Coronavirus prep

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  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,526 Member
    Social distancing is not meant to keep everyone from getting the virus, just to slow down transmission so that the health care system can keep up. This doesn't require everyone to stay locked in their homes, just avoid crowds, give others a 6 ft distance, and practice correct hygienic practices. Quarantine would only be necessary for those who are sick to avoid creating a cluster, or possibly for those in the vulnerable demographic to protect themselves. This would be appropriate in places where their are few or a manageable number of cases requiring intensive care.

    Yes this is the level in Australia at present.

    Mass gatherings like sports, clubs etc are all cancelled and people are told to socially distance - no handshakes, keep 1.7 m apart, don't go on holidays, and less affected states ( like South Australia where I live) are closing their state borders.
    International borders already closed and all incomers since last week or so have to self isolate for 14 days.
    But cafes, restarants still open as long as tables spread apart. Same with most shops. Schools still open.
    Nursing homes in lockdown.
  • EternalSnow627_
    EternalSnow627_ Posts: 85 Member
    The people who panic buy are pathetic. Their cleaning out the stores for the regular customers who shop once every week. People dont need to panic buy for 20 weeks....they gotta leave some for the rest of us normal shoppers
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,195 Member
    kq1981 wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    kq1981 wrote: »
    Well it’s not so much prep but I was really angry today. As we’ve been told, no gatherings over 100 people. My friend went to a wedding with about 90 guests. So that’s not incudling the workers. I said I wldnt put yrself or the kids at danger, the answer I got was, word for word “I don’t care, doesn’t worry me, people are being stupid and overreacting” It’s attidudes like this that puts our world at risk, selfish and ignorant grrrrrrrrrr so mad. I love her and feel guilty I feel so angry but I just imagine all the people in the world with attitudes just like that who are depending on everyone else to do the right thing to lessen THEIR danger. Hmph

    @kq1981 - send her this link: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120462582/coronavirus-perfect-aussie-wedding-turns-into-nightmare-as-37-guests-test-positive

    A wedding is how community transmission started here. Things were semi under control when new cases were almost all imported and dealt with immediately.

    All it takes is one infected person in a large group situation :\

    That wedding is exactly wear my mind went to when I msgd her. And NOW I heard that the NSW government let those 4 ships dock and 2700 people disembarked after 4 positive tests onboard after the fed government said no 😔 those poor people and I feel terrible for Sydney residents (of corse along with other states and countries) our world needs a big hug and some people need a big smack.

    Are you saying that people should be forced to remain in close quarters on the ship until the disease runs its course through all of them, in an environment with shared ventilation? Policies like that will only encourage people to hide any signs of illness, if they think admitting it will force them into overcrowded conditions in which they will definitely be infected, if they aren't already.

    I'm not a cruise-taker, but I don't think going on a cruise somehow makes you less deserving of the option to self-quarantine at home, the ability to obtain adequate medical care (to the extent that remains available), and the same compassion other victims receive.

    Remember how fast this thing is moving. Society at large were probably not taking this all that seriously when those people got on those ships, and official government messaging probably wasn't discouraging people from living their lives as they always have.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,195 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »
    Question for everyone on the topic of planning as we get through this:

    Let's say someone you know, either a family member or friend, dies during this time (either for Covid-19 or otherwise). In the interest of avoiding crowds, do you still go to the funeral / memorial service? If you are involved in planning the funeral, do you ask for only close family members to come?

    Also, would it make someone a terrible person to skip going to the funeral even if it is a relative (grandparent, let's say)? *Asking for a friend.

    Well, Catholic funerals in Boston have been put on hold https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20200320/boston-archdiocese-to-halt-funerals-starting-monday-because-of-coronavirus

    My family has staggered funerals in the past for logistical reasons, for example one in California at the time and one on the East Coast at a more convenient time. There was another one that had a proper funeral at the time and a memorial at a more convenient time.

    If I were in charge of a funeral, I would definitely postpone it.

    In the Washington archdiocese, "public" masses are cancelled. Funeral and wedding masses can be held, but should be limited to immediate family.

    https://adw.org/news/archdiocese-of-washington-announcement-regarding-coronavirus/

    I wouldn't travel for a funeral right now, although it does seem awful that everyone is going to have to be isolated in their grief.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,195 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    I went for a walk, including past my church (which is open for private prayer during specific hours, but not at the particular time I went by) and through part of my local shopping district (lots of little local shops). I kind of just wanted to see if the shops had any signs about whether they'd be open once the "stay at home" order goes into effect or anything about delivery.

    My local grocery (meat market) is going to be open with limits on how many can come in and is asking that non-elderly/vulnerable don't come during the first two hours of each day. The pet food store is doing curbside pickup (although this is a walking district more than a driving one). Some stores had already shut down.

    Neighborhood sidewalks were largely empty, although some people were out walking dogs or just walking. I passed a few buses that had just a tiny number of people in them. A few people were out running and a couple of people were biking, and I saw a father outside playing with his small child.

    I was out driving today partially just to get out of the house, but also to find the location of the blood drive I'm going to next week (yay! I found one that was making whole blood donation appointments!) and to drop off a few nonperishables at a food bank in the same vicinity, and I saw a bus with the electronic sign on the front displaying "BUS FULL / WAIT FOR NEXT BUS." By normal standards, it was practically empty, but I guess the driver didn't think anymore people could get on and maintain six feet of separation.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,195 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    One other reason why liquor sales are considered "essential": the taxes provide a lot of the income to both state and federal governments in the US.

    Good point.

    At least here liquor sales are often at grocery stores anyway, or can be done through delivery services (including Instacart).

    I think people weren't sure whether they would be considered "essential" here, though, as a lot of the crazy buying I saw in the grocery store yesterday was booze, and when I was at Best Buy on Thursday afternoon I noticed that the traffic at the Binny's was nuts.

    Some of the localities around here have temporarily lifted restrictions so that restaurants doing delivery or carry-out can also provide unopened containers of alcohol, even if they're not licensed for off-site sales.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,195 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    whmscll wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Are people still flying??? I just saw a post on FB from a former daycare family that are in Aruba. :( They must've flown out of Logan and maybe one other airport, IDK. But....??

    Yes. One of my clients left for vacation on March 18. Her family flew to Fiji. Hope she can get back home!

    I have to say I don't understand why anyone would take their family on a plane with potentially infected fellow passengers, and risk not being able to return home?

    Private plane? Charter flight?
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    I went for a walk, including past my church (which is open for private prayer during specific hours, but not at the particular time I went by) and through part of my local shopping district (lots of little local shops). I kind of just wanted to see if the shops had any signs about whether they'd be open once the "stay at home" order goes into effect or anything about delivery.

    My local grocery (meat market) is going to be open with limits on how many can come in and is asking that non-elderly/vulnerable don't come during the first two hours of each day. The pet food store is doing curbside pickup (although this is a walking district more than a driving one). Some stores had already shut down.

    Neighborhood sidewalks were largely empty, although some people were out walking dogs or just walking. I passed a few buses that had just a tiny number of people in them. A few people were out running and a couple of people were biking, and I saw a father outside playing with his small child.

    I was out driving today partially just to get out of the house, but also to find the location of the blood drive I'm going to next week (yay! I found one that was making whole blood donation appointments!) and to drop off a few nonperishables at a food bank in the same vicinity, and I saw a bus with the electronic sign on the front displaying "BUS FULL / WAIT FOR NEXT BUS." By normal standards, it was practically empty, but I guess the driver didn't think anymore people could get on and maintain six feet of separation.

    The Memphis Area Transit Authority released new guidelines for buses today based on the mayor’s orders. I don’t remember the exact details but it was limited capacity with space between people enforced by police tape inside the bus.
  • DecadeDuchess
    DecadeDuchess Posts: 315 Member
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    I went for a walk, including past my church (which is open for private prayer during specific hours, but not at the particular time I went by) and through part of my local shopping district (lots of little local shops). I kind of just wanted to see if the shops had any signs about whether they'd be open once the "stay at home" order goes into effect or anything about delivery.

    My local grocery (meat market) is going to be open with limits on how many can come in and is asking that non-elderly/vulnerable don't come during the first two hours of each day. The pet food store is doing curbside pickup (although this is a walking district more than a driving one). Some stores had already shut down.

    Neighborhood sidewalks were largely empty, although some people were out walking dogs or just walking. I passed a few buses that had just a tiny number of people in them. A few people were out running and a couple of people were biking, and I saw a father outside playing with his small child.

    I was out driving today partially just to get out of the house, but also to find the location of the blood drive I'm going to next week (yay! I found one that was making whole blood donation appointments!) and to drop off a few nonperishables at a food bank in the same vicinity, and I saw a bus with the electronic sign on the front displaying "BUS FULL / WAIT FOR NEXT BUS." By normal standards, it was practically empty, but I guess the driver didn't think anymore people could get on and maintain six feet of separation.

    The Memphis Area Transit Authority released new guidelines for buses today based on the mayor’s orders. I don’t remember the exact details but it was limited capacity with space between people enforced by police tape inside the bus.

    This only makes sense, if they're also going to prevent people via walking pass each other to get to & via, their seats. For instance mandate that each passenger that enters, sit rear to front of the bus 1st. If a middle passenger's stop's prior to a front passenger, exit all passengers front to rear until the middle passenger exits. Then reload those passengers by whom'll exit last 1st, via the middle.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    lightenup2016 wrote: »
    I’m a little vexed at the usage of the word “hoarding”. Why don’t people understand the idea of preparing, and increased demand? Here’s a little math example:
    My town has a population of roughly 166,000. If we assume that equals roughly 55,000 households, and each household normally buys toilet paper every 30 days, then on any given day, there are 1833 people buying toilet paper in my town. Now, within the span of 3 days, the world goes crazy, sports are canceled, historic parades canceled, schools closing, companies talking about supply issues coming soon, and the very real possibility of being stuck at home for 14-30 days. So now, within a span of 3 days, people start thinking (and spreading the word), that toilet paper, among other things, could soon be scarce. So on the 4th day, let’s suppose instead of the usual 1833 people buying toilet paper in my town, today 5 times the normal amount, or 9166 people/households decide they better stock up on toilet paper. For many (like me), this might have only been less than a week earlier than they normally would have bought it. Most only buy one package, maybe two. Even though it’s a 5-fold increase in purchases, it’s a huge hit to the shelves in the stores. Now people are seeing empty shelves (one article I read mentioned how toilet paper is quite bulky, and takes up a lot of shelf space, so it clears out relatively quickly compared to other products), and the next day or two also result in another 9166 people buying (or trying to buy) toilet paper in my town. Well now the stores are really depleted, people are having to get in early to the stores to try to find any tp, and now you’re running into people who haven’t purchased any tp in 30 days, and those people who are about to be completely out, can’t find any. People go to stores early in the morning to get the tp straight off the trucks, and then the stores empty quickly of tp. People going later in the day call those early people “hoarders”.

    Why is this called hoarding? Are people really seeing others buying 8 packages at a time? And are the same exact people arriving early to stores everyday, day after day, to get more and more tp? Are they sleeping on top of rolls of tp in their homes?

    Maybe I’m just not much of a cynic, but I don’t call it hoarding, I call it a run on the stores in a short span of time, instead of the usual steady stream. If Americans will recall, just 7-10 days ago, life was still completely normal!!

    Just my $.02. I’m sure I’ll hear from people who have seen actual hoarding, but I personally have not. Please feel free to correct my wrong thinking 😊

    Edited to account for households, not total population, buying tp.

    Yes, you will hear from people who have seen hoarding. I saw 2 situations in the last 2 times that I was at the store.

    First was 9 days ago when our stores were starting to limit toilet paper only and there was news of TP and hand sanitizer specifically being bought out completely. There were some still left on the shelf, but not nearly as full as normal. The limit this store had put on them at the time was 4 packs per customer, but that didn't clarify whether they were talking about the big 36 roll packs of double-sized rolls or the small 4 roll packs of regular sized / small rolls. The woman in front of me in the checkout had an entire cart full of distilled water. Probably cleared the entire shelf. I got to talking to her and she was going to drink it, which is a bad idea. I hope she is heeding my advice to add a pinch of salt to each bottle before drinking. This was a case of an older couple, and got the idea that they lived alone. With how much water they had, if they were drinking it and it was the right kind of water to drink, should last around 2 months.

    Second case: Same store yesterday was almost entirely cleared out of everything. Some things were entirely gone while others were mostly gone. There was absolutely no TP and absolutely no distilled water (I actually need distilled water for the CPAP on my humidifier and I'm starting to get low... should have got some before crazy lady got to them). Wierd thing is that there were some jugs of drinking water and yet no distilled water at all. I'm betting more people are drinking distilled. There were 4 cartons of eggs left, all medium dozen. Normally, I wouldn't eat eggs as I've been trying to mostly practice the lion diet recently (a version of carnivore that is beef only), but there was no beef left at all and I had to find other ideas. I almost felt bad for taking 2 of the 4 remaining cartons, but then I turned around and saw a woman filling her cart with bread. She stacked them 3 high and filled half the "floor space" in her card. I guess they were not limiting bread quantities. I didn't talk to this person, so no idea why she needed so much bread. However, she appeared to be 60's and I would think is an empty nester. Except for someone running a breakfast restaurant and preparing toast / french toast for that many people, it wouldn't fit. To go through that much bread before it goes bad in a single home would mean there are probably 15-20 people living there each eating primarily sandwiches or toast for 2 meals/day. I just can't see that being anything other than hoarding.

    This is what I've seen and keep in mind that I'm not even going to the store all that often. I can't imagine what I would have seen if I had been there in the 8 days between when so many things became sold out and the rest mostly sold out.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    edited March 2020
    lightenup2016 wrote: »
    I’m a little vexed at the usage of the word “hoarding”. Why don’t people understand the idea of preparing, and increased demand? Here’s a little math example:
    My town has a population of roughly 166,000. If we assume that equals roughly 55,000 households, and each household normally buys toilet paper every 30 days, then on any given day, there are 1833 people buying toilet paper in my town. Now, within the span of 3 days, the world goes crazy, sports are canceled, historic parades canceled, schools closing, companies talking about supply issues coming soon, and the very real possibility of being stuck at home for 14-30 days. So now, within a span of 3 days, people start thinking (and spreading the word), that toilet paper, among other things, could soon be scarce. So on the 4th day, let’s suppose instead of the usual 1833 people buying toilet paper in my town, today 5 times the normal amount, or 9166 people/households decide they better stock up on toilet paper. For many (like me), this might have only been less than a week earlier than they normally would have bought it. Most only buy one package, maybe two. Even though it’s a 5-fold increase in purchases, it’s a huge hit to the shelves in the stores. Now people are seeing empty shelves (one article I read mentioned how toilet paper is quite bulky, and takes up a lot of shelf space, so it clears out relatively quickly compared to other products), and the next day or two also result in another 9166 people buying (or trying to buy) toilet paper in my town. Well now the stores are really depleted, people are having to get in early to the stores to try to find any tp, and now you’re running into people who haven’t purchased any tp in 30 days, and those people who are about to be completely out, can’t find any. People go to stores early in the morning to get the tp straight off the trucks, and then the stores empty quickly of tp. People going later in the day call those early people “hoarders”.

    Why is this called hoarding? Are people really seeing others buying 8 packages at a time? And are the same exact people arriving early to stores everyday, day after day, to get more and more tp? Are they sleeping on top of rolls of tp in their homes?

    Maybe I’m just not much of a cynic, but I don’t call it hoarding, I call it a run on the stores in a short span of time, instead of the usual steady stream. If Americans will recall, just 7-10 days ago, life was still completely normal!!

    Just my $.02. I’m sure I’ll hear from people who have seen actual hoarding, but I personally have not. Please feel free to correct my wrong thinking 😊

    Edited to account for households, not total population, buying tp.

    Your description of why the disruption in TP supply (vs immense amounts of actual hoarding) is what a piece in the Chi Trib explained too (I linked it upthread some days ago, but certainly don't assume everyone saw it). It makes total sense to me, and the conclusion of the piece was don't worry, this is a short term thing and the supply chain is fine -- there's not going to be an ongoing TP shortage.

    What I saw personally was a shortage in TP and some things immediately after everyone started worrying about this, followed by it gradually getting more back to normal in the stores, and then another run on the stores after the "stay at home" order was announced (not hoarding, but everyone thinking they need to buy things at the same time), and now that the stay at home order is in place, it will likely adjust again.

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