Preparedness - Let’s Chat

[quinning]

This is, of course, directly a reflection of the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), but in the spirit of the pub, I’d prefer to stay away from the connected political issues and focus on the looming what if’s.

We’ve seen in other countries, complete shut downs (China) and some large scale closings (Japan closing schools, Disney closing parks in China and now Tokyo). The approaching shift in weather for the northern hemisphere to spring and summer has some hopeful that the spread will slow and the virus weaken. But until then, what are you doing to prepare? Do you have ideas or resources to share?

Here’s what I am doing:

I go to the store about twice a week. On Monday’s I get groceries for the week (M-Th), then I go again on Friday’s. This is to procure pizza for the Friday night dinner and also because by then I have a clearer picture of what meals I will need to prepare for the weekend. Today (Friday) I stopped at the pharmacy and picked up extra vitamin C, Ibuprofen, and a fresh bottle of isopropyl alcohol (for sanitizing if necessary). Then at the grocery store I bought some soup, canned chicken, canned tuna, a large bag of rice, and two bags of beans. All shelf stable items that we will eat no matter what. 

I am researching a water filter. We have a well on our property for back up water so long as we don’t lose electricity but the water hasn’t been tested and if we need it to drink I figure a filter is a good thing to have. 

And ... that’s about it. It’s double preparing if you will - stocking up food in case we get hit with a shelter in place order, and also things that can be prepared easily if we get sick.

Enforcing strict hand washing at home. We’re pretty good about it, but I am trying to be extra sure that everyone is washing hands when they get home from work or just being out and about.

Trying to avoid touching my face. This one is hard though. Ugh.

I’ll continue buying a few extra things when I go to the store until the risks/danger have passed. It’s helping me sleep a bit better and worry less, so there’s that. 

[djmills]

In Australia, once an pandemic is announced borders are shut. So, no goods in or out via sea or air. The state borders are closed too. This means, each state only has access to state grown fruit and vegetables, medicines, etc so only what is in season will sell in shops.

As soon as a cure is found, first line staff get inoculated first. This includes police, medical staff, government front line workers, etc. That is staff that talks to the public. And network administrators. I used to be one of those. :-)

If the only baker in town falls ill, someone else with experience could be transported in to take over the baking, or each household will have to make their own bread. :-)

I already keep a month (or more) of staples in my pantry. Flour for bread, second flour for cakes, biscuits, etc, rice, milk powder, sugar, spices, pasta, etc. I already preserve excess fruit and veg that I grow, but also buy all my potato, pumpkin, and some greens. I grow mostly greens, like beans, zucchini, silver beet, lettuce, corn, etc. I also make fresh pasta if needed, as long as I have flour and eggs.

So, as I have flour, butter, eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, etc I can cook most things I need, until I run out. Then I will have problems. I also have my own hens, so have eggs all year round except when the hens moult (loose feathers) or go clucky. But I have to purchase mixed grain to feed the hens, and if that runs out I will start to worry. :-)

I also purchase a side of beef once a year and freeze. I also keep vinegar on hand for preserving excess vegetables so if I run out of disinfectant I can use vinegar and water to wipe down surfaces, door knobs, etc. Also, remember, if you run out of disinfectant (which I don't think will happen but might) and don't have vinegar, you can make up batches of peppermint or spearmint tea, and use that to wipe down surfaces. The main properties of both are antibiotic, antibacterial and disinfectant, peppermint being stronger than spearmint. And they are nice to drink, even though I have no idea if either would help kill off covid-19.

I think the worse worry is businesses will go bankrupt and shut shop because they can't get the goods in from overseas to sell or manufacture goods, and there will be lots of people out of work. Like back in the depression/recession of 1950s.

One thing in Australia is we only have enough reserve petrol for about 2 weeks, so I think the govt will have to allow ships into our ports to offload more fuel. And if they do that, surely they can allow tinned food items into the country. :-)

Or we could all go back to barter. I might have excess mandarins so swap some for lemons, or oranges with neighbours. Or if I have excess bananas I could swap with some neighbours for vegetable seeds or something else. :-)

From what I am hearing, if you have asthma or other respiratory problems you need to disinfect everything and keep away from crowds, otherwise it will be normal life style. I do get asthma, but have a few sprays around the house. Maybe I should purchase more at the chemist.

And Australia is heading into autumn, then winter. I expect the virus will run through Australia during winter.

I like your idea about water filters. I already have one set up because the water in my town has fluoride and chlorine in the drinking water as well as mud, so I filter for all cooking and drinking. I also have a tank (only got it installed 2 months ago) so I could drink that if I needed. At this stage it is only to water grass, fruit trees and vegetable gardens. A set of 3 filters lasts 12 months, and I just ordered renewal filters, so that should last for a year. The virus will have been stopped by then, or else everyone adjusted to it, and life will go back to normal.

Of course, I could be wrong about everything. I guess you just follow the instructions of your country's government. :-)

[Pru Freda]

I'm pretty much self-isolating, being virtually housebound that isn't hard to do. Sir, on the other hand, goes out to the shops every day. We have a well-stocked store cupboard, though we couldn't withstand a siege, and we don't grow our own - we also have floods and freezing cold temperatures at the moment.

I haven't hit the panic button, yet, although with my respiratory condition it would probably kill me if I caught the virus. What will be, will be.

[Rinelle Grey]

I’ll be stocking up on food and making sure we have spares of scripts etc. (Everyone here has asthma!) We have tank water which is drinkable, so water isn’t an issue. Chock give us eggs (planning to get a couple more in the next week or so so we have plenty over winter. We’ll get in extra food for the chooks and goats, just in case, but if necessary, they could free range and get by, since we have 3/4 of an acre covered in plants and trees! Grab some tinned stuff and fill up the freezer, and avoid crowds as much as possible. Luckily we homeschool and work from home (for the most part), so I’m hoping we can avoid it.

[ameliasmith]

Feb 29, 2020 1:11:04 GMT -5 djmills said:

Or we could all go back to barter. I might have excess mandarins so swap some for lemons, or oranges with neighbours. Or if I have excess bananas I could swap with some neighbours for vegetable seeds or something else. :-)

...
Of course, I could be wrong about everything. I guess you just follow the instructions of your country's government. :-)

The concept of excess mandarins made me laugh. I bought a bag on the way home from work yesterday and it was gone by bedtime, peels everywhere. 

Also the concept of government instructions... but that would be getting into politics. 

I read quite a good blog post about this yesterday, the gist of which was to stock up as if for a big snowstorm and a bout of flu: bluecollarprepping.blogspot.com/2020/02/guest-post-pandemic-dont-panic.html Of course, that's assuming that the supply chains stay up and running. 

We almost always have a good supply of miscellaneous grains, dried beans, and canned stuff here and I've bought a few extras, plus cough drops, on recent trips to the store. We're on well water, so as long as the electricity keeps working we'll be ok. Even if it goes out, we have a woodstove and my brother's house is off-grid and has a well, so we would be ok for a while (apart from food spoilage, which... yeah, that would be bad). We also have chickens, and they're starting to lay now but the dogs often find the eggs before I do. So I think we're going to be fine. I do worry a bit about my parents, who are in good health for their age, but are well into the high risk age bracket (approaching 80). 

[elephantsbookshelf]

I've bought some cleaners to do a better disinfection of my house, but I've yet to stockpile food stuffs. I'm honestly not sure what I'd need to do; I don't have a spare freezer, for example. Frankly, I'm a bit nervous about it if the pandemic starts causing lots of things to be closed here.

[scdaffron]

We almost never go to the grocery store more than once a week and haven't for more than 20 years, so we're always stocked up for at least a week. When I consider all the food we have in the pantry and freezer, we could easily go two weeks.

Every summer, we can approximately 60 pint jars of tomato sauce and pickled veggies. We also do another 20 or so half-pints of jam. We telecommute and our main activities are solitary like taking our dogs out for daily walks. We see cows, deer, and horses sometimes, but almost never other people.

So I'm not really too worried. As long as we have electricity and our well doesn't run dry, we should be fine.

Years of living in the middle of nowhere probably helps with preparedness

[Miss Terri Novelle]

I went ahead and grabbed extra toilet paper. We have a freezer full of stuff, so I'm fairly certain we're okay there. I also bought extra pet food. I keep powdered milk on hand for just such occasions and we're on a well, so water isn't an issue. We have a generator and some wood left for heat. 3/4 of a tank of oil which is more than enough for the rest of the winter.

The only thing we're slightly lacking in is gas for the generator, but we'll be filling all the cans and possibly adding one more. With heat and whatnot, we'd only have to run the generator periodically to keep the fridge and freezer cold, so barring the loss of power, we're fine to hunker down here for a couple of weeks or more.

It's not us that I'm worried about. My parents are also in pretty good shape with a generator and freezer full of stuff. But my daughter's BF works and as long as the place he works is open, he's going to be expected to work...so he's going to have to engage in a lot of hand-washing and whatnot.

Honestly, being from Maine, I grew up with preparedness as a way of life. Thunderstorms coming? Fill the bathtub with water and make sure there are a few gallons of water on hand. We didn't always have a generator, but we did keep the freezer stocked, and a full tank of gas in the car.

I've got lots of hand cream to combat all the hand washing, too.

[djmills]

I just read this article and think it is a common sense approach to protecting ourselves. Same approach as to the common flu, etc.

www.news.com.au/national/six-key-facts-experts-want-you-to-know-about-the-coronavirus/news-story/c6d4ba99b56d280286447fa50388f00c

[Rinelle Grey]

All the stores around here are out of toilet paper. *sigh* Really annoying if you need to actually buy some for this week...

[Suzy]

Here in Ireland there is no panic. Two cases confirmed so far. I'm not doing much to prepare as I think it's bad to hoard and stockpile. Nobody is doing it and the shops are well stocked with everything we need to buy. We live quite isolated in the countryside but right now I'm in Dublin and have seen no sign of panic here. Maybe it will come if there are more cases, and people are worried of course.

There have been nearly forty cases so far in my home country Sweden- all had been to northern Italy or Iran. We are supposed to visit friends on Rome at the end of the month but we don't know if we'll be going. My friends over there tell me people in Rome are generally worried but quite calm. They have so far only had four people sick in Rome and they are on the way to recovery.

It's very sad and depressing, so we have to hope and pray things will improve soon.

[Miss Terri Novelle]

Toilet paper and pet foods were my only concessions. I tend to keep more TP on hand just generally, than I had left once I finished this book. My cupboards in general have become a bit bare with all the stuff going on since the fall.

I've been distracted and not shopping/restocking stuff like I normally do. Also, I discovered that the food my cat favors is available in a variety box, so I'll be purchasing that way from now on. It's cheaper and served the purpose of stocking up, so that was a pure bonus.

As far as the virus goes, I survived SARS. I hope I'd survive this one, too, but I'm making up some hand sanitizer for use in those places that don't offer cart wipes, and while I was out today, I made liberal use of those. Hand washing and Vitamin C is what I'm trusting at this point.

Someone sneezed in the health food store today where we went to look for our favorite tea blend...the whole place went quiet.

[Miss Terri Novelle]

Okay, so I see people have been BUYING toilet paper. I mean, I got two packs of 6 which is what I try to keep on hand anyway. I didn't get enough to last a year or anything.

[quinning]

It’s funny. Here we have been regularly running out of toilet paper, paper towels, and sanitizing wipes in the grocery stores. It’s annoying. We don’t even have any cases in our area. There are some in the state, bot those are on a military base being treated after being repatriated.

I understand that people are preparing, but also have to ask myself, were there households that had NO toilet paper? I mean ....

I am continuing my plan - buying pantry staples and carrying on in general. Washing hands, etc.

A friend posted on FB last night that she wondered if the media publicized the number of deaths from influenza by state on a daily basis would people take THAT more seriously? I feel like she makes a good point. COVID-19 is scary, but flu is also dangerous and really, we should be prepared to shelter in place for at least a few days (natural disaster prep). Others pointed out the death rate from automobile accidents, heart disease, etc. and pointed out that nobody panics over those things. I think we’re just highly attuned to new threats. Nobody’s panicking over H1N1 anymore - and they sure did in 2010 when that was the big new pandemic ...

[Miss Terri Novelle]

**raises hand on the NO toilet paper.

We were out when I went. So I bought my usual 2 packs.

I make my own hand sanitizer and household cleaners, so that was business as usual.

[reveries]

It's true that flu is also dangerous, but more vulnerable people tend to be vaccinated against flu. We don't have a vaccine for Covid-19 which makes a big difference. As someone in the highest risk category, I don't like the look of the stats, so I'm keeping my head down for a while. If you're in a low risk group then you shouldn't be nearly as worried. Anyway, the situation will be a lot clearer by the end of March.

We've always got enough tinned and frozen food for a few weeks, so not getting much extra. Heaven knows what people are planning to do with the toilet paper they're stockpiling. Build barricades?

[djmills]

I could not believe that in our small town of 10,914 people (I read that on Google) Coles, Aldi and Woolworths, were all out of toilet paper. People are panic buying and hoarding toilet paper.

I feel so sorry for the elderly pensioners who only shop once a fortnight (pension day) and can only afford a small bundle of toilet paper. What will they do if this hoarding of toilet paper flows over to tissues and hand cleaners, etc. The elderly (80s to 90s) are the ones with low immune systems and more likely to get the worst of the symptoms.

Some Australians are so stupid! The supermarkets are now restricting the number of hand sanitisers, toilet paper, tissues, etc that can be purchased at one time.

I told the checkout girl to put up a sign up that says "Diarrhoea is not a symptom of COVID-19". Then I said put up another sign that says "Johnny Walker Red Label Whiskey is good for a sore throat and cold".

She laughed. I told her the sale of Whiskey will kick start our ailing economy and pull us out of a recession.

And I wasted time drawing a cartoon about blocked sewerage pipes. But now back to writing. :-)

[Miss Terri Novelle]

Our local store has plenty of TP, and is not out of anti-bac wipes or hand sanitizer. Most people in Maine are stocked up over the winter anyway. You never know when a blizzard is going to hit, or a windstorm that takes down power for a week.

I did see one person the other day wearing a mask, but that's about it.

I already have a touch of something, most likely just a cold bug I picked up at the hospital with my dad a week ago when I took him. But if I could vote for one thing, it would be to abolish smoking not only in public places but for employees during work hours. What I don't need is to start down the aisle where the dishwashing detergent is and be hit with a wall of breath-stealing stench from the stock person. Now I'm home and barely able to breathe.

[quinning]

Mar 6, 2020 12:15:05 GMT -5 reveries said:

It's true that flu is also dangerous, but more vulnerable people tend to be vaccinated against flu. We don't have a vaccine for Covid-19 which makes a big difference. As someone in the highest risk category, I don't like the look of the stats, so I'm keeping my head down for a while. If you're in a low risk group then you shouldn't be nearly as worried. Anyway, the situation will be a lot clearer by the end of March.

We've always got enough tinned and frozen food for a few weeks, so not getting much extra. Heaven knows what people are planning to do with the toilet paper they're stockpiling. Build barricades?

Oh I get the difference between flu and COVID-19, I really do! I was referring mainly to the people IRL who will tell me that “every time they have gotten a flu vaccine” (which when pressed is usually ONCE) they got the flu so they refuse to get vaccinated. Also, they are some of the same people panic buying TP. I don’t get it. I am not convinced that if there WAS a vaccine for COVID-19 that they would get it - probably be convinced that they’d then get it. 

[quinning]

Mar 6, 2020 14:59:09 GMT -5 Miss Terri Novelle said:

Our local store has plenty of TP, and is not out of anti-bac wipes or hand sanitizer. Most people in Maine are stocked up over the winter anyway. You never know when a blizzard is going to hit, or a windstorm that takes down power for a week.

I did see one person the other day wearing a mask, but that's about it.

I already have a touch of something, most likely just a cold bug I picked up at the hospital with my dad a week ago when I took him. But if I could vote for one thing, it would be to abolish smoking not only in public places but for employees during work hours. What I don't need is to start down the aisle where the dishwashing detergent is and be hit with a wall of breath-stealing stench from the stock person. Now I'm home and barely able to breathe.

Oh the smell of cigarette smoke makes me so sick! It seems to be rarer around here these days as most smokers seem to have switched to vaping. I am always shocked to see someone with a cigarette or meet someone who smells of cigarette smoke.