. I have had to compile an order each time as time slots are only reserved for one hour however it is possible to edit an order until midnight the day before. Lots of products out of stock though. Debating whether to break my isolation and go shopping first thing tomorrow for items with long storage dates.

I have also tried to book a deliveries of milk via a local dairy and been told they have so many new requests they have had to set up a special dept to deal with them and that I will be contacted asap. So far no contact. Ditto newspapers although I realise I can get an online subscription.

Anticipating the announcement racing was to be shut down I managed to cancel RacingUK first thing this morning with Virginmedia , I suspect Sky and Virginmedia will have a lot of those calls. Had the confirmation email from Virginmedia but discovered they have now completely f****d up my package and managed to add £60 to my monthly bill in the process. Have made the phone call to explain and although I am advised the change has been correctly made on their system and they agree with my call , they cannot send another email showing the right detail. What sort of c**p is that?

On the medicines front, have created accounts with Pharmacy2U for home deliveries for Mrs DG and myself, ordered a monthly supply (she takes fifteen different items each month !) and we are now waiting to see a) if our GP authorises our request in time, (b) if they deliver in time and (c) if they get the order right. I like to think I am ahead of the game but I cannot imagine how the at risk fraternity are going to survive if they don't have the technology or the wherewithal to use it.
 
On a plus side maybe, was told today that 'the banks' are waiving most late fees for payments etc as appreciate people may be struggling.
A friend who does dog walking/cat feeding has had all her clients cancel, and she is normally turning work away as too busy :(
 
We are finding nigh on impossible to get an online delivery. Also since many food shops are rationing items neighbours are not easily able to cater for our requirements in addition to their own. Strangely local village shops seem to have more items available than the big supermarkets. Because of my condition we began slowly adding additional items to our weekly list in early January just in case and thus have a reasonable stock of food and other materials. Fresh vegetables, bread and short life items are a different matter.

A secondary thought. Being in lockdown or near lockdown could pretty stressful whether alone or with a partner. Take away all sports and it becomes harder. Sky, Netflix, etc soon become boring. would it be worthwhile having an Isolation or Lockdown section for general chatter?
 
Tout Seul said:
would it be worthwhile having an Isolation or Lockdown section for general chatter?
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How would we police whether or not people using it were actually in lockdown?

More seriously, I'm finding my local supermarket has plenty of fresh items like veg and bread, but is running low on items like chopped tomatoes, beans and toilet paper. Which is a bummer - will need to ensure my curries aren't too hot.
 
Aldi normally get deliveries pretty much every day and their shelves are better-stocked than the Sainsburys a couple of hundred yards along the road.

In Aldi yesterday one couple was going round with a big trolley and the wifie was going, "Take that... take that... take that..." to her man as they went. And no, she wasn't hitting him.

Another young guy was cramming as many parbaked baguettes as he could into a blue basket.

Most people appeared to have normal shopping but it didn't help that the only bogroll was in the big mega-packs so it made it look like people were stockpiling.

I asked the woman at the till if they were getting many nutters through and she said not really, but 'loads of strangers'.
 
I'm kicking myself for not previously paying more attention to the form at Portman Park and Steepledowns.

Is there a draw bias ?
 
I'm amazed to see how people from our local villages are pulling together to get food etc to anyone self isolating. However, if our village shop/post office hadn't been turned into a café [which then closed down because what people actually needed was a village shop/post office] there probably wouldn't be such a problem. I used to moan at my daughter for using a milkman because the milk is so much more expensive, but I may be borrowing from her soon. I stocked up on Coffee Mate and Marvel dried milk a couple of weeks ago so I can, at least, have a cuppa [till the tea bags run out].
 
I have four teenage/early twenty’s boys still at home and seriously think there will be a murder if we’re all confined to the house.

Prepping so far has been to order numerous box sets (James Bond, Lord of the Rings, The Office etc.) and dusting down the board games. What else can I do??
 
Perpetual said:
I have four teenage/early twenty’s boys still at home and seriously think there will be a murder if we’re all confined to the house.

Prepping so far has been to order numerous box sets (James Bond, Lord of the Rings, The Office etc.) and dusting down the board games. What else can I do??
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Can they

Paint the house
Make a garden
Order a skip and make them spring clean

Alternatively god bless you my friend
 
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