My father had the misfortune of being a civilian in Kuwait during the first gulf war. What I learned from his stories is that the line between normalcy and utter chaos is thinner than one would think.
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.
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.
Do not overstock on masks or other supplies. Masks especially should be available to the sick. It's ironic that (I'm sure) someone out there will stock up on 10,000 masks and it will cause them to be in even greater danger because the sick people around them will have fewer masks.
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.)
There is at least one preparation that you can take: Make sure you have enough (non quickly perishable) food and essentials such as tooth paste and toilet paper at home so you don't have to go out shopping if you are at home sick for a week.
Masks don't help because of low quality and people lack proper training... you shouldn't touch the mask, you shouldn't reuse it, you should properly dispose it, etc.
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 :-)
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.
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 don't think OP is asking about preparing for or avoiding actually getting the disease. OP is asking about preparing for potential shortages of goods if quarantines are ultimately deployed in the US (which is what's already happening globally).
I'm really surprised there's 300 comments (with lots of panic) and nobody mentioned the official WHO guidelines https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2... especially the part about "How to cope with stress during 2019-nCoV outbreak"
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.
Over the last few weeks, we have acquired enough food/supplies to stay isolated at our house for about 2 months (a combination of bulk rice/beans/grains, and pre-purchasing anything we use regularly which has a long expiration date). We also have medicines/toiletries/etc to last that long.
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.
I was under the impression that the Spanish flu was very different from the regular flu and COVID-19, because it was the young/old people that survived it and the healthy 20-50 year old that died the most. Most people died of the Spanish Flu because of their immune response. It looks like COVID-19 is really mild* for lots of people in that age group.
Am I missing something? Did the Spanish flu start like COVID-19 and evolved later?
With a 2% mortality rate, if there is a breakout then there will be few people who don’t lose somebody they know. I’m worried about my parents. If I stock up on food etc, it will be to enable them stay indoors
Refill your medication(s), that's the biggest one. India produces a lot of drugs and if they get infected, we will see shortage. China also produces a lot of the base chemicals used in medication, so this is worry some. If you have chronic conditions, you really don't want to be without.
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.
>Refill your medication(s), that's the biggest one.
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."
Actually last year a few pharmacies in France told us they were short of some pills. Then we learned that only a few brands were manufacturing them .. so almost a single point of failure.
Some things to consider (we're doing most of these):
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.
We ran a drill a couple of weeks back where everybody worked from home to ensure that if we have to close our office we are able to continue working (assuming we're not ill, of course). This was really just to shake out any issues.
Fortunately, since most of us already work remotely for at least some of the time we didn't have any significant issues.
We are in a similar situation. 99% of the time everyone is working remote so we don't even really think about this stuff anymore. Our company has been operating like this for nearly a decade. There is a core group that works at a physical office, but they also have the ability to work remote for an indefinite period of time if the need arises.
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.
That's proactive thinking, good job. We're looking at the maximum user limits of our hardware and licenses and expect to buy some more licenses for the VPN appliance.
I haven't done too much, but that's because I'm generally prepared with 2 months food/water supply for general purpose emergencies. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we're expecting a pretty large earthquake as we're statistically overdue. Once panic has set in, it's too late to prepare for much of anything. Preparing is taking action beforehand, not after. I mean, if we even get news of 100 degree weather in this part of the country, the air conditioners fly off the shelves. When there's a possibility of a snow storm, everybody panics at once and empties the grocery shelves.
Whether or not coronavirus turns into a stop-all-of-society-for-weeks event, China already stopped much of their society for a while. That means that things made in China are going to get scarce in a month or so. I therefore am paying attention to what things that I regularly use are made in China, and buying a few extra now, so that I can take a month or two disruption in the supply.
I wash my hands well and try to avoid touching my face. I try to avoid touching bathroom door handles and use some type of napkin or glove. I have been doing this for a long time, so its not really something I am doing just for this virus.
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.
General advice for any bug that transfers trough fecal-oral route, not just for COVID-19:
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.
I stocked up on this new limited edition Eggo cereal, as it is the spiritual successor to the long forgotten Waffle Crisp, the #1 cereal from my childhood. Honey Comb simply does not compare, don't even bother mentioning it. If things start getting scary, I'll stock up on some milk.
I've already been preparing as a hobby for the last 3 years, not specifically for coronavirus, but here's how I'm prepared for it:
- 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.
---
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.
I live in HK, so we're already living through this.
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.
I'm making preparations, but I think I'm going to have to make even more. Having one child under two, and another just about to be born, I really can't afford their exposure, when they'll still be in a developmental phase that leaves them especially prone to permanent damage.
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.
For those of you who think the odds of dying from this outbreak are low: you're probably right. However, rolling the dice with any kind of pneumonia is a bad idea. Viral pneumonia opens you up to potentially acquiring a secondary bacterial pneumonia infection, which have much higher mortality rates. Bacterial pneumonia has a 30% mortality rate.
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.
When Ebola was kicking off a few years ago I had a realization: If you wait to prepare until everyone agrees preparation makes sense then it's too late. That said the prepper mindset is a slippery slope... so I think the answer is to prepare some but don't get too into it.
I'm obsessed with China and to watch a modern society go from 100 to near zero, is incredible. That concerns me especially living in San Francisco where it seems society is already fragile to say the least.
- 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.
[+] [-] Tade0|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] atarian|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Someone1234|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] Buttons840|6 years ago|reply
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.)
[+] [-] petschge|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mindcrime|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] bad_user|6 years ago|reply
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 :-)
[+] [-] megous|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] millettjon|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ravenstine|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] aaron695|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] qrbLPHiKpiux|6 years ago|reply
I am not without, but my suppliers have rationed some things I buy.
[+] [-] the_watcher|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Fnoord|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 8iterations|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] fctorial|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Recursing|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kempbellt|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] ttcbj|6 years ago|reply
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...
[+] [-] jackjeff|6 years ago|reply
Am I missing something? Did the Spanish flu start like COVID-19 and evolved later?
[+] [-] gentleman11|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jacquesm|6 years ago|reply
https://www.amazon.com/Spillover-Animal-Infections-Human-Pan...
[+] [-] RegnisGnaw|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] alasdair_|6 years ago|reply
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."
[+] [-] downerending|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chewz|6 years ago|reply
Fat, ash, water.
https://www.frugalandthriving.com.au/homemade-lard-soap/
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-make-soap-517084
[+] [-] agumonkey|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skinnymuch|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MikeGale|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] sethammons|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bartread|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] twistedanimator|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bob1029|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] Tepix|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alexis_fr|6 years ago|reply
The 4G and internet also need actual interventions. If we must work remotely, internet companies may also have to.
[+] [-] cronix|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AnimalMuppet|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 0x1221|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tmaly|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] nabla9|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] metalgearsolid|6 years ago|reply
(I'm not doing anything)
[+] [-] ravenstine|6 years ago|reply
- 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.
---
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.
[+] [-] cipan|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] Arbalest|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beachy|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] heavyset_go|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] Fomite|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dicroce|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justinzollars|6 years ago|reply
- 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...