Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?
See title
The war itself from the perspective of someone not actively participating is mostly boring (his words) - you can't really go outside, cable is down(no internet back then), not much is happening.
But the brief transition period between peace and war is the worst. People desperately trying to stock up in the last minutes, quickly realizing that it's pointless to stand in line and pay when there are so many more of them than the supermarket's staff.
I, for one, "prepared" by weighing 10kg more than a few years ago. I have body fat to spare. My only worry is a good source of water-soluble vitamins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_response
> the body burns fat after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen reserves stored in liver cells and after significant protein loss.[2] After prolonged periods of starvation, the body uses the proteins within muscle tissue as a fuel source.
So yes it is mainly fat but some muscles will be lost at the same time, especially if you have a high muscle mass.
It just makes so much sense that when food is plentiful (peak season) you want to be able to pack on the fat in order to get you through the cold season when food is scarce.
Pure speculation
There's no meaningful preparations for avoiding what is essentially a really dangerous variant of the common cold at an individual level.
Now governments and the medical field should be preparing for it. But most of that is logistical problems (e.g. number of hospital beds, preparing quarantine plans, test kits, etc).
You can order a bunch of masks if it makes you feel better, but countries with common mask usage are still seeing a large scale spread so YMMV.
The CDC recommends that sick people wear masks to keep droplets in, and that people who directly interact with sick people wear masks while interacting with the sick person (to stop projectile droplets I presume). The CDC does not recommend masks be worn generally.
Masks help remind you not to touch your face, but you can just put tape on your fingers or something for the same effect (this is just my personal idea).
(This is more of a PSA than a direct reply to your comment.)
Wear gloves instead, to avoid touching your face.
That said, I'd urge everyone to get a few P95 [1] masks for themselves and their family members, in the event that you have to accompany them to a hospital, or even to wear in public if you live in an urban environment.
1. P95 have same filtering capacity as N95, but last for much longer.
I think that not recommending masks for everyone is very myopic considering that the virus tends to spread asymptotically.
Right, but you can prepare for potential societal disruption(s) caused by the disease. Even if you don't get sick yourself, you could be impacted.
A saner advice is to wash your hands frequently and to avoid touching your face when in public. Because you can get this virus by touching infected surfaces and then touching your face. It doesn't seem to be an airborn virus, but it does survive on surfaces.
I cary a hand sanitizer for those moments in public when I feel the need to scratch my face :-)
I just read this last night, and from this I had the impression that it is an airborne virus, and that surface spreading is not the main vector:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission...
I wouldn't use a urinal either (I never do anyway, as a former licensed plumber, thosef'n things are NASTY imo). I also flush twice with my back turned before using a public toilet.. not ideal but better than not I think.
I work in hospital
Stuff like this: https://www.ibtimes.sg/wuhan-virus-italy-supermarkets-are-ru...
The freaking panic is already starting in my country too. People buying up food in 10x the quantities than the usual shopping visit, etc..
I've gone shopping yesterday, when the virus was found in the country next to mine, to buy enough food for a week, just to avoid the inevitable initial panic that's starting today, when the first case appeared in my country.
This Walgreens is in Mountain View, a few miles from the main Google campus in California.
>I've gone shopping yesterday, when the virus was found in the country next to mine
What's the old saying? "You're not sitting in traffic, you are the traffic." :)
https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/j...
Lots of people only wash their hands when they use the bathroom, if even that. They touch their faces and mouths a lot more often than they think. If they can learn to change their habits, wash their hands regularly if they go in public, and work from home more often if allowed by their employer, I'd say those are meaningful preparations.
It's wrong, but the question was about what people are doing and thinking.
I think it's important to see what people think and people shouldn't be down voted for being honest.
But I have to be OT and say "a really dangerous variant of the common cold" - It's killing 14% of people over 80 who get it at last estimates. And permanently hurting a lot of people over 80 as well.
And we don't really do flu season as well as we could, as a society we need to step up a bit in general. We could all prepare for even the flu season more than we do. Common cold, perhaps meh.
I am not without, but my suppliers have rationed some things I buy.
I commented below about doing what I am doing to not worry about it. Naturally it and was immediately dismissed by a panic induced response.
FUD is extremely powerful people.
If you want to stock up on some extra water and food - cool beans. But stay conscious of your own fears and manage your stress levels. Do what you can to stay calm about things and handle your emotions wisely.
Restaurants shutting down and grocery stores running low on food seems like a more likely scenario.
Regardless, I've now stocked up on 2 weeks of water and about the same of food. Which is a good idea anyway for earthquake preparedness, but something I'd never gotten around to actually doing. So I'm feeling a good balance of prepared but not too stressed about it.
Honestly, more people should be doing this anyway. If you live in an earthquake zone and don't have an emergency preparedness kit, you're in trouble if significant infrastructure damage happens in an earthquake. Likewise for snowstorms, floods, power outages, etc.
It's probably not going to happen, and it's probably not a big deal, but if there is an emergency at some point I don't want to have to tell my neighbours they're on their own for a week because we (minimally) prepared and they didn't.
Maybe 10-12 years ago I read the book 'The Great Influenza'[1], and there are enough similarities between that outbreak and this one that we are taking it fairly seriously.
Although that book isn't perfect, it has a lot of detailed and fascinating explanation on (a) the development of scientific medicine in Europe and then the US (b) the way flu works, is transmitted, etc (c) the way that specific pandemic played out.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Great-Influenza-Deadliest-Pandemic-Hi...
Am I missing something? Did the Spanish flu start like COVID-19 and evolved later?
The misnamed Spanish flu seems to have killed by triggering a strong immune response. That response is called a cytokine storm. Which means that the stronger your immune system, the more likely you were to be hit hard. It therefore killed the reverse of the groups that normally get killed by diseases.
There is also some evidence that people who experienced the "Russian flu" of 1889-1890 had some level of protection from the Spanish flu.
But there are lots of other similarities as well: Hospitals were rapidly overwhelmed. With both flu and coronavirus, it is the pneumonia that is dangerous (also, apparently true of measles). Some people died very quickly of their own immune response and massive lung damage (SARDs, severe acute respiratory distress) while others succumbed later to secondary bacterial pneumonia. Health authorities were reluctant to acknowledge the problem for fear of creating panic. Many people and communities attempted to self-isolate, with very limited success.
There are some possible similarities that have not yet played out - notably multiple waves of infection with different mortalities and characteristics.
Overall, the book has a lot of detailed scientific explanations that I enjoyed. One of my favorite parts was a detailed explanation of the significance of "H" and "N" in flu names (e.g. H1N1), and why flu mutates so rapidly, and is so likely to cross over in certain animals. Overall, I recommend it if you like detailed but comprehensible scientific explanations.
https://www.amazon.com/Spillover-Animal-Infections-Human-Pan...
Soap and sanitizer. Mostly soap. Soap is equally effective as sanitizer in washing hands, etc. Soap is also much cheaper and more available. If the local region goes into lock down, you're not going out much so soap will work well.
Get one to two weeks of food and supplies in case. There isn't going to be a global shortage, but we may see short term runs on supplies. Include stuff like tooth brush, mouth wash, and etc. For my wife I also stocked up on a larger supplies of feminine hygiene products.
Masks. I got 20 per family member in our local area. For when you need to go out and restock food. Also learn how to properly use the mask.
I take a prescription medication that is a controlled substance. I feel like a criminal each time I fill it. I'm only given exactly the amount I need for the next 30 days and it routinely causes problems when I need to travel out of state around the time of my next refill.
I really wish there was some way of saying "I've been taking this stuff for years, I've clearly never abused it, please give me some buffer for emergencies."
This is clearly a case of a law that may have been well-intentioned majorly infringing upon your rights.
This could be easily discerned through individual scrutiny or large-scale automated analysis.
Ups the dosage to twice as much and breaks the meds in half. Usually the price is still the same but now there’s twice as much.
Stops taking the meds on some weekends to create a buffer.
Asks a doctor to try another similar medications and express fear about going off the current med incase the new one doesn’t work. Unintended side effect is that you now have twice as much for that month.
Gradually reduce medication dosage and occasionally stop taking it. If you can live without it you’ll be more independent.
Fat, ash, water.
1. Find out what is going on, the Interwebs are your friends. The press and politicians aren't much use. The bureaucracy (China, Japan, Iran for example) are not much use and may make things worse.
2. Carry around some sanitising, no water, hand cleaner.
3. Get a few decent masks and read up how long to use them.
4. Find out what Fomites are and think about what that means.
5. Read up on hand cleaning. What you do now, CDC style, WHO style, operating theatre style and decide what to do. Start now.
6. Practice coughing and sneezing in a safe way, even if you're not naturally doing that now.
7. Study up on the Bayesian priors of the different ways the disease may hit you, 80% pretty mild. Check incubation times, up to 24 days, so who knows why they're still using 14. Asymptomatic people can spread for all, or most, of those incubation days. Get your mind into thinking about those and all the mechanics. If you're really determined solve some of the ODE's, for SIR, SEIR etc. program that and run your own epidemic progression models.
8. Prepare for a siege if it comes to that. Maybe write out operating procedures and lay in some supplies. For example if people have to deliver food etc. and leave it on the doorstep or whatever, work out the details.
9. Go visit people you care about who are frail or have compromised immune systems BEFORE anything breaks.
10. With Epidemics the populace is generally slow to realise it has started and also slow to realise it has finished. Think about that, prepare yourself. Don't be one of the fools.
11. If you don't already work from home, or have an understanding about that, get it fixed right away.
12. All the above also for your nearest and dearest too.
ENUF.
Fortunately, since most of us already work remotely for at least some of the time we didn't have any significant issues.
Beyond that, nothing really.
Distributed/remote companies are amazing for handling disaster scenarios like this. Hurricanes, floods, pandemics, zombies, you name it. We usually just work right through it.
The 4G and internet also need actual interventions. If we must work remotely, internet companies may also have to.
With earthquakes if statically speaking a massive earthquake hits on a roughly 1 in 500 year interval, the stresses at the plate boundary are much more likely to be greater at year 600 than at year 1 after a massive earthquake.
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18a...
Gotta limit that blast radius after all.
Most of our suppliers are in India and Nepal but it's business as usual in these countries
Edit: apparently OP by "other countries that are affected" meant "the most badly hit places in Wuhan" and thinks it's going to happen everywhere in the world. I repeat that in Italy there's no apocalyptic scenario going on
Not hoarding: Empty shelves are how capitalism sends signals to producers that they need to increase production, much like how packet loss tells TCP to cut back on its rate of sending. My local Lowe's has been out of N95 masks for a month.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/gu...
If you read CDC website they also recommend washing hands and avoid touching your face. It is much harder if you have small kids, just don’t forget to also wash their hands if they have been out in public places.
1. Dot's store your toothbrush in the bathroom (at least during the times when you suspect that some family member might get infected). There are fecal matter particles in the bathroom air. You can get the ass-to-mouth transfer in the same household from toothbrushes stored in the bathroom.
2. Close the toilet lid before you flush and leave it closed. It does not solve the issue but it helps.
https://go.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/surpris...
The idea is that they stay there, rather than floating through the air and infecting someone else. While "lots of germs in your sleeve" may trigger our disgust reaction, they aren't a problem until they actually get somewhere where they can reproduce. Our disgust reaction is useful and there for a reason, but a little unfocused for a species that generally understands how germs work now.
It's particularly important for the "first few" sneezes, when you don't know if you're sneezing because of dust and this is just a one-off sneeze like any other, or if it's merely the first of a long series because you've got something and you're blasting viruses. Obviously, if you're sneezing so much that you, shall we say, "exceed the capacity" of your sleeve, then please take additional appropriate steps. But a little bit is still better off shot into your sleeve than the air.
(I'm not doing anything)
- I work remotely, so I can hunker down at home and have my income totally unaffected.
- I've close to 6 months worth of food, and I've been buying more in the last month as the news continues. I can give some tips on what I think is good inexpensive food to get in case anyone is interested.
- I'm fasting regularly, which will realistically extend my food supply. Most people calculate their food supply by 3 meals a day plus snacks, but you can go days without eating. Right now I'm closing in on 72 hours without food. I'm perfectly fine. You get used to it. The key is getting your electrolytes and getting out of your sugar addiction.
- I have lots of water stored up, although that's not going to be much of a problem with COVID-19. Several filters meant to remove viruses, though I have a distiller so I would probably just use that if I was really that paranoid about my water, which I probably won't be.
- My medicine cabinet has everything you can think of and more. I have 2 first aid kits and a trauma kit. I have what it takes to turn the entrance to my home into a decon chamber, if need be. I have tons of bleach and disinfectants.
- I have full gas masks with filters, including adapters for 3M filters, which should be perfectly sufficient to remove droplets in the air. I also have full tyvek suits in case there's a worst case scenario but I have to leave my home. I have lots of N95 masks, but obviously you can't count on those for very much. I certainly don't have the belief that even the gas masks will prevent anything. It's just hedging my bets.
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All that said, I am not paranoid. I don't even have anxiety over it. Those things I mentioned would only come into play if things went extremely bad. My life wouldn't be very different if I had to stay indoors for months on end, so long as utilities continue to operate. Even if the supply chain broke down, I would probably be better off staying indoors than trying to bug out to somewhere else.
One other thing I'm doing is trying to sell off a high value items I've been holding on to, but I'm selling them off now because the money could save me from strife if there's widespread infection and my job totally falls apart.
Likewise. To some extent, I recommend doing some prep precisely so that you don't have to panic. If you have some basic prep, you can worry a lot less about "what if earthquake" or "what if power goes out for a week" or "what if pandemic", because you know that while you may not be prepared for everything and it may be hard, at least you're going to be caught completely flat-footed.
Also, I would just feel like an idiot sitting there in my house in week 3, wishing I had X, when X was like $12 or whatever trivial sum just a month ago. For values of X like "soap" or "shampoo" or something, I'm not even "saving money". I was just too lazy to make sure I had a stock on hand, despite literally months of warning this quarantine was likely coming. I'm trying to help future-me to not feel like an idiot.
I'm interested! I've mostly heard of canned foods and the military-style rations / dried meals that last many years (although those are actually a bit pricey, I think).
I don't want to discourage anyone from buying prepared meals if that's what would make them feel better. A hefty fee for some tubs of ready-to-go meals that last 20+ years can provide peace of mind. That said, here's a list of food that I stockpile that I think are the best value:
(Most of this will seem obvious, but I've also owned lots of survival meals, and a lot of what's described here is what's in those anyway)
- Peanut butter: One jar is more than enough fat/sugar/protein for a day's worth of calories, multi-purpose, can be eaten straight, no cooking required, portable, doesn’t require can opener. Powdered peanut butter exists but is more expensive and I don’t really care for it, but it might make sense to you. A jar at Wallmart is $1.58.)
- Canned meat: I normally don't eat canned meat, but in a crisis, having it can be a morale booster. Spam has all the advantages of peanut butter, but in meat form; A can of "Luncheon Meat" at either Wallmart is also around $1.50. Corned beef hash is very tasty and cheap. Canned tuna and pink salmon are good, too.
- Dried fruit: I prefer banana chips because they keep the best. Takes no preparation. Can be added to all sorts of things as well.
- Oatmeal: It's cheap and versatile. It requires water, but it doesn't necessarily need to be cooked. You can just use cold water and let it soak for a while. Tasty, filling, and can be made plain, sweet, or even savory. Add a boillon cube to a pot of oatmeal and you've got an easy evening meal. It's not great, but it'll fill you up.
- Pasta: Ramen noodles, mac n' cheese, etc. Stuff that's quick to make and requires the least preparation.
- Rice: A 20 lb sack of rice can be as cheap as $8, perhaps less depending on where you live.
- Honey: Very versatile, can be used in place of sugar in a lot of cases, needs no refrigeration, lasts ages.
- Ghee or shortening: Both are shelf stable at room temperature and can be used in place of butter.
- Hot sauce, salt, spices, etc. All are dirt cheap but can liven up dull food. As I mentioned before, bouillon cubes are handy.
- Coffee crystals, hot cocoa powder
- Vinegar: For cleaning and can also add flavor.
- Alcohol: We can all use a little liquid morale on occasion. Good for sanitation and can be used as fuel in desperation.
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A lot of people recommend beans. I don't because they take longer to cook than rice and they're too fibrous; have fun eating too many beans and sharting your pants while the world is dying around you! It's not like it's bad to have beans, but I've gotten rid of most of mine for that reason at this point.
If you could only buy one item, I'd definitely go with peanut butter.
Often people recommend that you prepare for disasters by buying things that you will periodically use up, so they don't get really stale or spoiled. I really can't face eating the amount of spam that it would require to insure against a significant disaster, assuming there isn't one. Or peanut butter.
If I have water and the ability to cook, potatoes seem like pretty much the cheapest source of calories that won't quickly spoil as long as you keep them where it's dark and cool. I wonder why people don't recommend stocking up on them?
Isn't fasting the opposite of storing food for an emergency?
Surely storing food on your body as fat is one of the safest and easiest ways to store it.
The truth is that while I am gradually burning body fat intentionally, I've still got weeks worth of fat on my and probably will when I decide to reduce my fasting back to eating one meal a day. I'd rather burn that fat and eat minimally for the first week or two of a crisis before digging into my reserves. Let's say I learn that the supply chain will be broken for longer than expected; I want to have food around so I can calmly address the issue without having to panic about where I'm going to get my next meal.
To put it simply, I don't think most people have the discipline to not pig out on their earthquake kit or their pantry if they're stuck at home during a pandemic. There's a bit of a caloric tradeoff in gaining that discipline, but I think it's worth it.
If it comes down to who can just survive the longest with zero calories, someone weighing 300 pounds is probably going to out-last me. But if there's any level of physical or mental activity required to survive and/or actually acquire calories, I'm going to have a big advantage.
EDIT And if, as another commenter mentioned, it comes down to making a low number of calories last a long time -- again I'll have a big advantage.
Basically: - cream of tartar (no cream, it's just potassium bicarbonate)
- spinach / watercress / swiss chard (for magnesium)
- table salt ( for sodium and chloride)
- coffee (although not super high in electrolytes, it's got a great balance of them, and if you drink 5 cups or more it really adds up)
Don't go with sports drinks (they're only good for sodium and contain very little other electrolytes).
I own a .22 long rifle and have tons of ammo. I've been thinking of getting a glock but haven't gotten around to it. It's not the best for self defense, but it's a heck of a lot better than no gun at all. It's ridiculously easy to shoot accurately. The ammo is cheap and ubiquitous, which is another advantage.
There's other defense items that I would use first if possible. I own some cans of police grade pepper gel, tasers, a slingshot, and a combat knife, among other things.
I've basically been working remotely. I haven't used public transport since CNY. We do not go out at all, unless it is necessary.
The main concern is the mask shortage. We probably go through 4 masks a week, and we generally only go out twice a week right now strictly for the essentials. We will need to get more soon, or we will run out before April.
Maintaining a high standard of hygiene is something people tend to do already in HK, but it's more important than ever right now. We thoroughly clean our flat every Saturday morning and wash hands whenever handling something unhygienic or just in general. As the virus can spread through waste water systems, we flush out unpumped drains as well. When buying products, we only use e-payment to avoid loose change. Most places have gloves in addition to masks, and have hand sanitizer, so there's no excuse to not use these things.
HK does not have a large supply buffer due to the small spaces. If demand for a good spikes, places will run out quickly, and it generally takes 1-2 weeks for something to get back. So we also try to get as much as we need ahead of time, but space for storing lots of food here is limited.
Unsurprisingly, I've not actually suggested this to my kids, who I doubt would be too happy, but way back before the measles vaccine, parents did hold measles parties so all the kids got measles while they were young enough for it to be relatively mild. To be clear: not recommended for measles these days - just get the vaccine.
Isn't that you? :)
Joking, but although we are well prepared for isolation (work mostly from home, live in the countryside in one of the remotest countries in the world, have off-grid solar and 3 rainwater tanks and could probably forage enough to live for a long time from fishing and gathering), all of that is undone by having a school aged kid.
That means unavoidable contact with a wide group of other kids, from a variety of different home situations, several of whom may have runny noses etc. at any point in time.
If things get really bad I imagine schools will close. If kids are “old enough” they may get some remote homework. Not great but doable.
But if you have a toddler you are pretty much stuffed. I can’t imagine what stay at home quarantine would to my 3 year old. It gets bad enough when we get stuck for the weekend because of storms... but TWO WHOLE WEEKS OR MORE?!!
I had pneumonia in the past, and that experience was the only time I truly believed that I might die. It's a truly incapacitating condition.
- I stopped taking public transportation on January 20th; so I'm biking to work now. I'm much more healthy because of this decision
- invested in Gold, Gold stocks and puts expiring March 20th betting against the market (Though I did most of this 2 years ago because of the trade war, and the puts were purchased in December)
- I've got some extra food and water, and lots of purell
- I've called my grandparents and told them, the virus is very dangerous effecting older people [1]. I told them to stock up on food medicine, and if they hear word of it spreading to stay indoors.
[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-fatality-rates...
Sorry, I don’t have any citation for this, because it’s been days since I read it.
Does anyone have any advice though for those of us that have to leave the house? My job is literally travel. I don’t have much choice other than a leave of absence or exhausting sick leave etc. My biggest concern is bringing this thing home to my little one.
Do you just settle for the fact you're all infected at that point?
Consider getting a portable bidet as an alternative. All you need is water.
We shut down as usual for CNY and that shutdown extended longer until the beginning of this week, from my point of view the disruptions are over and my backlog has shipped - though I know that things in Shenzhen are not back to normal (and I'm putting off a manufacturing trip until they are).
- Oxygen/HR meter ($15 @ Amazon) to monitor when oxygenation drops real low so that we know we have to get to ER and staying at home is suicidal.
- Some medical gloves, some masks (not hoarding - I think we have ~50 cheap masks from the time Bay Area was full of smoke).
- A ton of tissues and toilet paper.
- UV lamps to disinfect rooms.
- Basic staple foods to last for quite a while.
It's quite likely I won't be able to prevent cross-infection, but at least I've tried.
In terms of food and home essentials, we tend to shop in bulk normally so just need to make sure we are stocked up.
I think it is fine to stockpile before the crisis hits. We are in the stage where that information will affect investment, how manufactures allocate resources, etc. Basically they will respond with an early stockpile signal by producing more. So when the crisis hits, the supply will be greater.
EG - I think we are still in a stage in US where stockpiling is adding more to the production signal than it is actively causing scarcity.
Stockpiling for the purposes of reselling when the demand spikes doesn't strike me as evil either... It seems like a reasonable market solution for distributing items.
Food and water: Added 25 gallons to my normal water delivery
Protein bars, jerky, dehydrated cheese
Peanuts, trail mix, peanut butter
Big sack of rice (save for earthquake kit after April, don’t usually eat rice)
Canned chili, canned stew, canned beans (Carry over to earthquake kit)
Canned tuna
All of this (sans water) is boxed and in a closet.
Supplies:
Already have plenty of n95s
9x12 plastic tarp
Duct tape (specific for this use, not relying on the roll in the drawer)
Bleach
Extra soap and toilet paper
Big thing of hand sanitizer (noticed a lot of out of stock on Amazon)
I already have a significant medical kit.
I’m mostly optimizing for people panicking and it becoming hard to get supplies for a week or two.
Ask HN: Do you have COVID-19?
This is much better, less alarmist, but I think we'll need the one above sooner or later. BTW, I'm in the camp thinking it will be inevitable, and last week we stockpiled about 1 month worth of food and supplies. If/when it hits our area, we can just stay home.
- Planning purchases for hunkering down for a few weeks: Food, water, batteries, water purifier, battery-powered radio, hand-crank power generator for radio, etc.
- Sold 50% of my stock holdings.
- Putting a large amount cash in my checking account.
- Getting a smaller amount of cash (paper) to have at home.
Shouldn't you be doing the opposite? Banks go down pretty quickly when society panics.
Even if it depresses in the summer months, it will return in full force next winter (see e.g. flu, common colds, etc).
Best case scenario a working vaccine is invented. But nobody currently has a proven working one (regardless of a few headlines to the contrary) and even if they did that would be 18 months minimum before mass manufacturing could begin.
What I am saying is "bomb shelter"-style hunkering down will likely be ineffective if there's a mass spread in your country because the disease would out-live whatever supplies you have.
The CDC, amongst other US and foreign government agencies, recommend it. When the CDC speaks, I listen.
After that, who knows. Hopefully there will be a vaccine.
If that's the case I wonder how a vaccine would work. Weekly shots for everyone until it's gone? That would be hard to manage.
I sold because I think the risk of further, large declines is greater than the likelihood of a continuing increase.
(In 2008, as that crisis was developing, I also sold everything, and bought back once things returned to a new normal.)
And you will be quarantined in the hospital section with all the rest of the coronavirus patients, reinforcing your infection.
The area I was in became highly xenophobic. It was disturbing to watch.
90% of prevention is just boosting the immune system, washing hands, and not touching your face.
Carry hand cleanser everywhere and use it frequently.
When I felt a scratch in my throat I'd stop by a 7 Eleven, buy a $1 bottle of gin, and gargle.
I contemplated actually consuming the gin. But that would take a toll on the immune system :-)
Wait. What? I don't think that's actually effective at ridding you of a viral infection.
But I suspect there's a window of about 30 minutes where the efficacy of alcohol on the hands has a similar effect on the throat.
Make the host as inhospitable as possible and maybe it'll prevent an infection.
So trying to prevent an infection when you're already infected doesn't make any sense.
Besides, there's no evidence that gargling with alcohol will prevent an infection either.
-Stocked up on food/water -Stocked up my medicine cabinet -Reduced my exposure to stocks by 75% -Turned off all automated investments -Consuming zerohedge via RSS for news ahead of the normal cycle -not trusting a word of any government mouthpiece
I don't even know what my company will do if we simply cannot fill our orders.
I am preparing to refinance my house though, the virus is really shaking up the stock market and pushing the mortgage rates down.
Seriously, stressing out about this is going to create more problems than the virus itself. Humans love starting panic parades anytime something scary happens. Best thing to do is not worry about it.
This is absolutely, uncategorically, false.
The only specific measure I am taking is stocking up on drinking water, my supplies of which fluctuate between 15 and 30 days as I consume it and periodically reorder. I am bumping that to 60 on the off chance that there is a major pandemic.
I am one of the high-mortality-risk groups for any respiratory ailment (which is why I religiously get flu shots each year), so it’s entirely possible I will just stay home for a few weeks/months while I wait for any potential outbreak to blow over.
Also, where I live in the winter, it is normal to have a non-trivial amount of weapons in one’s own home, and something like 50% of homes do, despite being a reasonably big city by local standards.
I envision places like that to remain a lot calmer and more civilized longer than most other urban centers, where the means to keep order is a lot more centralized, and probably the first to abandon their posts in times of extreme crisis such as you allude to.
Have enough food and water on hand to shelter in place for up to 2 weeks. Never let your gasoline dip below a quarter tank. Have some paperback books and candles on hand. Have some duct tape and plastic drop cloths. Keep some camping gear. Practice not panicking. Keep a bottle of plain, unscented bleach on hand, and practice diluting it to 10% of the bottle concentration.
If you don't already have supplies specific to COVID-19, the desperate and the hoarders have probably already snapped up what you might want, and the opportunists reselling it at a 400% markup.
Its intended to be a kind of emotional preparation as much as physical, and a lot of it is just priming and practicing awareness.
If you see anything thats missing, needs updating/correction,etc please open a PR!
Don't bother responding to me with your opinion about misappropriation of funds. I spent a month volunteering in Louisiana after Katrina, taking days off without pay. Volunteers are always in short supply. The ARC is a vital institution.
We use our phones quite a bit. In hospitals, they are considered pretty dirty because the pick up a lot of germs.
We do not always have the opportunity to wash hands and their is a good chance we transfer germs to our phones.
I thought it might make sense to wipe the phone down at the end of the day with a chlorox wipe or rubbing alcohol. Then immediately wash your hands.
Side note, I tend not to handle those wipes directly as the chemicals are not great for your skin.
- dozens of N95 respirators, which may or may not help...
- lots of mini hand sanitizers carried in cars, backpacks, jackets.
- watching for local news.
- avoid shopping in stores, started using Amazon fresh.
- during weekends, take kids to outdoor state parks/recreation areas instead of museums, zoo, malls where have lots of people.
- technically as software engineers both my wife and I can work from home, but we are still going to the office.
I always make sure I have at least 3/4ths of a tank of gas in my car.
Stuff like a decent first-aid kit plus some batteries.
For entertainment, making sure I have enough movies, ebooks, and music downloaded in-case the internet goes down but electricity is up.
I'm only envisioning that the local government might declare a state of emergency which means working from home, closing schools, possibly public transit, and having the local stores completely sold out of necessities.
No water as I rely on tap water.
I'm working under the assumption that if things get bad under "lock-down," it'll only last three weeks. I live in a small apartment and I'm unable to prepare for any prolonged period of time (3+ months).
If society were to collapsed I am not prepared at all.
https://www.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/english/guide/bosai/index.html
I have a few N95 masks. These I got late at a painting supply place. I have a great deal of surgical masks and disposable gloves, which I bought years ago.
On order is a UV disinfecting chamber to enable mask reuse.
I'm not getting full body suits or protecting against long term electricity loss as that's certainly possible but if it comes to that might as well just die really.
I have a lot of guns and ammo to protect against supply attacks, but didn't have to buy more of that, that is something I already had anyway.
I completely cashed out of the stock market last week. Will result in a very large tax bill for the non-401k part. Was hoping to cash that stuff in during retirement instead.
I've stopped eating in restaurants and only go to the store during hours when few people are there.
Apparently, it's not that dangerous of a disease assuming you have medical care available.
So, now is the time to get it... when you have the entire intensive care unit st your disposal. If you hide out in your bunker, wear your mask, and follow the CDC's advice, you'll probably not get it for a few months. But when you do, instead of having a nice empty intensive care unit at your disposal, you'll be laying in a hospital corridor, unattended, surrounded by body bags and moaning patients.
So, my preparation is to book a trip to Wuhan with a layover in Italy. Tickets are super cheap.
Make your bets... If you think this will get worse get it now and live with lifelong heart problems. If you think this will get better wait as long as you can in hopes you get the less deadly version.
I'm personally holding out for a breakthrough in vaccines that mean I don't get it at all. Time will tell if I'm right. Time will also kill me - the only question is when.
Don't stay in the city. Break the lockdown if necessary. Food shortages and violence will come quickly. There is always oversupply of food in farmlands and shortages in cities.
Keep some food supplies at hand (beans, rice, meat in the freezer). And some gold in small bars.
Few weeks ago, before it all started I have purchased 50 ordinary masks, some surgical disinfector and also two military grade masks with biological weapon filters.
But most important - keep up good spirits and wash your hands. My Mom prays.
If I get it, I get it. I'll probably be fine. I'm a healthy twenty-something. If it hits hard, I'll wear my lightly used N95 respirator I use for housework, and gloves everywhere I go, hand sanitizer if I don't, limit my travel and exposure to the public.
If it gets epidemically bad, I'll hide in my basement with my ham radios and 2mo of food stores for my wife and cats until it all blows over.
I have been considering withdrawing a large amount of cash, just in case.
Shorting stocks to take advantage of a disaster strikes me as one of the most unethical, immoral things one can do. People still do it, but it doesn't make it right.
(apologies for the moralizing -- my sentiments are not directed at OP who was merely musing and shooting the breeze -- but at amoral Wall Street types).
If this all blows over, since these expire in about 20 months, I’ll just donate them to a dog shelter in the nearby ghetto. The dogs love that stuff.
Water and power will be fine, a gaggle of soccer mom's buying out the whole supermarket is more likely depending on how the media portrays the problem.
The virus is expanding just because of bad common sense from people who ignore the basic ABC of infections: stay at home if you're ill, do avoid meeting as much people as possible, but this seems to be hard to be understood by many
I have seen interview with a person in Wuhan and his biggest problem is running out of food.
- Cover your eyes.
- Wash your hands.
- Do not touch the area around your eyes, nose or mouth without washing your hands first.
If nothing happens, I just won't have to shop as much.
If something does happen, I can survive a few months without having to go outside.
That said, being ill with covid19 sounds like it would be similar to the flu for many people, so I'll stock up on OTC medicines that provide some symptom relief / make it possible to sleep. Mucinex, Nyquil, things of that nature.
Beyond that... I'll add to my stock of non-perishable foods: rice, beans, beef jerky, trail mix, and such-like. I plan to stock up on some bottled water as well, but I don't focus so much on water since A. it's heavy/bulky and hard to store and B. I live near many natural freshwater streams/creeks/lakes/rivers/etc. and I would rather focus on a "water purification capability" than on just stocking large amounts of water. To that end, I already keep some water purification supplies. But the thing I'm thinking about now, is building a distilling outfit. That way, as long as I have water (fresh or salt) available, and fire making supplies and firewood, I can make relatively clean water.
I also plan to add a little more to my stockpile of candles, lamp oil, batteries, etc. And I'll probably use this as an excuse to add to my (small) stash of 9mm ammo as well.
This isn't just about personal protection - the whole community and nation can expect better outcomes of we stagger preparations, lessening the chance and impact of everyone running to the store at the same time. There is no question now that this is an unprecedented event, now is the time to prepare to mitigate risk.
"If the pandemic hits" ... the virus has already hit.
The WHO itself has backed off the Pandemic classification [1].
The virus has an overall 98% survival rate, and most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms (which itself is a cause for concern re: spread).
The annual Flu, MERS and SARS were far far worse. The flu kills between 26,000 and 52,000 annually in the US [2], and as much as I love prepping, this just does not fit the bill for the amount of FUD it has generated.
edit: comments are making me re-think my position. COVID is far worse mortality rate wise in 65+ patients vs flu.
1 - https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/who-tries-to-calm-ta...
Don't bother with masks or anything, you probably won't be able to avoid infection anyway. Also I'm already convinced the panic & paranoia will cause way more disruption then the virus itself.
Despite the rest of your post being overly alarmist this is a good recommendation. You should have extra staple food at all times. The cost is minimal, you can keep extra of foods you'd eat anyway, and the benefit in an unlikely supply chain disruption could be significant.
It would be a pretty monotonous diet but better than the alternative.
2) Learn difficult social skills, such as refusing to help a sick neighbor
3) Consider buying an autoclave
4) Learn to cook with quinoa and lentils in case of a rice and bean shortage