What are you doing to protect your family against the virus?

[Hagoth]

My brother-in-law has been trying to stock up on what he thinks he needs for the flupocalypse. Yesterday he anxiously reported that Costco is selling out of bottled water and toilet paper every day, and he's going to line up in the morning to get his fair share.

2 questions:

1- Do people think having a 5 year supply of toilet paper is going to make them safer?

2- Why stockpile water? There is no reason to believe the faucets will stop flowing, and the virus isn't borne in culinary water. In the worst case you can boil water (as long as there's not tea or coffee involved, of course!).

I suppose people are buying up the water because that's what they see people doing on the news when there's a hurricane or flood that contaminates the water sources?

[Red Ryder]

The water supply won’t be impacted unless utility workers are quarantined at home. Even then most systems are automated through SCADA remotely.

If I’m quarantined at home for a month and run out of toilet paper I’m just going to shit and then shower. Or if needed use a few old socks and do laundry. Which makes me think I should stock up on laundry detergent.

My company just banned international travel and severely restricted domestic travel. We are going to do a drill next week where the whole office works from home. Considering we all sit in front of laptops I don’t see any problems.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Coincidentally I'm in the middle of reading Hans Rossling's book "factfullness", specifically the chapter called "fear instinct" and it is fascinating seeing this hysteria play out before our very eyes.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

The water supply won’t be impacted unless utility workers are quarantined at home. Even then most systems are automated through SCADA remotely.

If I’m quarantined at home for a month and run out of toilet paper I’m just going to shit and then shower. Or if needed use a few old socks and do laundry. Which makes me think I should stock up on laundry detergent.

My company just banned international travel and severely restricted domestic travel. We are going to do a drill next week where the whole office works from home. Considering we all sit in front of laptops I don’t see any problems.

There is always napkins, paper towels, baby wipes, kleenex, cut up old car wash towels, and finally tree leaves. Just have to get creative. Also Amazon still delivering TP.

Edited to add: Could always sneak some from the member custodian closet at church. [emoji1787]

[alas]

But I am also in a “high risk group” because I am diabetic and my husband is over 70 and diabetic. So, we are “people with “underlying conditions” for which the risk is much higher. The only thing I have seen said for diabetic was 50% and I really don’t think that is accurate.

Hopefully you are both in a situation where you can just sit the world out for a while if necessary. Stockpile some food and books, and make sure your Netflix is paid up.

Netflix? OMG, I would have to be REALLY sick. But, yes, we can sit the world out if necessary. Books, now, books are my thing. My husband checks them out electronically, so he never leaves home to check books out of the library, and while I prefer the real paper kind, I can always survive with books on the iPad checked out from the library electronically. And ATV rides in the desert won’t expose us to people and dust and rattle snakes are not contagious. So far, we have not stockpiled anything, but we probably should get canned food in case we do need to lay low to avoid being exposed. Amazon also delivers books.

I noticed more hand sanitizer and wipes for wiping down the exercise equipment between uses at the local recreation center than what they have ever had out before, and more people using them than ever before, so people are changing habits and taking more precautions and it isn’t even in the area yet. I walked past a yoga class that had just gotten out, and instead of smelling sweaty like usual, they reeked of hand sanitizer.

[RubinHighlander]

I have lost a significant portion of my retirement in the last week and this virus hasn't put the pedal to the metal yet. I fear that the number of deaths from COVID-19 compared to other diseases may be scratching the surface of potential long term harm if the market continues to act like a little old lady at a Megadeth concert.

So I heard from one of my coworkers that China may have intentionally let this virus out in an effort to cause a preemptive drop in the world markets, perhaps preventing the bigger bust from happening. They have been artificially inflating their GDP for years now and their extra large bubble could create a bigger bust than the last one we had. We do seem to be long overdue for a bust and our Feds have barely any tools left to deal with it. Interest rates used to be the big stick and now it's barely a chopstick, where rates have never been able to go back up significantly since the last housing bust.

Any thoughts on this?

[Hagoth]

Any thoughts on this?

It's a bit scary for those of us who don't have pensions and are living off the nuts we've been stashing away for years. It's times like these that you really wish you could be a General Authority.

ETA: what really drives me nuts is the ridiculously cartoonish gyrations of the market. Largest point loss in history, followed by the largest point gain in history, followed by the 2nd largest point loss, etc, etc. Who stitched this monster together and whose brain did they use? Fire bad! Oh, fire ok. Nope, fire bad!

[moksha]

The water supply won’t be impacted unless utility workers are quarantined at home.

Some workers will report to work regardless, such as nurses, doctors, police, air traffic controllers, utilities, and 7-11 employees. If worse come to worse, a 12-month moratorium on lawyers might be considered.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Good summary of all the known data:

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

[alas]

I just read an article in Slate, magazine that says the disease is not near as dangerous as people are claiming. .......unless you are high risk for some reason or over 70. He mentioned the Diamond princess and that ALL of the deaths from Diamond Princess were over 70. Of the”high risk groups he mentioned any previous lung disease...alas raises her hand, any chronic disease like diabetes, I raise my hand and so does my husband, those who are immunosuppressed, and over 70 and my husband raises his hand too.

His main point is that all these healthy people who are hoarding food, toilet paper and face masks are probably just taking away resources from those who are going to need them. He said that efforts should change from preventing the spread, probably a lost cause already and focus on protecting those who are at great risk of dying from this.

At first his article sounded like he was writing off everyone who was high risk as not mattering or not counting because we are as good as dead already. Then he switched to saying the efforts to protect the young and healthy are misguided and we should just let them catch it and concentrate on protecting those who are less likely to survive.

Meanwhile the panic at the recreation center is growing with people carrying around big handfuls of disinfectant wipes, for the weight machines, people carrying their own personal bottle of hand sanitizer. People, it is not in our area yet. My husband and I are probably the most at risk and we were the most casual about not wiping down everything we touched. Either I need to panic more or they need to chill.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Meanwhile the panic at the recreation center is growing with people carrying around big handfuls of disinfectant wipes, for the weight machines, people carrying their own personal bottle of hand sanitizer. People, it is not in our area yet. My husband and I are probably the most at risk and we were the most casual about not wiping down everything we touched. Either I need to panic more or they need to chill.

I suppose if there is any benefit to the hysteria it is that other non-corona virus bugs will be killed on all those machines at the rec center and people will be less likely to get sick with everyday illnesses with all the obsessive hand washing.

[wtfluff]

Then he switched to saying the efforts to protect the young and healthy are misguided and we should just let them catch it and concentrate on protecting those who are less likely to survive.

The thing is... The more "young and healthy" folks contact the virus, the more likely those same "young and healthy" folks are to spread it to folks with higher risk factors.

The best way to protect against NCOV-19 right now is to contain it, and for less humans to become infected, no matter their risk factors.

[alas]

Then he switched to saying the efforts to protect the young and healthy are misguided and we should just let them catch it and concentrate on protecting those who are less likely to survive.

The thing is... The more "young and healthy" folks contact the virus, the more likely those same "young and healthy" folks are to spread it to folks with higher risk factors.

The best way to protect against NCOV-19 right now is to contain it, and for less humans to become infected, no matter their risk factors.

He was pretty much saying we have already lost that fight, now we need to figure out how to protect those that it will kill rather than just inconvenience by being sick. So, the whole article was odd because some of his information was pretty optimistic and other things were doom and gloom. I know as a high risk person with preexisting lung damage and diabetes, I would much rather that we as a society can keep it out of my area, rather than that I have to go into isolation for months while it blows over.

His point he wanted to drive home was that healthy adults who are in a big panic and buying up all the hand sanitizer are in less danger from this than the normal flu they get every year, but this is going to be brutal if it gets into nursing homes. This disease is apparently less lethal for infants and children than normal flu, less lethal for most adults and comparatively much more dangerous for the elderly and those with chronic pre-existing conditions. Most of the prevention currently is aimed at general population, and he is saying this *is* going to spread everywhere, so let’s focus on who it will actually kill.

but he didn’t give suggestions on how to keep it from getting to those people, when he is saying we cannot contain it.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

First case in Davis county. So it begins.

[wtfluff]

First case in Davis county. So it begins.

There was actually one in Salt Lake County that was "imported" from the Diamond Princess. I guess since that one was diagnosed elsewhere, we're not listing it in Utah?

Weird...

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

First case in Davis county. So it begins.

There was actually one in Salt Lake County that was "imported" from the Diamond Princess. I guess since that one was diagnosed elsewhere, we're not listing it in Utah?

Weird...

This one was also on the Grand Princess Cruise ship but the cruise prior to the one that was quarantined apparently. Been walking free for a week before being contacted by the cruise company.

[wtfluff]

First case in Davis county. So it begins.

There was actually one in Salt Lake County that was "imported" from the Diamond Princess. I guess since that one was diagnosed elsewhere, we're not listing it in Utah?

Weird...

This one was also on the Grand Princess Cruise ship but the cruise prior to the one that was quarantined apparently. Been walking free for a week before being contacted by the cruise company.

Yep, here's what the Gov. had to say in his emergency declaration (posted before the Davis County case was diagnosed:)

Notes: As of Friday, March 6th, Utah still has not had a confirmed case of COVID-19, excepting a single patient who contracted the virus outside the United States. He was transported to Utah for treatment at the request of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC does not classify him as a Utah case.

[wtfluff]

but he didn’t give suggestions on how to keep it from getting to those people, when he is saying we cannot contain it.

Yep, he seems a bit confused.

And as discussed in this thread, the hoarding does seem a bit weird. I've been buying a few extras since before the hoarding started in the shadow of the COB; But from the looks of it, I don't have enough TP. (Has anyone truly figured that out yet?)

It's fun to walk down the aisles with empty shelves when visiting the grocery store, as I personally haven't experienced such a thing before where I have resided.

[hmb]

If I’m quarantined at home for a month and run out of toilet paper I’m just going to shit and then shower.

You could always stock up on cheese. If you eat enough cheese, you won't have to shit, but once/week!!

[alas]

First case in Davis county. So it begins.

There was actually one in Salt Lake County that was "imported" from the Diamond Princess. I guess since that one was diagnosed elsewhere, we're not listing it in Utah?

Weird...

The difference was, this guy was out among the community for a week, infecting everyone before they even knew he had been exposed. The first ones came home already under quarantine.