If My Wife And I Had To Self Isolate For 14 Days, How Would We Do Our Shopping?

[dave50]

We have no relatives nearby, you can't get a delivery for love nor money at the moment for a couple of weeks so what are the options? Seems like one of us would have to risk it and nip to the supermarket and hope for the best or starve.

[dave50]

No we are ok at the moment, just wondered 'what if' that's all but all your advice will be helpful if ever the need arises thank you.

[bobbinwales]

even before cororna the could be times when your to ill or maybe a cant walk to go shopping so its not realy a new problem

[Peter Pedant]

stand and deliver
tons of shops do deliveries to your door

[Apc2604]

Morrisons do a food box option that guarantees delivery within 24 hours. You phone them and they read out items that are basic essentials and you choose from the list. I did that at the start of the first peak and was amazed at some of the items I was offered. There was enough for 2 of us to eat for at least 5 days and also essential things like loo rolls and laundry products on the list. You can use the service as often as you like.

We chose the meat essentials box. All the products were of good quality.

https://www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/boxes/one-off-boxes/all-boxes

[Peter Pedant]

// and if you put the wrong thing in a bin you got a red sticker//
no they stopped - too close to men who cant read and write levying penalties. Also the bins if you are going to do that need to be locked

[New Judge]

//...plenty of slots for all the supermarkets round here, where are you based?//

I had a delivery arranged for last Wednesday. Secured the slot OK about ten days previously and ordered my goods. Went back into the order last Sunday to add another few items. I then discovered that so many items on my original order were now unavailable that it had halved in price and almost halved in the number of items. The unavailable stuff was nothing unusual or even items that were likely to have suffered from the recent round of imbecilic "panic buying." Things like cooking oil, flavoured water, biscuits and even tea bags were all off. So I cancelled the lot.

//...the goverment web site say's "do not go out to get food and medicine – order it online or by phone//

And the law says

“P may not leave the place specified in sub-paragraph (a) except where necessary—
(vi) to obtain basic necessities, such as food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) where it is not possible to obtain these provisions in any other manner,”

I have a number of basic necessities which it is not possible to obtain by any means other than me going to a shop.

//Contact your council or councilor to ask what help there is locally.//

The answer to that (for me) is “nothing whatsoever.” Here’s their information:

======
We will consider whether your needs:
1. arise from or are related to a physical or mental impairment or illness
2. make you unable to achieve two or more specified outcomes
3. as a result of being unable to meet these outcomes, there is likely to be a significant impact on your wellbeing

Your needs are only eligible where you meet all three of these conditions.
=======
I can achieve all of the “specified outcomes” listed so that’s me stuffed. In any case by the time my LA (whose services seem severely curtailed at present “because of Coronavirus”) had considered my eligibility I would long since have died of starvation.

Quite honestly it is ludicrous to expect people to suddenly go under house arrest at the drop of a hat in order to prevent the spread of a disease from which the vast, vast majority of people contracting it will see either mild or no symptoms. Regrettably it is symptomatic of the collective lunacy that has gripped the country.

[bednobs]

that sounds like your councils criteria or social care nj, my council for example are co-ordinating the charities/voluntary groups that are helping people like dave and you who have no friends to help

[Jackdaw33]

@ 09.42. It's a long, long time since I last heard the word 'messages' used as a synonym for shopping. When I was young it was very common.

[Barsel]

dave you are asking the question 'If' you had to isolate. Presume you are not doing it now, so why don't you get in enough food now to last you for 2 weeks just in case?

[woofgang]

I accept that not everyone can do it, but for years now I have kept on hand enough food to survive on for at least a couple of weeks and for my pets too. It may not be what I'd prefer at the time but its all stuff I like (I chose it) and all long date or in the freezer. My parents did the same as a hangover habit from the war years and i guess it just seemed to be normal to me. My first home was in Wells in Somerset some 40 years ago and at that time it wasn't unusual for the road over the Mendips to get blocked for a day or so or longer and the stuff in the shops to be in short supply. We'd often lose power as well. Everybody we knew kept in candles, lanterns, soup and other canned goods, camping gaz stoves because there was no mains gas where we lived then and so on. Yes it was a nuisance but it was also a magical time. We lived around 15 minutes walk from the city and all the pubs still had open fires. They would light them with candles or lamps and sell hot food they could cook over their industrial sized calor gas stoves, like soups and stews. they would do takeaways too if you brought a container. I am really surprised more people who can don't do it.

[New Judge]

//...that sounds like your councils criteria or social care nj,..//

Yes it is. Here's their information on help with shopping:

========
**What will happen to residents who require help from the council after 1 September?**

Our programme of volunteer shopping support during the COVID-19 outbreak was designed to help people who could not get out due to the restrictions on movement during the lockdown. With the government’s relaxation of these restrictions and the increased availability of online delivery shopping slots, the expectation is that residents will no longer require the support of a volunteer to undertake shopping tasks after 1 September.

**What if someone needs help with shopping after 1 September?**

Our programme of volunteer shopping support during the COVID-19 outbreak was designed to help people who could not get out due to the restrictions on movement during the lockdown. With the government’s relaxation of these restrictions and the increased availability of online delivery shopping slots, the expectation is that residents will no longer require the support of a volunteer to undertake shopping tasks after 1 September.

**Ongoing shopping support**

For those residents who think they might require on-going shopping support, we would advise that they contact [us] for advice on how to access services (some services may be chargeable). It is advised to do so prior to 31 August to ensure suitable arrangements are in place beyond 1 September. If a resident chooses to use one of these shopping services moving forward, the relevant organisation will provide insurance, support and answer to any questions that they have.
=======

Not exactly designed to overwhelm me with confidence. Quite honestly I wouldn't rely of my LA to co-ordinate feeding my dog - and I haven't got one.

[bednobs]

i am astonished too woofgang. You only have to isolate for 10 days when you have symptoms, and it seems very odd to me that people don't have food in their cupboards/freezers that they think they are going to starve to death in 10 days. Do people really go shopping everyday and only get enough for their immediate needs?
When we were isolating week before last, i was cross it was the week i hadn't bought any chocolate, but there was no prospect of the 3 of us starving to death, even if we'd have to isolate for 14 days

[New Judge]

//... so why don't you get in enough food now to last you for 2 weeks just in case?//

So are you suggesting the entire country keeps enough supplies in to last them two weeks? That is, two week's supply of milk, fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit. Or do we forego a proper diet and live out of packets and tins?

[bednobs]

so you dont have to fulfil that criteria you posted then NJ? sounds like their shopping thing is for people who were sheilding. I would expect that your local council assumed that people might take some responsibility for themselves and buy some extra tins of beans or something when they could so they didn't starve in the future.
Dave, im also amazed that despite your relatives being not nearby, they wouldn't bring you shopping if needed

[bednobs]

seriously NJ?, you only have to isolate for 10 days with symptoms. Eating out of packets/tins for that long won't kill you!

[New Judge]

//Do people really go shopping everyday and only get enough for their immediate needs?//

I go shopping probably four or five times a week. I've always got plenty of food and other supplies in but I could not have a decent diet if I was forced to live on just what I have at home. And I've no intention of doing so.

[bobbinwales]

why bother planning ahead Wolfgang when you could just do what the New judge will do which is just go out and get what you feel are you're necesities when you want them knowing that it doesnt matter how many people you infect cos he/she think's most people you infect will not have bad symtoms. They dint mention some poor person what he/she kills (or die's as a result) but from the way some argue on here theyd of died anyway at some point so it dont matter.

[woofgang]

NJ have you no freezer?

[New Judge]

//I would expect that your local council assumed that people might take some responsibility for themselves..///

I take full responsibility for myself, bednobs and the last organisation I would rely on for anything (apart from emptying my dustbins) is my LA. It was suggested I could approach them if I needed help shopping if I should have to self-isolate. I was trying to demonstrate that I'd be wasting my time. And I don't live on tins of baked beans.

[woofgang]

lol bobbin, as I said long before covid it was a way of life for me. I have fish and meat in the freezer, also some frozen fruit and veg which, living alone, I find far more economic. I am really not bragging, just honestly can't get why more people don't do keep a store of food in. It doesn't mean that you can't go out if you want to, just that you don't have to if circumstances decree that you can't. I think that NJ's argument that you can't have a decent diet unless you can go out and shop several times a week is ludicrous.