Thread: CoronaVirus ==> Empty Shelves

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Mandatory XKCD

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I had a feeling that might be the answer...

Originally Posted by ian

post code would be too fine grain to be useful. Apart from one or two locations, postcodes reflect the country as it was when the population was half, maybe less than half, what it currently is.

Sure, but fine grained data can at least be easily aggregated into whatever patchwork was required.

BTW
you're up early this morning. Trouble sleeping?

Yep - now that my moon boot has gone the head worms are very active - sorting out projects, working out how to manage things, worried about relatives etc.

SWMBO went to the local Woolies yesterday to pick up a couple of day to day items and was amazed, then amused by what she saw. The reason for some of the empty shelves became apparent when she came across one gent with 12 double packs of Tim Tams and about 10 slabs of those 12 pack flavoured yoghurts amongst a myriad of other items. I don't like yoghurt, but I can almost understand the Tim Tams.

Anyway, the amusement came when the guy arrived at the check-out where the attendant told him he could only have 2 of each item and the manager came over and started to remove the excess items! One unhappy customer and heaps of customers congratulating the attendant and manager for bringing a bit of common sense into the process.

Later in the day I went into the local Coles and was amazed to see first hand the number of empty spaces throughout the store. I found everything I wanted but it seems that the shelf stackers are unable to keep up with demand at the moment. On my morning walk this morning, the local IGA seemed to be fully stocked ready for the days trading.

Interesting times, that is for sure.

Alan...

Shed time.
Time for all those projects that have sat in your head for years.
There's a suggestion that camphor may have antiviral properties and the same may (or may not) be for any rainforest timber that has chemicals that deter white ant infestation, red cedar, rosewood, black bean, mackay cedar, silky oak, Qld maple.
It doesn't matter.
You no longer need an excuse, you can now practise social isolation without fear of being thought crazy.
And if you have a dust protection mask all the better, it may become useful elsewhere in the future.
The small of camphor will clear your nose in any event and the best thing is you will no longer be queried as to why you are spending an inordinate time alone in a small shed.

Originally Posted by Uncle Al

SWMBO went to the local Woolies yesterday to pick up a couple of day to day items and was amazed, then amused by what she saw. The reason for some of the empty shelves became apparent when she came across one gent with 12 double packs of Tim Tams and about 10 slabs of those 12 pack flavoured yoghurts amongst a myriad of other items. I don't like yoghurt, but I can almost understand the Tim Tams.

Anyway, the amusement came when the guy arrived at the check-out where the attendant told him he could only have 2 of each item and the manager came over and started to remove the excess items! One unhappy customer and heaps of customers congratulating the attendant and manager for bringing a bit of common sense into the process.

Later in the day I went into the local Coles and was amazed to see first hand the number of empty spaces throughout the store. I found everything I wanted but it seems that the shelf stackers are unable to keep up with demand at the moment. On my morning walk this morning, the local IGA seemed to be fully stocked ready for the days trading.

Interesting times, that is for sure.

Alan...

Thanks for relaying what is the first bit of good news we've seen in this post for a while...

Originally Posted by BobL

Sure, but fine grained data can at least be easily aggregated into whatever patchwork was required.

I'm no data scientist and in principle I agree, but you need another set of data to complement the original one, so for example a mapping of postcode to likely-hospital location. Not sure what sources of geo-data are available that might help there, and I certainly wouldn't know where to find it

Originally Posted by poundy

I'm no data scientist and in principle I agree, but you need another set of data to complement the original one, so for example a mapping of postcode to likely-hospital location. Not sure what sources of geo-data are available that might help there, and I certainly wouldn't know where to find it

Hospital location doesn't really matter. What matters is the most common location of the person in the week or so previous to being detected. That way we could see which areas are likely to have unknown spreaders. Then the trackers could focus testing in those area. I'm pretty sure the authorities are already doing this. It would just be interesting to see if there were clusters although it might also unnecessarily frighten some people?

The wife and I did our usual fortnightly shop at Woolworths on Tuesday at Tamworth. I was surprised at a few things.....
*it was mid morning but the whole plaza seemed less busy than usual
*the bread section looked a little "light on" stock
*the fresh meat section was only a fifth of what it usually carries
*fruit and veg was about the usual quantity available
*muesli was about out as well as other cereals
*Chocolate was to its usual quantity
*pasta was nearly gone
*soft drinks and water seemed about right
*NO toilet paper
*UHT milk was down a bit

I just can't get my head around the whole situation here as well as overseas. I am also shocked at the attitude of shoppers who "have to get it all" leaving nothing for the next shopper. What has happened to the Aussie spirit that gives everyone a fair go?

I hope common sense and common dignity are restored soon

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Originally Posted by BobL

Hospital location doesn't really matter. What matters is the most common location of the person in the week or so previous to being detected. That way we could see which areas are likely to have unknown spreaders. Then the trackers could focus testing in those area. I'm pretty sure the authorities are already doing this. It would just be interesting to see if there were clusters although it might also unnecessarily frighten some people?

Unfortunately I doubt if "the authorities" have the resources to do that sort of tracing. At a minimum it would require access to mobile phone data "hot spots".

Also, as far as I know, the GIS tools to do the mapping are not widely known

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Originally Posted by rwbuild

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Crown casino is still open.... pfft

Originally Posted by ian

Unfortunately I doubt if "the authorities" have the resources to do that sort of tracing. At a minimum it would require access to mobile phone data "hot spots".

sorry I should have trace and inform the exposees. They are doing this where the can but nowhere near as must as they should. They have done some blanket testing around a known affectee in a few small areas in WA. In one case they tested over 300 people and picked up one unknown infection who showed symptoms 2 days later. This is supposedly why they are not blanket testing also because they don’t have enough swabs to do theses sorts of tests.

Also, as far as I know, the GIS tools to do the mapping are not widely known

I assume you mean live tracking if so then I agree. A relative of ours works for state health monitoring communicable diseases and he said they have been using some basic home base data maps for some time but they don’t release data while infections are in progress.