Coronavirus: social, economic and other changes as a result of the pandemic

[Dave2002]

One smidegeon of good news: that independent local businesses have done well when allowed to open. In some cases adaptability has helped. Locally, a pizzeria which used to do takeaways shut down completely, a French bistro which didn't do takeaways wasn't well placed to start, but a Hungarian cafe which had always offered all their dishes as takeaways has been able to weather the restaurant closure rules.

Around here - above Hadrian's Wall, some restaurants have been offering different services. Often they have had contact with good food producers and suppliers of ingredients such as meat and fresh vegetables, and some of them have now diversified to act as distributors for those producers, as well as offering take away meals. Some also have had access to food supplies which were otherwise in short supply, such as flour and bread flour, and have made that available to customers. There has clearly been a certain amount of adaptability and versatility, though even allowing for that I'm not sure that all the businesses will survive.

[Dave2002]

Here is an interesting article about the commodification of universities - https://www.theguardian.com/educatio...k-universities

The impact of Covid-19 has really disrupted financial models and perceptions of what a university is, and what students should expect, given that they have to pay for something which under the present circumstances is probably, for many, a poorer experience than similar students would have had a few years before.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Er, how come he remembers what he went in for??

[oddoneout]

A Zoom meeting and an email this morning, both of which mentioned the snow, made me realise that an irony of the current Covid situation is that the weather will cause fewer problems(assuming no power interruptions) to 'normal' working than would otherwise be the case, since so many are working from home, rather than trying to get to a workplace. Something else to be taken into consideration for the future?

[Dave2002]

A Zoom meeting and an email this morning, both of which mentioned the snow, made me realise that an irony of the current Covid situation is that the weather will cause fewer problems(assuming no power interruptions) to 'normal' working than would otherwise be the case, since so many are working from home, rather than trying to get to a workplace. Something else to be taken into consideration for the future?

Firstly we don't have any snow in the very immediate vicinity. However, it can be very cold, so that may have an impact on the heating in a house - it does in ours - which might become so cold that the inmates can't do any work. On the other hand, they may turn the heating up - if they can - and then wait for the much larger than normal bills to arrive. Swings and roundabouts for some though, as the heating probably costs less than a commuter train ticket, or the petrol to drive to and from work.

Cold houses may, however, have an impact on health - both physical and mental.

[Serial_Apologist]

Er, how come he remembers what he went in for??

Long-term memory - his being five years old when he went to the shop.

[Bryn]

With today's re-opening schedule mooted by Johnson, if general interactions are to be fully restored on June 21st, what are the chances of a 2021 Prom Season of some sort?

[Dave2002]

With today's re-opening schedule mooted by Johnson, if general interactions are to be fully restored on June 21st, what are the chances of a 2021 Prom Season of some sort?

I daren't think about it .....

Maybe some of the opera and other festivals will happen after all. I was recently sent a flyer about Longborough, though I assumed that it would be likely to not go ahead.

Others - Garsington, Glyndebourne, Grange Opera etc.

[Petrushka]

With today's re-opening schedule mooted by Johnson, if general interactions are to be fully restored on June 21st, what are the chances of a 2021 Prom Season of some sort?

If everything goes according to plan and there are no setbacks then it does look a good possibility even if it won't be the kind of season originally planned. I think that a slightly shorter season, perhaps commencing on August 1, is a more likely option

[Bryn]

If everything goes according to plan and there are no setbacks then it does look a good possibility even if it won't be the kind of season originally planned. I think that a slightly shorter season, perhaps commencing on August 1, is a more likely option

July 30th, surely? We can't go dropping Friday night as First Night.

[Petrushka]

July 30th, surely? We can't go dropping Friday night as First Night.

I was thinking more of a longer lead time might be necessary due to the administrative burden and the availability of artists but I didn't look at the calendar before saying August 1.

You might recall that, due to the Musician's Union strike, the First Night of the 1980 Proms turned out to be Thursday, August 7.

[Simon B]

I daren't think about it .....

Maybe some of the opera and other festivals will happen after all. I was recently sent a flyer about Longborough, though I assumed that it would be likely to not go ahead.

Others - Garsington, Glyndebourne, Grange Opera etc.

In the detail it appears that the plan is for concert halls/theatres to be able to admit patrons in limited numbers from 17/May.

In a remarkable coincidence (or not) Glyndebourne last week announced their intention to mount a substantial season commencing 20/May.

If, if this all pans out as hoped the BBC really have no excuse not to mount some sort of Proms season with audiences this year. It is incumbent upon them to do what they can given both the incomparable "brand recognition" of the "BBC Proms" and the disastrous state of the finances of most independent UK orchs/companies. The BBC meanwhile has been largely insulated from this so far as almost everyone has kept on paying their licence fees...

That said, in all the noise these announcements have made recently, in a blaze of no publicity at all the rate of decline in confirmed UK infections has started rapidly grinding to a halt in a statistically significant way in the last week. Hopefully just a blip, but it underlines how theoretical all of this is at this point...

[Simon B]

I was thinking more of a longer lead time might be necessary due to the administrative burden and the availability of artists but I didn't look at the calendar before saying August 1.

You might recall that, due to the Musician's Union strike, the First Night of the 1980 Proms turned out to be Thursday, August 7.

It seems reasonable to assume that even in the best case the likelihood of much in the way of foreign orchs etc visiting the UK this summer is nil.*

Meanwhile, most of the UK orchs will still likely be sat around doing nothing and probably rather less keen on having a summer break than usual having earned £0 for so long. How hard can it be to cobble together a season under those circumstances, particularly when you've got a load of BBC orchestras who've also been sat around unable to do very much (despite best endeavours) for a long time...

*That said IIRC the LSO are still allegedly off to Aix to do Tristan with Rattle or something like that, so maybe it's not so simple.

[Dave2002]

That said, in all the noise these announcements have made recently, in a blaze of no publicity at all the rate of decline in confirmed UK infections has started rapidly grinding to a halt in a statistically significant way in the last week. Hopefully just a blip, but it underlines how theoretical all of this is at this point...

Noted. At least noted that you have mentioned this. Do you have inside information?

It would be good if some activity on the theatre/arts/music fronts were possible this summer, but not if it sets off yet another wave of this horrible viral disease.

I'm going to look on the bright side for the moment, and hope that things will get better and that we can have some things to look forward to from June onwards, even if only in a limited way.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Glyndebourne's plans:

"Festival 2021 will run from 20 May until 29 August, with some small changes to our previously published plans. New productions of Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová, Rossini’s Il turco in Italia and Verdi’s Luisa Miller will appear alongside revivals of our much-loved Così fan tutte and, in a semi-staged concert version, Wagner’s epic Tristan und Isolde. Unfortunately we’re unable to perform Die Zauberflöte as hoped but are delighted that our resident orchestras, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, will instead take centre stage in a series of specially curated concerts.
Safety remains our highest priority. The auditorium will be physically distanced, with most of our available seats arranged in pairs."