Are you doing anything to prepare for the Corona virus?

[gatorsmom]

I’m not particularly worried about my husband and kids because we are all in good health (well, Dh has compromised immune system but he’s very careful about resting as needed and taking precautions- hand sanitizer, frequent hand washing, not touching his face, etc.). But I’m concerned about some of my elderly relatives and ILs. (my parents are both dead).

Are any of you buying N95 masks or stocking up on medications? Just curious. A friend in Italy says it’s getting harder to buy common cold meds there and doesn’t feel their government’s response was strong enough.

[TwinFoxes]

A friend of mine has masks and is buying canned food (to replace her "ebola food" as she puts it) and thinks that we'll be quarantined for three months. I have done nothing.

[gatorsmom]

A friend of mine has masks and is buying canned food (to replace her "ebola food" as she puts it) and thinks that we'll be quarantined for three months. I have done nothing.

Oh my! My kids and DH would rather die of the corona virus (or Ebola) than eat canned food.

ETA- that sounded really snobby but feeding my family lots of fresh vegetables has turned my kids into picky eaters :shrug:

[smilequeen]

No. Other than that my husband canceled his trip to China this spring. I'm not particularly worried.

[nfceagles]

Not prepping per se, but definitely starting to evaluate the likelihood of some upcoming plans. We are living in London and DS is supposed to go on a field trip to France in a few weeks. School keeps sending emails basically saying they are constantly evaluating the trips. All HS students go somewhere but there’s lots of trips to different places. The Mandarin class trip to China is definitely cancelled. I think all the trips will be cancelled for fear of getting stranded in a foreign country with other people’s kids. Italy has really rattled Europe. I’m supposed to run a half marathon in Prague the end of March and we’re starting to wonder if it’s at risk. We just got back from a week long February break and being an international school most of the families go away to pretty far off places. Families coming back from some areas are being asked to self quarantine at the first sign of cold symptoms. I did order 4 masks from Amazon last night that I hope go to complete waste. I just worry that if London has an outbreak and we quarantine I may want to have something for going to get groceries or trying to fly back to the US. Just made me feel a little better in case they can’t be found later. I genuinely don’t worry that much yet about catching the virus but more getting stranded if we travel or quarantined upon return. We also have 2 different families that are supposed to visit in the next couple months so I’m wondering what will come of those.


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[mikala]

I got a pack of masks just in case, figured they could be useful in other scenarios in the future. I haven't stocked up on food because we have a fair bit in the pantry anyway. A friend is attending a huge convention soon and I'm a bit nervous about thousands of people from around the world in the same airspace.

One of my friends just cancelled a trip to Thailand. They weren't extremely worried about getting sick as much as potentially quarantined when they try to return to the US. They also realized they wouldn't be comfortable being in some of the very busy markets and tourist attractions.

[twowhat?]

Well, I'm Asian so believe it or not, I've had to change my behavior to try my best not to cough or sneeze in public. I've already been discriminated against even though I've never been to China (and I wasn't coughing or sneezing or anything! All I did was to sit down next to someone at a meeting). My parents canceled a cruise vacation to Europe for a couple of reasons - 1) didn't want to be discriminated against and 2) didn't want to risk getting stuck there in a quarantine.

Otherwise we carry on like we normally do during flu season. Handwashing, don't touch your face, etc...nothing different or special. And to reiterate my small outrage, people need to be coughing/sneezing into their elbows and not into their g*dd*mn f*cking hands. Watching people sneeze into their hands and then rifle through the sodas in the cooler at the airport just makes my blood boil.

[PZMommy]

I’m getting nervous. Living in Los Angeles there are so many people here. As a teacher I’m exposed to countless germs every day. My younger son has severe lung issues. My school district will not close when there are wildfires a few miles from our school, so they won’t close for a virus unless the state forces them too, and I don’t trust the state.

I need to stock up on cold and flu meds. I always have a huge stock of my sons nebulizer meds, but will see if I can get some more oral steroids for just in case. We have plenty of water, but will need to stock up on non perishable food. We have an earthquake kit, but that is only for a few days.

[georgiegirl]

Yes [emoji51]. I just purchased a freezer. I haven’t purchased masks yet. We have regular ones but not the special ones. I did buy Advil at costco today, plus Sudafed at target (can’t really hoard that). I have bought extra food, but only stuff we normally eat. (20 lb bag of jasmine rice [emoji23]). Only canned goods I’ve purchased are beans and tomatoes (I don’t like canned vegetables.). I will get frozen veggies once the big freezer arrives tomorrow. I might prep freezer meals. I did buy more toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, laundry detergent, Lysol, etc. at Costco today.

We are going to buy trip insurance for our trip to Scotland this summer.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

We had a family vacation planned to China in April. It's cancelled now, of course. We rescheduled to Hawaii and I'm hoping it all works out!

We do have a case of masks that my MIL had sent to us. I am actually considering stocking up on some non perishables. I really shop day of for food and what not so we don't have a lot of food on hand. Would be good to fill freezer/pantry in case we get stuck at home.

[essnce629]

I will continue to stress hand washing as that's the best thing you can do to prevent any illness. I'll also keep on top of our vitamin D levels.

From my understanding, the majority of cases have been mild so even if we ended up with it the chance that it wouldn't cause major issues is high. We do have 2 boxes of N95 masks in our earthquake kit and probably enough emergency freeze dried food for 2 weeks. I could probably add more water to our emergency supply as we try to use it up when we go on road trips and then replenish. I didn't stress about ebola, SARS, bird flu, H1N1, etc and aren't stressing about Coronavirus either.

DS1's high school has 2 weeks of "Immersion" each year where small groups study a certain topic and some of the groups include travel. They have a China Immersion every year with a trip to China, but it would have been next week so it's been canceled. DS1 is still scheduled to go to Japan for 10 days in June with his Japanese school. The Olympics start just a few days after they leave so I'm assuming if the Olympics are still occurring, the trip will be as well.

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[Green_Tea]

I am not concerned at all.

[SnuggleBuggles]

My friend works for the CDC working on this disease and recommends stocking up on essentials (medication and some food). She isn't that worried but just advises taking those simple steps.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Oh my! My kids and DH would rather die of the corona virus (or Ebola) than eat canned food.

ETA- that sounded really snobby but feeding my family lots of fresh vegetables has turned my kids into picky eaters :shrug:
ETA Just buy a bunch of frozen veggies. they retain their nutrients better than fresh anyway unless you pick them fresh that day. :)

[ged]

My friend works for the CDC working on this disease and recommends stocking up on essentials (medication and some food). She isn't that worried but just advises taking those simple steps.

What kind of medication? I haven't even considered that. We typically don't medicate for colds. Maybe ibuprofen for a fever.

[Kestrel]

We have bought some extra meds, but only of stuff we use anyway - cold meds, vitamin C & D, advil & asprin. We stock pretty heavy on pantry stuff anyway, but I have bought some things like frozen veg and frozen orange juice, that we don't usually use, just in case. We always seem to have enough tissues and toilet paper to last a year. :)

The one thing I haven't seen anyone say is prescription meds - we did go and get an extra month's worth to have on hand in a drawer.

[bisous]

We have bought some extra meds, but only of stuff we use anyway - cold meds, vitamin C & D, advil & asprin. We stock pretty heavy on pantry stuff anyway, but I have bought some things like frozen veg and frozen orange juice, that we don't usually use, just in case. We always seem to have enough tissues and toilet paper to last a year. :)

The one thing I haven't seen anyone say is prescription meds - we did go and get an extra month's worth to have on hand in a drawer.

Ugh. Reminds me I wish I could stockpile insulin!

[MSWR0319]

I watched am immunologist speak today on TV and they said that for most people basic hand washing and not touching your face is the key to prevention. They actually recommended not wearing masks unless you are sick because when you wear a mask you're constantly touching your face to adjust it, which actually puts you at a higher risk of getting the virus. They also mentioned that it's mostly older people and those with things like heart disease, diabetes, etc that are the ones getting sick the worst. Obviously there are random cases of healthy, young individuals getting sick like you have with the flu or anything else, but for the most part the virus is mild.

I assume you're all stocking up on things so that you don't have to leave the house or in case of a quarantine? The thought never even occurred to me and I'm a worrier! Guess I should get a few things prepared. We're headed to Disney for Spring Break and that does freak me out a bit since it's a cest pool of germs anyway, but we constantly clean hands because DS has a severe contact reactive food allergy so we tend to have cleaner hands than most.

[georgiegirl]

I assume you're all stocking up on things so that you don't have to leave the house or in case of a quarantine?.

YES! And I’m guessing people will start buying stuff soon. I’m assuming we will have water and electricity, so I’m not stocking up on water or flashlights or batteries. It seems like other places have shut down schools and community events. If schools are shut down, then I’d be worried about going to the store.

I was one of those healthy young people who ended up hospitalized for 5 days with H1N1. (It was never confirmed since I refused the test, but I had pneumonia, spent 1 night in the ICU, 3 nights on a telemetry floor, and couldn’t see my kids for 5 days. November 2009...peak of H1N1. I did have the vaccine three weeks before I got sick.)



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[carolinamama]

No I haven't done any preparations. Trying to stress the same habits as a regular cold and flu season - hand washing, avoiding face touching, eat healthy and get sleep. I'm still more concerned about the regular ole flu. I work at a tertiary care center in the unit that would care for patients with the novel corona virus. I've done the training for it. Cautiously careful but no more than I am normally.

That said, we had 2 trips to Italy planned for April. They have the highest rate outside of Asia. DS2 and DH's trip with his soccer team has been canceled. I'm waiting to get the call about my trip with DS1. It's with a school group and I'm not running the show but I don't think I want to travel there none-the-less right now.

[essnce629]

I watched am immunologist speak today on TV and they said that for most people basic hand washing and not touching your face is the key to prevention. They actually recommended not wearing masks unless you are sick because when you wear a mask you're constantly touching your face to adjust it, which actually puts you at a higher risk of getting the virus. They also mentioned that it's mostly older people and those with things like heart disease, diabetes, etc that are the ones getting sick the worst. Obviously there are random cases of healthy, young individuals getting sick like you have with the flu or anything else, but for the most part the virus is mild.

Yes, this is exactly everything that I had heard, especially the part about wearing a mask putting you at higher risk.

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[SnuggleBuggles]

What kind of medication? I haven't even considered that. We typically don't medicate for colds. Maybe ibuprofen for a fever.

Prescription and then any of those basics that you wouldn’t want to run out for.


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[westwoodmom04]

I am not concerned at all.

This, thus far, it has a pretty low mortality rate, slightly more than 2 percent, similar to the plain old flu (Ebola was over 60 percent). I’m hoping it abates with the change of season like other viral illnesses.

[georgiegirl]

This, thus far, it has a pretty low mortality rate, slightly more than 2 percent, similar to the plain old flu (Ebola was over 60 percent). I’m hoping it abates with the change of season like other viral illnesses.

Influenza is 0.1%, so coronavirus is 20x more deadly

[AnnieW625]

I am not concerned much at all either. Basic hand washing, and vitamin D and C are about all we are doing extra.


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[gymnbomb]

Influenza is 0.1%, so coronavirus is 20x more deadly

It may well be much more deadly than flu, but I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in the exact number right now. It is likely there are a LOT of people who have gotten a mild case of it and not sought care or been tested, so the stats will be off.


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[gatorsmom]

This, thus far, it has a pretty low mortality rate, slightly more than 2 percent, similar to the plain old flu (Ebola was over 60 percent). I’m hoping it abates with the change of season like other viral illnesses.

Sure, but if you read my OP I mention that my primary concern is older relatives and ILs. The elderly have been the primary victims of this virus. Is anyone doing anything special to prepare their elderly- loved ones? (Maybe I should have put this in the Eldercare forum)

[mom2binsd]

Not even on my radar. I work in nursing homes and am vigilant about hand washing. Am required to get a flu shot and we follow strict precautions with any type of illnesses.

I can't even fatham needing to stockpile medication and food, I just don't see it getting out of hand where our community/part of the world will not be able to stay ahead of this.

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[StantonHyde]

Oh Dear God. Seriously???? More people die from the FLU every.year.in.the.USA. Lather, rinse, repeat. DH works in an ER--he will see the first cases. I am not worried. We are all in good health. Half the people on the cruise ship who tested positive for corona had NO SYMPTOMS. Seriously. Just wash your hands and use hand sanitizer.

DS got swine flu in 2009. We gave him Tamiflu and it helped. Nobody else got sick in the family.

[essnce629]

Oh Dear God. Seriously???? More people die from the FLU every.year.in.the.USA. Lather, rinse, repeat. DH works in an ER--he will see the first cases. I am not worried. We are all in good health. Half the people on the cruise ship who tested positive for corona had NO SYMPTOMS. Seriously. Just wash your hands and use hand sanitizer.Yes, exactly

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[Kestrel]

I am less worried about actually getting sick than I am about product shortages/ panic. Like the "blizzard" that was coming this last December - ended up being a whole three inches of snow. A lot for us, but not worth 10% of the panic we saw - people kept their kids out of school/ called in sick at work, thinking they would get "stuck", businesses closed, stores were swept bare of everything from bottled water to batteries to diapers/formula. It was crazy. If I can avoid the crazy by stocking up now, that's what I'm going to do. Particularly on things like prescriptions that would cause real problems if we ran out.

[ahisma]

I assume that we will all likely get it at some point. We may not of course, but that's my working assumption. We have travel plans that we do not expect to change - Spain in April and the UK in August, plus some random domestic trips. Frankly, I think that we may be more at risk in the US since it's so darn expensive to get screened if you don't have insurance.

DH and I decided that it makes sense to do some baseline things to boost immune systems. Reasonable bedtimes, making sure kids are eating some fresh produce, vitamin D and B-12 (vegetarian / vegan), but nothing really shocking - or anything that we really shouldn't be doing anyway.

[hwin708]

I am not worried or preparing.

The US strain of the coronavirus was going around this winter, and an immunocompromised member of my family caught it. It was definitely not pleasant, but was ultimately just handled with a week of unhappy bed rest. The rest of the family all had small colds at the same time, and we were likely all infected too. There was just no need to swab us, as our symptoms were so mild. Which is basically what they are saying about this Chinese strain - 80% of people who get it experience mild to no symptoms. There is just no reason to panic, any more so than we do over the flu.

I definitely have no plans to stockpile things like masks, as they are basically ineffective. China requires them in public spaces during such outbreaks, which is why the images of the masks has been so ubiquitous. But the reality is, they are not necessary and do little, if anything, to help.

There's no need to stockpile on staples, as this is a different thing from a natural disaster where there is a rush on bottled water. I actually have several friends who live in Shanghai, and even there, the shortages are exactly what you would expect - masks, hand sanitizer, cold meds, and fresh produce as the deliveries are impacted. I always have some cold meds in the house, and we are nowhere close to shelves swept clean of them here. It's just not a near or even likely concern. IF we ever reached epidemic levels here, my concerns would be the same my friends are facing in Shanghai - an overwhelmed hospital system, making treatment for anything, outside of the virus, extremely difficult. Which is not something I can really plan or stockpile for.

[WatchingThemGrow]

The only thing I'm doing right now is praying - especially for my niece teaching in South Korea (!) and my nephew on a base in Japan.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Oh Dear God. Seriously???? More people die from the FLU every.year.in.the.USA. Lather, rinse, repeat. DH works in an ER--he will see the first cases. I am not worried. We are all in good health. Half the people on the cruise ship who tested positive for corona had NO SYMPTOMS. Seriously. Just wash your hands and use hand sanitizer.

DS got swine flu in 2009. We gave him Tamiflu and it helped. Nobody else got sick in the family.

I’m not thinking about from an illness standpoint but a quarantine one. Am I prepared in that case? If your town got quarantined, would you have the stuff on hand that you needed? If shipping of items to stores gets held up due to other cities in the supply chain being quarantined, that impacts me too. I’m not going doomsday hoarder here but I’m going to grab toilet paper, some cereal, some food I’d use anyway...and some wine. End of prep.


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[georgiegirl]

I’m not thinking about from an illness standpoint but a quarantine one. Am I prepared in that case? If your town got quarantined, would you have the stuff on hand that you needed? If shipping of items to stores gets held up due to other cities in the supply chain being quarantined, that impacts me too. I’m not going doomsday hoarder here but I’m going to grab toilet paper, some cereal, some food I’d use anyway...and some wine. End of prep.


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This is my biggest worry as well...the lack of supplies and being stuck in the house with the kids for weeks. I haven’t bought masks or hazmat gear [emoji23]. Only extra food and supplies that we normally buy. I do worry about my mom, since she’s 73 and has cancer.

(I would say I’m more worried than most people in part because I was hospitalized with H1N1.)


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[gatorsmom]

Oh Dear God. Seriously???? More people die from the FLU every.year.in.the.USA. Lather, rinse, repeat. DH works in an ER--he will see the first cases. I am not worried. We are all in good health. Half the people on the cruise ship who tested positive for corona had NO SYMPTOMS. Seriously. Just wash your hands and use hand sanitizer.

DS got swine flu in 2009. We gave him Tamiflu and it helped. Nobody else got sick in the family.

I don’t think it’s helpful to be rude or belittling to me or others who seem to be concerned. Since you didn’t address it, I’ll assume you didn’t read my entire original post where I said I’m mainly concerned about the elderly folks in my life, not my immediate family. Im trying to figure out how to help them.

Btw, the Wall Street Journal yesterday said that the death toll from Covid-19 is 2.3%. The death toll from flu this season is 0.1%.

[gatorsmom]

This is my biggest worry as well...the lack of supplies and being stuck in the house with the kids for weeks. I haven’t bought masks or hazmat gear [emoji23]. Only extra food and supplies that we normally buy. I do worry about my mom, since she’s 73 and has cancer.

(I would say I’m more worried than most people in part because I was hospitalized with H1N1.)


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I have an aunt and uncle in their 80’s who live alone in a small apartment 30 minutes from here who I love dearly. She had a small stroke a year ago and he’s a cancer survivor. She doesn’t drive, only my uncle. I worry about them. I have another elderly aunt caring for her 40yo son who needs a kidney transplant and goes to dialysis 3x per week. She doesn’t drive, just her son. I’m worried about them. They also live 30minutes from me. And my Godparents only live 10 minutes from me, are in their mid 80’s and stubborn as hell. They both became septic because they refused to believe they had the flu 2 years ago. I worry about them them too.

Most posters here are focusing on their immediate families. Very few have mentioned the elderly folks in their lives. Don’t they have elderly people they care about? How can we help them?

[SnuggleBuggles]

This post was from someone in Australia’s health department on how to prepare and most was related to supply chain issues. The info was helpful https://virologydownunder.com/so-you-think-youve-about-to-be-in-a-pandemic/


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[gatorsmom]

I’m not thinking about from an illness standpoint but a quarantine one. Am I prepared in that case? If your town got quarantined, would you have the stuff on hand that you needed? If shipping of items to stores gets held up due to other cities in the supply chain being quarantined, that impacts me too. I’m not going doomsday hoarder here but I’m going to grab toilet paper, some cereal, some food I’d use anyway...and some wine. End of prep.


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I think this is good advice. I’ll check with my aunts and uncles and cousins and make sure they have non-expired cold remedies and basic medications and that they can twist the kid-lock caps off. I’ll check in frequently and bring tp, paper towels and some meals over. There is nothing I can do about their prescription drugs, maybe, but see which ones they have and offer to go fill them for them if they have trouble. I hope they don’t catch it.

[gatorsmom]

This post was from someone in Australia’s health department on how to prepare and most was related to supply chain issues. The info was helpful https://virologydownunder.com/so-you-think-youve-about-to-be-in-a-pandemic/


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Thank you. My Italian friend sent an article from this website but it didn’t have those helpful lists and supply ideas. I wasn’t taking this virus all that seriously until I read that. This article was really helpful.

[StantonHyde]

Well DH and I work in hospitals. It doesn’t matter if our city goes on quarantine. We go to work and my kids are teens so they can stay home. We live in a metro area of 2 million people so not a small town.

I guess I could have been more gentle with peoples unfounded fears, but it drives me crazy how people just do not get actual risk vs perceived risk. As far as death rates—that’s for the number of people identified. Half the people on that cruise ship who tested positive had no symptoms. The flu doesn’t work that way. So if you look at the actual number of infected people vs the amount of people who died, the rates are way lower.

I can tell you the health care community is on guard but we are not panicking and it doesn’t help to panic. I am not worried about the elderly—again, they are more likely to die of pneumonia or the flu.

Keep Calm and Carry On

[twowhat?]

Well DH and I work in hospitals. It doesn’t matter if our city goes on quarantine. We go to work and my kids are teens so they can stay home. We live in a metro area of 2 million people so not a small town.

I guess I could have been more gentle with peoples unfounded fears, but it drives me crazy how people just do not get actual risk vs perceived risk. As far as death rates—that’s for the number of people identified. Half the people on that cruise ship who tested positive had no symptoms. The flu doesn’t work that way. So if you look at the actual number of infected people vs the amount of people who died, the rates are way lower.

I can tell you the health care community is on guard but we are not panicking and it doesn’t help to panic. I am not worried about the elderly—again, they are more likely to die of pneumonia or the flu.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Yes, this - the media is definitely making it out to be very scary and to the general public, it does SEEM scary. But the flu remains a much bigger threat to us right now. The lady that freaked out when I sat next to her had TWO doctors at the same table jump to my aid and try to get across these same exact points. (And the dumbest thing about this lady that freaked out because I sat next to her - she HERSELF was sick, coughing all over the place, blowing her nose in several napkins and leaving them laying all over the table...I definitely worried more about catching whatever SHE had).

[gatorsmom]

Well DH and I work in hospitals. It doesn’t matter if our city goes on quarantine. We go to work and my kids are teens so they can stay home. We live in a metro area of 2 million people so not a small town.

I guess I could have been more gentle with peoples unfounded fears, but it drives me crazy how people just do not get actual risk vs perceived risk. As far as death rates—that’s for the number of people identified. Half the people on that cruise ship who tested positive had no symptoms. The flu doesn’t work that way. So if you look at the actual number of infected people vs the amount of people who died, the rates are way lower.

I can tell you the health care community is on guard but we are not panicking and it doesn’t help to panic. I am not worried about the elderly—again, they are more likely to die of pneumonia or the flu.

Keep Calm and Carry On

The fact is that the BBB has fewer posters than it did even just a few years ago. Belittling people and calling them hysterical is not helpful at all (and I don’t think I sounded panicked in my OP, just looking to discuss) and it makes people think twice before they ask a question here. Who wants to ask a question if they think they are going to get ridiculed? After all, not all of us work in a hospital.

Thank you, to those of you who offered suggestions and ideas that didn’t gang up or make me feel stupid.

[robinsmommy]

What is scary is the lack of testing or real response from the government.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html

They have tested 426 people. Look at how much testing other countries are doing- many, many more people, and not just folks who have traveled in China or had contact with someone who has. Other countries are finding cases because they are doing wider testing. They were going to start background testing here in 5 cities and Hawaii- testing reagents were apparently bad in the kits they sent out, so they are planning on rolling that out in mid March I guess. We are losing valuable time. Look how fast things changed in other countries.

People who are in virology or epidemiology are calling out the CDC On the lack of needed action. I hope there is meaningful change sooner than later. Be realistic- the controls they are using in China and Singapore will not fly socially here.

OP- Doing some moderate stock up on supplies you can use anyways is a really good idea, and useful in many kinds of emergencies. The link someone else posted from Ian McKay is a good one to use for a list. There is still a lot of debate on how bad the virus is- general consensus is that is worse than flu in terms of spread, severity and fatality, and the WHO folks on the ground in China did not find evidence of widespread mild cases- until they can test for immune response in places like China, they won’t know for sure.

[JustMe]

I need to buy a stock of non-perishable foods, and maybe some OTC meds to have on hand. Its something I have wanted to do a for a while to be prepared for various scenarios...but its hard to keep extra food in the house when you have teens because they don't think anything is extra.

[hellokitty]

Yup, same with us. We are in Trump Country and I fully expect people to start freaking out and pointing fingers at us when it hits our area, even though we have never been to China either. So, I am not walking around with a mask or doing anything that makes us stand out more than standard germ precautions.

[California]

I have multiple family members who work at hospitals and clinics, and one of those hospitals is our city's designated spot to test and treat. They are already seeing surges in ER visits from people who are afraid. This creates a ripple effect into the other floors, where patients are discharged faster than they would have been otherwise, to make room for the overflow from the ER.

My concern is for both the virus and the reaction people may have to it. Right now along with filling the ER, people are rushing to buy masks. Our local store can not keep the masks in stock- a clerk told me that if they get a shipment, they don't even get to unpack it all the way before it is sold. I imagine if we started to have multiple cases of the virus here people would rush the stores to stock pile. I like the idea of getting some supplies (including medicine) bit by bit so we can avoid being in stores if a rush happens.

And Gatorsmom I hear you on your concerns for elderly relatives. With our mix of medical professionals, children, (and in my case working with children all day), and elderly relatives, it's definitely on my mind that it'd be easy for one of us to transmit the virus to one of our elderly loved ones. We could be carrying the virus without even knowing it. They've all weathered the flu fine for decades, but this is something new. And of course I'm concerned for my loved ones working in hospitals. Hospitals are an easy place to catch something. The stats on hand-washing among medical professionals are mind-boggling to me! Yuck.

[georgiegirl]

I think this infographic from the CDC shows ways some of us can prepare for the pandemic

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200226/b7d5f790515f9c2913b0309c27a2d428.jpg

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/FacialHairWmask11282017-508.pdf


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[squimp]

I have already dealt with this fear to some extent. One of my friends returned from Shanghai last month. All fine here.

The racism my friend has encountered is much more harmful than the disease itself in my opinion.

With the fatality rates, since it is so mild that many people have it and don't know, the Chinese health agencies have not been counting those cases. I read that the fatality rate may be artificially elevated. If it were Ebola I would be freaking out, that has always scared the crap out of me as I read books about it. I am not that concerned about this. But I am not really a worrier.

Are they serious with that CDC poster? Umm, those paper masks do not have a seal, that would only apply with a respirator.

[georgiegirl]

I feel much safer knowing Mike Pence is in charge [emoji23]. I think we all need to run out and prepare for domesday.


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[Myira]

Read this on npr - "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but more really a question of when it will happen — and how many people in this country will have severe illness," Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters during a briefing.

Percentages and statistics don’t matter when it happens to you. If that “you” is a child, elderly, pregnant woman or immuno-compromised individual especially. Agree it’s not necessary or useful to panic, but I worry about all such individuals around me for sure.


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[WitMom]

Are they serious with that CDC poster? Umm, those paper masks do not have a seal, that would only apply with a respirator.

No- The infographic is from a 2017 CDC blog post in response to No Shave November. The blog post wasn’t even related to an illness at all -- it was directed toward people who have to wear tight-fitting respirators at work.

[TwinFoxes]

I'm not worried about actually catching the virus, but I do wonder if they might close the schools. I think it would take very few cases, as in one or two, before our school district closed schools. It wouldn't be a hardship for me, but thinking about parents who both work outside the home, or kids who need special services or free lunches is concerning.

[div_0305]

I think it's important to be prepared for a 2-week quarantine in any metro area. In other countries, the quarantines appear to have been swift and with virtually no notice or time to prepare--which makes sense. For me that means being stocked up on dog food, non-perishables that we would eat even if no quarantine ever happens, and being stocked on any necessary meds. I'm not an alarmist, but even the CDC person quoted above is saying to be prepared. I do worry most about immune compromised persons and the elderly--but I worry the same each flu season about them, too.

[bisous]

Did you guys catch the latest episode of the Daily? It definitely underscores that this is no small thing and that the real experts are concerned. This is consistent with everything that I’ve read. I’m not a worrier by nature but I do think it’s important to be prepared. Having lost just my electricity (and only in my neighborhood, not even my city) for 36 hours this past Fall makes me realize how susceptible our family would be to disruptions on our daily lives. I also have a child with a serious, chronic illness (diabetes) and it concerns me.

I am not losing sleep over this but it does help motivate me to make sure all our affairs are in order.

[JElaineB]

I'm not too worried about the actual virus itself for my immediate family, but I do think we should be prepared for social disruption in the event of widespread quarantine. I work at a university with the state's top medical center so I know cases will be referred here. I also have in-laws who live about 15 minutes away who are 79 and 80 years old. My FIL has respiratory issues already and has been hospitalized a couple times recently for complications from what started as simple colds. We should probably make sure he has oxygen at home if he doesn't already.

[Philly Mom]

Did you guys catch the latest episode of the Daily? It definitely underscores that this is no small thing and that the real experts are concerned. This is consistent with everything that I’ve read. I’m not a worrier by nature but I do think it’s important to be prepared. Having lost just my electricity (and only in my neighborhood, not even my city) for 36 hours this past Fall makes me realize how susceptible our family would be to disruptions on our daily lives. I also have a child with a serious, chronic illness (diabetes) and it concerns me.

I am not losing sleep over this but it does help motivate me to make sure all our affairs are in order.

I loved the original Daily reporting on this. I am going to listen now. Thanks for pointing it out. I am not worry about the virus. The reaction is more concerning.

[TwinFoxes]

I think it's important to be prepared for a 2-week quarantine in any metro area. In other countries, the quarantines appear to have been swift and with virtually no notice or time to prepare--which makes sense. For me that means being stocked up on dog food, non-perishables that we would eat even if no quarantine ever happens, and being stocked on any necessary meds. I'm not an alarmist, but even the CDC person quoted above is saying to be prepared. I do worry most about immune compromised persons and the elderly--but I worry the same each flu season about them, too.

I have a question (which I could probably google, but not sure what I'd find). After the quarantines, were there shortages or food? I thought I had read that markets were still open. That said, I just came back from Wegmans and I did buy extra of the stuff we (especially the kids) usually eat. Oatmeal, pasta. We have a freezer downstairs, so I got extra ground beef and bacon. It's stuff we will absolutely eat, and I usually get annoyed when it's not in my pantry/freezer. The next time I go to TJs I'll stock up on the things we like from there (wine ;) ). I'm not running out to hoard, but I go to Wegmans every Thursday anyway and I saw no downside to buying extra.

[twowhat?]

The company I work for (yes, it's pharma) has a travel ban in place for all international travel for employees (if you must travel internationally, it has to be escalated to the C-suite). We have several executive leaders here who are either MDs or PhDs or both. The article they chose to circulate is a very fair and balanced "how to prepare":

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/02/26/how-to-prepare-for-coronavirus/?arc404=true

Very practical tips within, which should be helpful! If you can't read the article because you've read too many Washington Post articles this month, clear your cookies and try again. :)

[o_mom]

I feel much safer knowing Mike Pence is in charge [emoji23]. I think we all need to run out and prepare for domesday.

Great. We can watch people die while he prays about what to do.

[TwinFoxes]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/02/26/how-to-prepare-for-coronavirus/?arc404=true

Very practical tips within, which should be helpful! If you can't read the article because you've read too many Washington Post articles this month, clear your cookies and try again. :)

Or pay. ;) It's the (former) journalist in me talking. :)

[mikala]

I'm making sure we have a reasonable amount of basic supplies around like we would for a long snowstorm - toilet paper, canned goods, pasta sauce, frozen meat and veggies, extra dog food. I'm also replenishing our usual sick supplies like Kleenex, disinfectant wipes, Tylenol/Advil, Gatorade, applesauce and chicken soup.

It's all stuff we usually keep around anyway but I figured it's a good time to inventory and make sure we're stocked.

The one thing I always hesitate on is bottled water. Five people and a dog go through a lot of water and I'm not sure how many gallons to buy. Thoughts?

[georgiegirl]

The university I sometimes adjunct for just sent out an email telling professors to make a plan for teaching classes online/Skype/blackboard and have their plans sent to the department chair/dean by next week.


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[georgiegirl]

The one thing I always hesitate on is bottled water. Five people and a dog go through a lot of water and I'm not sure how many gallons to buy. Thoughts?

I don’t think water or power will be an issue.


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[NCGrandma]

The university I sometimes adjunct for just sent out an email telling professors to make a plan for teaching classes online/Skype/blackboard and have their plans sent to the department chair/dean by next week.


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Just heard about similar contingency planning for avoiding in-person classes at a couple of universities. Also plans for students who can’t leave campus at Spring Break. Obviously lots of international travel cancellations.


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[erosenst]

I feel much safer knowing Mike Pence is in charge https://emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji23.png. I think we all need to run out and prepare for domesday.


Great. We can watch people die while he prays about what to do.

Saw this in a store here a couple weeks ago and snapped a quick pic. Somehow it seems more applicable today.

4965

[bisous]

Great. We can watch people die while he prays about what to do.

I’m never going to knock praying. I know what you’re referring to but Im just saying, I believe in prayer. :)

[TwinFoxes]

The one thing I always hesitate on is bottled water. Five people and a dog go through a lot of water and I'm not sure how many gallons to buy. Thoughts?

I think for this situation you need none. Having grown up in earthquake country, I know that for general emergency preparedness the rule of thumb is a gallon per person (pet) per day. Which adds up. For just a week you'd need 42 gallons. I think ready.gov recommends folks store just 3 days worth.

[mikala]

I don’t think water or power will be an issue.


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Agreed, I think we should be able to keep water and power through whatever quarantines. I should clarify that I'm thinking more in general for our emergency supply since I've been updating other items.

[div_0305]

I have a question (which I could probably google, but not sure what I'd find). After the quarantines, were there shortages or food? I thought I had read that markets were still open. That said, I just came back from Wegmans and I did buy extra of the stuff we (especially the kids) usually eat. Oatmeal, pasta. We have a freezer downstairs, so I got extra ground beef and bacon. It's stuff we will absolutely eat, and I usually get annoyed when it's not in my pantry/freezer. The next time I go to TJs I'll stock up on the things we like from there (wine ;) ). I'm not running out to hoard, but I go to Wegmans every Thursday anyway and I saw no downside to buying extra.

I am not sure if there were shortages after the quarantines because the quarantines seem to still be in place. During the quarantine, I would imagine shortages due to hoarding or supply chain disruptions, and then not wanting to be in a crowded area shopping for these things.

ETA: Yes, some wine and other goodies to relax and stay calm would seem to be essential quarantine supplies :)

[TwinFoxes]

I am not sure if there were shortages after the quarantines because the quarantines seem to still be in place. During the quarantine, I would imagine shortages due to hoarding or supply chain disruptions, and then not wanting to be in a crowded area shopping for these things.

ETA: Yes, some wine and other goodies to relax and stay calm would seem to be essential quarantine supplies :)

I should have said "after the quarantines started". :) Regardless, I see no harm in buying extra food. If I have to keep my kids out of school for two weeks I certainly will not be wanting to run to the store even if they're open.

[div_0305]

I should have said "after the quarantines started". :) Regardless, I see no harm in buying extra food. If I have to keep my kids out of school for two weeks I certainly will not be wanting to run to the store even if they're open.

I agree! Exactly why I'm prepping, but not hoarding.

[belovedgandp]

Timely discussion. I've been intentionally doing a "clean the pantry" movement since the new year. Then last night DH and I were discussing being prepared and he did suggest we get a bit more of a surplus of what we normally eat on hand again.

I'm the one usually making fun of the people rushing the grocery stores before a snow storm. We have them, but seriously, never kept us home-bound for more than a day or two. And I just can't imagine not having enough on hand to get through a long weekend. But my recent purge had taken us down to less than a week. So I am plotting a strategic stock up of what we use.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Personally, not really. I’m not a germaphobe in the least and I rarely get sick (kids same) so it’s a non issue for me luckily

however professionally speaking I am having to deal bc I am on the organizing committee of a major conference coming up in May and we are having to make a statement on it, create contingency plan, publicize it etc. freaky thing is that all this work in organizing the conference and it may come down to canceling it...


Well, I'm Asian so believe it or not, I've had to change my behavior to try my best not to cough or sneeze in public. I've already been discriminated against even though I've never been to China (and I wasn't coughing or sneezing or anything! All I did was to sit down next to someone at a meeting).
this is awful, I am so sorry. People can be so rotten and not realize the effect of their biases and misconceptions. I have friend who is of Vietnamese descent and she just posted on FB that her kids have been discriminated/bothered in school against bc of this (not even Chinese but not like that matters to ignorant folks). Ugh. So sorry

[bisous]

Timely discussion. I've been intentionally doing a "clean the pantry" movement since the new year. Then last night DH and I were discussing being prepared and he did suggest we get a bit more of a surplus of what we normally eat on hand again.

I'm the one usually making fun of the people rushing the grocery stores before a snow storm. We have them, but seriously, never kept us home-bound for more than a day or two. And I just can't imagine not having enough on hand to get through a long weekend. But my recent purge had taken us down to less than a week. So I am plotting a strategic stock up of what we use.

I'm kind of in this position too actually. We don't have a lot of fluff. We're streamlined. I'd like to have more food in the pantry, but this time around I'm working to make sure it isn't just random stuff we're stuck with but things that we'll really use and rotate in our daily meals.

[ezcc]

I picked up an extra bag of dog food today (usually I wait until I am nearly out). I also bought some cold meds and the cashier said everyone was buying them. I threw in a couple of extra cans of soup and a bag of rice but nothing too crazy- we have a pretty stocked pantry and a full freezer already. I guess mainly just waiting and seeing what will happen but don't want to be caught short.

[lizzywednesday]

I'm following the WHO guidelines and have re-read the CDC's zombie apocalypse page (https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/zombie/index.htm) from a few years ago.

I just bought soap, will probably need TP soon, and have to add my usual pantry food to next week's list.

I'll probably chat with DH about it a little bit. If he's concerned, we may do more, but I really can't get myself worked up at this point.

[robinsmommy]

“Prepare not panic,” is a good philosophy. Italy had very little warning, so something in the pantry is good. They had pictures of grocery store shelves- Google around to look at them. I am not sure how much in the way of deliveries are allowed in or not in Lombardy at this point, so am just buying more non perishables that we use all the time and a little bit more of shelf-stable milks, etc- soy milk keeps for a good month. I’ll just rotate a new one to the back every week until things normalize a bit.

Best case scenario- I just pre-spent my grocery budget. I’m good with that compared to the alternatives.

[scrooks]

Like everyone else, I'm not really worried about illness I'm worried about crazy quarentines. I stocked up on basics we would use (milk, cereal, applesauce,gatorade etc) and I did buy a bunch of OTC meds and cleaning supplies. Not too much. I do need to make sure we have a good supply of TP. Anything it would suck to run out of if stuck home for awhile?

[TwinFoxes]

Here's the children's pain relief and cold meds aisle at our Target this afternoon. The adult's aisle was similar. They were also low on pasta, tuna and some other things. 4966

[scrooks]

Here's the children's pain relief and cold meds aisle at our Target this afternoon. The adult's aisle was similar. They were also low on pasta, tuna and some other things. 4966
I went yesterday and things were totally stocked (I know not the same target but still) so I think things are happening quick.

[Tenasparkl]

Here's the children's pain relief and cold meds aisle at our Target this afternoon. The adult's aisle was similar. They were also low on pasta, tuna and some other things.

That looks a lot like the empty shelf I saw this morning when I went to grab a few small hand sanitizers. Our CVS was wiped out.

[AnnieW625]

Aww crap the tuna thing scares me....it is the beginning of Lent and Dd2 only eats Tuna or turkey sandwiches for lunch these days so we need tuna for the next 5 Fridays. (This is kind of in jest and )Target is probably out of $5 GWP gift cards now. Reminds me I should stick up on some more elderberry syrup, and Flonase.


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[MSWR0319]

What OTC meds are you getting? I bought some Advil today, but what else? We don't usually take cold meds unless we feel really bad. However, both of my kids have asthma and that's really the part that scares me.

ETA: After posting this I thought I should probably order some hand wipes because we're going to Disney in a few weeks and DS has a severe contact peanut allergy so we're always cleaning hands. Looks like I'm a bit late on that already. Ugh. I have to run to the next town over, hoping I can find some there. We live in a rural town in the midwest of less than 10,000 people. Apparently people think we're gonna get hit hard because there are none available at Walmart.

[gymnbomb]

What OTC meds are you getting? I bought some Advil today, but what else? We don't usually take cold meds unless we feel really bad. However, both of my kids have asthma and that's really the part that scares me.

ETA: After posting this I thought I should probably order some hand wipes because we're going to Disney in a few weeks and DS has a severe contact peanut allergy so we're always cleaning hands. Looks like I'm a bit late on that already. Ugh. I have to run to the next town over, hoping I can find some there. We live in a rural town in the midwest of less than 10,000 people. Apparently people think we're gonna get hit hard because there are none available at Walmart.

I picked up Advil, Tylenol, and Tylenol severe cold and flu.


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[essnce629]

What OTC meds are you getting? I bought some Advil today, but what else? We don't usually take cold meds unless we feel really bad.

DS2 was sick about 6 weeks ago so we were low on most of the stuff we use-- cough syrup, sodium ascorbate vit C powder, goldenseal capsules, echinacea tincture, Oscillo, and elderberry syrup. I reordered everything from Amazon, so no battling empty store shelves. We never use Ibuprofen or Tylenol when sick, but I do have some already. I also like to make homemade soup whenever someone is sick, so bought some shelf stable chicken broth and frozen veggies when at the store today so I can still make soup even if I'm out of fresh veggies. I already have chicken in the freezer.




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[PZMommy]

My Costco in the LA valley was completely sold out of every kind of bottled water when I stopped there yesterday. Thankfully I didn’t need to buy any, but people are getting stocked up here.

I’m going to stock up on medicines and basics when I go to target tomorrow.

[Kestrel]

Things are really heating up here in WAshington state. (perhaps because Seattle is such a major port?) One of our local high schools was closed today and yesterday - Thursday and Friday. (Bothell high school on the outskirts of Seattle.) We're getting mixed news, but it seems that a relative of a staff member was quarantined and tested for coronavirus, so they shut down the school.

The public health people said school closing wasn't needed, but school officials did it anyway. Lots of crazy here. Store shelves are empty of basic cold/flu meds, but doesn't seem to be affecting any other products, at least yet. Very nice pharmacy staff at my local drugstore said they have ordered a quadruple level of these items due tomorrow, but they don't know how much they will get.

Let's not get too crazy, folks. Wash your hands, get enough sleep, and have some basic supplies on hand. Carry on.

[NCGrandma]

I don’t usually take cold meds, but I do take various allergy meds as well as several daily Rx meds. Now that there are starting to be reported shortages of Rx meds, I checked my supply to see if anything needed refilling. Fortunately, I get 90 day supplies, and I’ve got lots left, for now.

I do plan to check basic supplies (especially toilet paper and coffee!) and stock up a bit without going crazy. Not really worried about bottled water.


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[squimp]

I thought this was a helpful article about why it's a good idea to be prepared.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/preparing-for-coronavirus-to-strike-the-u-s/

This page has a "resources for individuals" page that seems helpful. I really like the recommendations for employers proactively encouraging people to stay home if they are sick.
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/coronavirus

For this virus, I have been trying to think about what I would need to stay home for two weeks with the flu? Aside from Netflix :), I need simple foods, ibuprofen and routine meds, not much else. I am honestly not too worried about it.

We live in the wildland-urban interface and our community has spent a good amount of time thinking about preparedness. We have a "go-bag" stocked with our most important things (hard drive backup of pictures, passports and Birth certificates and some extra cash). We have a freezer full of food, lots of pasta, dried beans and rice. We keep several re-usable 25 gallon jugs of water full from our tap in the garage (no bottled water, that is a waste). If things hit the fan, we will fill up the tub with water so we at least have some more water. I don't consider myself a "prepper" or doomsday believer, but where I live, fires and earthquakes are a possibility, and the preparedness people in our community suggest being set up for 2 weeks off the grid. Others in my community are going even farther, with all kinds of generators and water tanks. We all do what we can to sleep at night.

[PZMommy]

I just came from Target and the medicine aisles were wiped clean!! Basically nothing left!!!

[Green_Tea]

I was just at my target and was surprised that it was pretty dead. The shelves were well stocked and there were plenty of meds, beans, pasta, rice, etc. I bought some shelf stable food we will eat anyway, because if this does get crazy I don’t want to deal with crowds (I’m the kind of person who thinks shopping on Black Friday is awful, and have a low tolerance for lines...) The only thing they didn’t have that was on my list was a specific Burt’s Bees lip balm.

[georgiegirl]

I was at Costco today, and while it was packed, nothing seemed wiped out.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

All stores around me are fully stocked- meds, food, etc


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[PZMommy]

I’m wondering if it depends where in the country you are. A lot of the current cases are on the west coast so it’s going to hit us first before it travels to other parts of the country. The principal at my kids’ school (and where I work) sent out his plan to the staff. He has yet to send his plan to the parents. The district has yet to formally announce any plan, but given how they handle other situations, I don’t expect them to cooperate or handle this well.

[MSWR0319]

I was just at Walmart and grabbed some Mucinex for adults and kids. All cold meds were well stocked, but lysol wipes and hand sanitizer were out.

[wallawala]

I'm in a big city in the Midwest, and Costco was slammed last night and my closest Target had maybe 90% empty shelves for soap, hand sanitizer, and Lysol wipes. Cold meds were well stocked. I've got like 13 targets though in a 10-mile radius so not that worried! I think they will restock quickly and there may be a few waves of people stocking up so empty shelves don't scare me at this point. I was complaining about Costco to my DH, who said "When are they not slammed ??". Um. Yes. True.

I think the biggest thing is planning. Not just food, but pet food/meds, Rx meds, and a plan for what happens if work or schools close. My brother and I are working out details on who will go pick up our parents in if they are sick (we both live states away) and are helping them get stocked on Rx meds and basic foods. They are in their 80's. My dad as early dementia and my mom has zero executive planing skills, so they are at risk if stores are low on meds or goods.

We are stocked up on nebulizer meds, Lysol and tissues, Rx meds, some shelf-stable stuff we eat anyway, and dog food. My DH drew the line on stocking up on gerbil food. The gerb is "elderly" and DH said if we run out of kibble we can just release him in the wild. (Yes I have a secret stash).

Our superintendent sent out a nice detailed letter to parents last week, basically enforcing kids should wash their hands and stay home when sick. They have an online portal they will send out homework assignments (similar to snow day protocols) if schools need to close, and a dedicated contact line for parents. I was impressed they are ready.

My childhood friend in Tokyo says TP is now a luxury item there as stores are empty and not restocked yet. He is joking about it at this point, but we should consider that restocking is based on a complex global network, and the longer this pandemic is going on, the less redundancy is available. If there is something essential in your life, plan ahead. We are trying oat milk on our ceral this week to see if we could sub for dairy if we need a shelf-stable option, but not stocking up on it. I'm not a dairy substitute fan, but my take is it's not terrible with Cheerios as they make regular milk taste like oats anyway :ROTFLMAO:

I can't find the link right now, but there was a nice quote I heard on NPR that basically said having a plan puts you in the best position to help yourself and others. It's not what you do out of fear, but simply the socially responsible thing to do. There is also a recommendation to get your flu shot as it may reduce the number of people accessing medical with general flu symptoms unsure if it's flu or Covid19.

AS an aside... The CDC graphic posted up thread was hilarious!!! (post #49 I think). I never knew there were names for all those facial hairstyles. Totally saving that one! FYI the N95 masks that everyone is so desperate to get DO require a close fit. We wear those in the hospital, and to have them work properly (ie filter 95% of particles) they have to be fit to specifically to your face and those rejected hairstyles in the diagram would negate the effect. So actually it is pretty helpful if you want that N95 mask to work any better than just the simple ear-loop version. One more reason that you shouldn't be hoarding those N95 masks.

[NCGrandma]

AS an aside... The CDC graphic posted up thread was hilarious!!! (post #49 I think). I never knew there were names for all those facial hairstyles. Totally saving that one! FYI the N95 masks that everyone is so desperate to get DO require a close fit. We wear those in the hospital, and to have them work properly (ie filter 95% of particles) they have to be fit to specifically to your face and those rejected hairstyles in the diagram would negate the effect. So actually it is pretty helpful if you want that N95 mask to work any better than just the simple ear-loop version. One more reason that you shouldn't be hoarding those N95 masks.

Thanks for the incentive to look more closely at the CDC graphic! I had glanced at it on my phone, but it’s definitely worth looking at on a larger screen [emoji1] I agree — who knew about some of those names? Wonder if some of the wearers know?


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[TwinFoxes]

I’m wondering if it depends where in the country you are.

I'm in the DC suburbs. No cases so far, but obviously a large international population. I was shocked that the shelves of our Target were empty of cold meds and pain killers.

[wendibird22]

Traveled to/from Baltimore yesterday and today. From my regional airport yesterday no masks and nothing out of normal. Today at BWI tons of people wearing masks. Something that I noticed was the greatest proportion of mask wearers were Black/African American and a small proportion that I’d identify as Latinx. And far more mask wears appeared to be male than female. I found that gender and racial difference of mask vs no mask interesting.

I work for a university so we are planning for “what if” having to quarantine on campus and also bringing students back from study abroad. We are also looking at educational messaging to students who plan to travel for spring break.


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[icunurse]

By me, hand sanitizer is mostly gone from the shelves. Target yesterday had a full supply of wipes and hand soap. I ran into a woman buying all OTC meds. Most stores seem to be fine right now.

I stocked up a little on hand sanitizer. Bought gloves (my hands are already beat up, so if I need to clean, I need protection). I have extra prescription meds (simply a fluke due to dosage changes). Bought extra Kleenex and toilet paper. Nothing will go to waste. I need a Costco Trip for paper towels and I like their disinfecting wipes. I also bought isopropyl alcohol because I’ve read it kills the virus and it’s cheap to use for cleaning. I plan to make sure my dry goods containers are full, maybe buy some dry milk (which we use for bread making, so, again, won’t go to waste).

I do plan to bring home a couple masks from work simply because I’m at risk at work and want them to protect my family from me if I get infected.

[California]

On the lighter/ridiculous side:

Yesterday I was waiting in line and the woman in front of me had a mask on. A pink fabric mask that looked just like my DD's American Girl doll's pretend doctor mask.

Young guy with a black mask on sees her and says, "Hey! We're the smart ones here!" and goes to give her a high five. With his bare hand.

She backs up, "We probably shouldn't touch hands."

He starts laughing, "Smart! Smart! You're right about that!" adjusts his mask and touches his face with his hand, comments, "This thing is hot!" and keeps walking.

[petesgirl]

I just emailed my son's principal asking if the kids can now be required to stop by the bathroom before lunch to wash their hands. They did this in 1st, but not since then. She's probably going to roll her eyes at me....ha ha

[StantonHyde]

on the lighter/ridiculous side:

Yesterday i was waiting in line and the woman in front of me had a mask on. A pink fabric mask that looked just like my dd's american girl doll's pretend doctor mask.

Young guy with a black mask on sees her and says, "hey! We're the smart ones here!" and goes to give her a high five. With his bare hand.

She backs up, "we probably shouldn't touch hands."

he starts laughing, "smart! Smart! You're right about that!" adjusts his mask and touches his face with his hand, comments, "this thing is hot!" and keeps walking.

:rotflmao:

[TwinFoxes]

I just emailed my son's principal asking if the kids can now be required to stop by the bathroom before lunch to wash their hands. They did this in 1st, but not since then. She's probably going to roll her eyes at me....ha ha

Our cafeteria has hand sanitizer that the kids have to use as they walk in. But that's not because of corona virus. Maybe that would be easier for the school to implement? Our kids only get 1/2 an hour for lunch. I can see how making a whole class wash their hands would be time consuming.

[georgiegirl]

Our cafeteria has hand sanitizer that the kids have to use as they walk in. But that's not because of corona virus. Maybe that would be easier for the school to implement? Our kids only get 1/2 an hour for lunch. I can see how making a whole class wash their hands would be time consuming.

But hand sanitizer doesn’t kill norovirus [emoji51]


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[mikala]

I talked to a friend in our local health department and she suggested at minimum a full month's worth of food, meds, paper goods, etc. It sounded like a revision up from the 2 weeks preparedness because the virus will likely hit hard for longer than 2 weeks, and you may have staggered start times within each household. This will then be compounded by the fact it will probably hit nationally at once so there won't be as much ability to move healthcare workers, supplies, etc. around to help like you would with a regional natural disaster.

[doberbrat]

I just emailed my son's principal asking if the kids can now be required to stop by the bathroom before lunch to wash their hands. They did this in 1st, but not since then. She's probably going to roll her eyes at me....ha ha


I WISH we could at our school but the reality is that there are about 150 kids eating lunch at a time no way can you get them all to wash their hands in a safe yet timely manner AND still eat lunch in the 25min allocated.

We too have hand sanitizer right on the ramp as they walk in. The lunch ladies sometimes have pumps to offer also. And we encourage kids to use it. But we cant insist.

Let me tell you some of the kids' hands skeeve me out during lunch - they come in from recess having played in the dirt and refuse to use sanitizer and just munch away......

[TwinFoxes]

But hand sanitizer doesn’t kill norovirus [emoji51]



True, but if the options are "eye roll/do nothing" or "hand sanitizer" I'd go with hand sanitizer!

ETA: Did you mean Norovirus or Corona Virus? You said Norovirus, but now I'm second guessing. I don't know if hand sanitizer kills Corona virus or not, but it doesn't kill Norovirus. Norovirus was a huge problem in our county (not the school system, the county) a several years ago and it was AWFUL. My kids got it. They are underweight anyway and it was just awful.

[georgiegirl]

True, but if the options are "eye roll/do nothing" or "hand sanitizer" I'd go with hand sanitizer!

ETA: Did you mean Norovirus or Corona Virus? You said Norovirus, but now I'm second guessing. I don't know if hand sanitizer kills Corona virus or not, but it doesn't kill Norovirus. Norovirus was a huge problem in our county (not the school system, the county) a several years ago and it was AWFUL. My kids got it. They are underweight anyway and it was just awful.

Nororvirus. The horrible puking virus that is super contagious. It’s horrendous. Hand sanitizer does not kill that. I assume it kills Coronavirus.


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[NCGrandma]

True, but if the options are "eye roll/do nothing" or "hand sanitizer" I'd go with hand sanitizer!

ETA: Did you mean Norovirus or Corona Virus? You said Norovirus, but now I'm second guessing. I don't know if hand sanitizer kills Corona virus or not, but it doesn't kill Norovirus. Norovirus was a huge problem in our county (not the school system, the county) a several years ago and it was AWFUL. My kids got it. They are underweight anyway and it was just awful.

We had a norovirus outbreak at my CCRC several years ago, and it was definitely awful — particularly in an over-65 population where some folks are actually over 100 and have various chronic diseases. We learned that hand sanitizer was no help. Housekeeping staff kept wiping down surfaces with special cleaning materials. They even wiped down all the books in our Library!


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[KpbS]

Hand sanitizer is gone here...everything else is still stocked, except masks. Those are gone too.

[petesgirl]

I WISH we could at our school but the reality is that there are about 150 kids eating lunch at a time no way can you get them all to wash their hands in a safe yet timely manner AND still eat lunch in the 25min allocated.

We too have hand sanitizer right on the ramp as they walk in. The lunch ladies sometimes have pumps to offer also. And we encourage kids to use it. But we cant insist.

Let me tell you some of the kids' hands skeeve me out during lunch - they come in from recess having played in the dirt and refuse to use sanitizer and just munch away......

My DS's 1st grade teacher had all the kids wash hands before lunch. The bathrooms are just a few feet from the lunchroom doors, so the whole class walked to the bathrooms and then the teacher waited while they washed hands and had them line up again outside the bathroom. When all kids were back in line they went to lunch together. I don't think it would be that hard to do, if it's made to be a priority. sadly, our country values others things over health and it shows in so many ways, including this.
When did education become so critically important that our kids don't even have time to wash their hands before they eat??

[Kestrel]

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/department-health-confirms-first-coronavirus-death-washington-state/XIDPHMLVOJAAREQ5YCL75367PU/

Second death in the Seattle area. Two high schools closed, 50 people being testing in a nursing home (that's scary), now up to 9 confirmed cases (six in King county, three in neighboring county), Governor declared state of emergency...

[JustMe]

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/department-health-confirms-first-coronavirus-death-washington-state/XIDPHMLVOJAAREQ5YCL75367PU/

Second death in the Seattle area. Two high schools closed, 50 people being testing in a nursing home (that's scary), now up to 9 confirmed cases (six in King county, three in neighboring county), Governor declared state of emergency...

Second death:-( Very scary, all of it.

[dogmom]

My DS's 1st grade teacher had all the kids wash hands before lunch. The bathrooms are just a few feet from the lunchroom doors, so the whole class walked to the bathrooms and then the teacher waited while they washed hands and had them line up again outside the bathroom. When all kids were back in line they went to lunch together. I don't think it would be that hard to do, if it's made to be a priority. sadly, our country values others things over health and it shows in so many ways, including this.
When did education become so critically important that our kids don't even have time to wash their hands before they eat??

As someone who needs to wash their hands at work multiple times people don’t do the math about how long it takes. Sure, 20 seconds, no big deal. My youngest’s class has over a 100 kids. They got 2 sinks in each of the 2 BR outside the cafeteria. So let’s say you can manage to get 2 kids to wash their hands per sink per minute. So that’s a total of 8 kids a minute given maximum efficiency. (Which is hilarious) So that’s 12-13 minutes going into their 30 min lunch and 12-13 minutes on the way out. I’m not saying don’t wash hands, but it’s hard to get the logistics right in places like school.

[specialp]

As someone who needs to wash their hands at work multiple times people don’t do the math about how long it takes. Sure, 20 seconds, no big deal. My youngest’s class has over a 100 kids. They got 2 sinks in each of the 2 BR outside the cafeteria. So let’s say you can manage to get 2 kids to wash their hands per sink per minute. So that’s a total of 8 kids a minute given maximum efficiency. (Which is hilarious) So that’s 12-13 minutes going into their 30 min lunch and 12-13 minutes on the way out. I’m not saying don’t wash hands, but it’s hard to get the logistics right in places like school.

Yes, agree. They do have K and 1st graders in our school wash hands before as a class and it takes forever, but they are the last lunch block. The last lunch block can move slower and theoretically go over a few minutes into class time. All of the other lunch blocks have to leave when the time is up because it's a tight schedule and each lunch block running over isn't an option. I can see how it would be very difficult logistically to mandate in our school.

[ahisma]

At our elementary, they stand at the lunchroom door with a bottle of hand sanitizer and squirt each kiddo's hands as they enter. I'd prefer a good wash, but I just don't think it's feasible.

[NCGrandma]

As we all know, the situation is changing so fast it’s hard to keep up, but the latest news from Rhode Island will hit close to home for many of you. The first case in the state was reported yesterday noon by the governor and described as "a man in his 40s who had recently returned from Italy." By last night's news cycle, it was revealed that he was one of the chaperones for a Catholic school field trip to Europe. This morning, one of the teens has also tested positive, and another adult has symptoms and is waiting for test results. All 38 people on the field trip are self-monitoring at home. Hard to imagine.

https://turnto10.com/news/local/ridoh-teen-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-third-person-being-tested




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[westwoodmom04]

The Mom Edit has a good link to Popular Science article on coronavirus which includes a very helpful (reassuring) chart comparing how contagious it is to other viruses. https://www.popsci.com/story/health/how-diseases-spread/

[o_mom]

The Mom Edit has a good link to Popular Science article on coronavirus which includes a very helpful (reassuring) chart comparing how contagious it is to other viruses. https://www.popsci.com/story/health/how-diseases-spread/

I'm not sure "reassuring" is what I would call that.

[HannaAddict]

Second death:-( Very scary, all of it.

At least both deaths so far were older and both had underlying health problems. The cluster at the nursing home will not be good with vulnerable population. No hand sanitizer anywhere in town from friends and online reports. Shelves are bare like when snow storms are predicted here.


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[gymnbomb]

As we all know, the situation is changing so fast it’s hard to keep up, but the latest news from Rhode Island will hit close to home for many of you. The first case in the state was reported yesterday noon by the governor and described as "a man in his 40s who had recently returned from Italy." By last night's news cycle, it was revealed that he was one of the chaperones for a Catholic school field trip to Europe. This morning, one of the teens has also tested positive, and another adult has symptoms and is waiting for test results. All 38 people on the field trip are self-monitoring at home. Hard to imagine.

https://turnto10.com/news/local/ridoh-teen-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-third-person-being-tested




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I'm in RI and a colleague just got a text and email from the local school district (that his kids go to, I live in a different district 30 minutes away). It is to let them know that a high school student in their district is a family member of someone who was on the trip, but that family member is not displaying symptoms and the student will still be attending the high school.

[Jeanne]

My Costco was so packed on Saturday that people had to wait for people to finish loading their cars to get a cart. Have never seen that before. I thought twice about going in for just a few things I needed but decided to brave it. TP was almost out there were 2 lines filtering to the registers that were 3/4 back into the store. I wasn't stocking up on anything but everything seemed to be in plenty other than TP and paper towels.

[wendibird22]

I'm in RI and a colleague just got a text and email from the local school district (that his kids go to, I live in a different district 30 minutes away). It is to let them know that a high school student in their district is a family member of someone who was on the trip, but that family member is not displaying symptoms and the student will still be attending the high school.

Interesting. Was on a webinar with NY Health Dept and they will ask for self-quarantine of anyone in contact with a symptomatic person even if the self-quarantined person is asymptomatic. So in that RI scenario, the family member on the trip would need to be quarantined at home but their children would not. So the rule applies to "exposed, non-ill household members for the duration of the incubation period."

In addition to hand washing and coughing into elbows, NY DoH is recommending reducing frequency of social contact, increase distance between people to greater than 6ft (so moving of desks in classrooms or standing further away from others), workplaces offering telecommuting, and to modify/postpone mass gatherings.

[mom2binsd]

If only people reacted like this to influenza, honestly, the flu is more likely to impact people (especially children) but it's not going to generate clicks that the media crave.

I work in nursing homes, so maybe I am already always thinking about hand washing etc. I also see how those with compromised health conditions can easily succumb to any respiratory illnesses of any kind.

I just don't get the mass panic to buy items at Costco, it's the "the blizzard is coming" hysteria. I mean buy things that you know you will use and won't go bad, but I wish that people didn't feed the frenzy.

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[westwoodmom04]

If only people reacted like this to influenza, honestly, the flu is more likely to impact people (especially children) but it's not going to generate clicks that the media crave.

I work in nursing homes, so maybe I am already always thinking about hand washing etc. I also see how those with compromised health conditions can easily succumb to any respiratory illnesses of any kind.

I just don't get the mass panic to buy items at Costco, it's the "the blizzard is coming" hysteria. I mean buy things that you know you will use and won't go bad, but I wish that people didn't feed the frenzy.

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Yes, the good news is that no children have died from coronavirus thus far, which separates it from influenza.

[robinsmommy]

Yes, the good news is that no children have died from coronavirus thus far, which separates it from influenza.

Actually, a teenager in China died.

As far as only elderly dying in Seattle area, the first death was someone in their 50’s. Yes, he had other health issues, but I don’t consider that elderly at all. Middle aged. How many of us are at or close to that age?

[Green_Tea]

I think the frenzy has less to do with concern about the nature of the illness and more to do with worry that if there is a quarantine, it may be nearly impossible to get certain necessities. I’m not worried about getting sick, but I am worried about running out of tampons and not having a way to get them. (Don’t worry - I stocked up.)

[robinsmommy]

For me, it’s worry that enough people get sick and overwhelm hospitals, staff and medical resources like ventilators. Can you imagine having to be the medical staff or ethicist making the rapid calls on who gets a ventilator if they run short? No one wants to be the person who is sick when the need load hits peak.

I also think that being in medicine has lost some of its cachet- there are shortages in a lot of towns, esp rural areas. I can’t imagine this situation not making that worse in the long term.

[scrooks]

I think the frenzy has less to do with concern about the nature of the illness and more to do with worry that if there is a quarantine, it may be nearly impossible to get certain necessities. I’m not worried about getting sick, but I am worried about running out of tampons and not having a way to get them. (Don’t worry - I stocked up.)
This is me 100%. I saw something on the news over the weekend and they were reporting from one of the big shipping ports in LA. It was super quiet and the number of ships arriving is way down. I worry we may not be able to get some necessities! (DH laughed as a huge box of tampons and maxi pads arrived from Amazon over the weekend- I'm totally with you!)

[Kestrel]

Posted on the Kroger/Fred Meyer pick-up/delivery website:

" Due to high demand and to support all customers, we will be limiting the number of Sanitization, Cold and Flu related products to 5 each per order. Your order may be modified at time of pickup or delivery. "

PS - I think it's funny that they don't seam to have spell- checked it!

[gymnbomb]

Interesting. Was on a webinar with NY Health Dept and they will ask for self-quarantine of anyone in contact with a symptomatic person even if the self-quarantined person is asymptomatic. So in that RI scenario, the family member on the trip would need to be quarantined at home but their children would not. So the rule applies to "exposed, non-ill household members for the duration of the incubation period."
.

That sounds like what is being done.


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[bisous]

I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

[gatorsmom]

I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

We are in Wisconsin. On a brief trip to Target today I noticed much if the cold and flu shelves were empty. So were chlorox wipes and the bleach.

[gymnbomb]

I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

Ours often get tossed a little while after the expiration date as well. But we all had the flu earlier this year, so we used up a good bit of our stash and hadn’t replaced it yet.


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[ezcc]

I am worried about shortages of things as well. Here in Baltimore they have cut hours at the port because so few ships are coming in from China. I would imagine that it is mostly electronic goods, clothing etc and things that will not be a problem if there is a delay or shortage but I just don't know. So much stuff comes from China!

[gatorsmom]

I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

We never finish all of ours either. In fact, ours were all expired. So when I made my Target run a few days ago, I stocked up on a few things. What I bought is not enough for our whole family if even half of us got really sick. But I don’t want to end up tossing a whole bunch of it if we all don’t need it. However, I had no problem buying the largest jars of Tylenol and Advil I could find because that will most likely get used.

[TwinFoxes]

I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

Knock on wood, our kids don't get sick that often. If we bought a Costco quantity of kids' pain meds/fever reducer we never would have gone through it. Plus we only have two kids. I hadn't been planning to buy more kids' medicine, because DDs are getting ready to move to adult meds, and I figured we might have enough. But with the outbreak, I decided I needed to be have it on hand and bought the last two packages of kids acetaminophen meltitabs (or whatever they're called) at my Target.

What I really don't understand is the run on water. Are people expecting a complete infrastructure breakdown? That seems crazy.

[TwinFoxes]

I think the frenzy has less to do with concern about the nature of the illness and more to do with worry that if there is a quarantine, it may be nearly impossible to get certain necessities. I’m not worried about getting sick, but I am worried about running out of tampons and not having a way to get them. (Don’t worry - I stocked up.)

THIS! 100%.

I'm not worried I'm going to get sick. But if COVID-19 appears here, I don't want to have to worry about how I'm going to get pasta and Joe's Os. I want everything on-hand.

[gatorsmom]

What I really don't understand is the run on water. Are people expecting a complete infrastructure breakdown? That seems crazy.

I don’t understand this either. Why would the water be shut off? Unless they hate the taste of their tap water that much.

[mom2binsd]

This is me 100%. I saw something on the news over the weekend and they were reporting from one of the big shipping ports in LA. It was super quiet and the number of ships arriving is way down. I worry we may not be able to get some necessities! (DH laughed as a huge box of tampons and maxi pads arrived from Amazon over the weekend- I'm totally with you!)Sounds like a great time to switch to a diva cup (I'm telling you it was a game changer!!!).

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[ett]

I don’t understand this either. Why would the water be shut off? Unless they hate the taste of their tap water that much.

I don't get it either. I think because people always stock up on water for blizzards and stuff, they're automatically doing the same for our current situation.

[NCGrandma]

I don't get it either. I think because people always stock up on water for blizzards and stuff, they're automatically doing the same for our current situation.

I’ll bet you’re right. Around here, our most typical disasters are hurricanes (but we do have the odd blizzard or ice storm). In those situations, folks are prepared for sometimes lengthy power outages, in which case water supplies may also be at risk. I’m sure it’s automatic to grab water.


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[bisous]

Oh water is pretty much my one concern. We are parched out here. Crops grow like crazy but we have no fresh water sources. In apocalyptic type situations we’d be toast in CA. Nevermind that I’m 7 miles as the crow flies from the ocean!

Can i just say though, aside from Fever reducers, what is going to save people from the Corona Virus? I’m talking OTC meds here. It’s not a disease of congestion. Do people think that cough medicine will save lives? I think if it gets serious enough home remedies are not going to cut it! So is it mostly for comfort? And to present the spread?

[PZMommy]

My question is, if people that have been exposed are told they need to self quarantine, who is monitoring that? I can easily see people deciding that since they don’t feel sick, they will not follow the rules strictly and go out and about.

[TwinFoxes]

Oh water is pretty much my one concern. We are parched out here. Crops grow like crazy but we have no fresh water sources. In apocalyptic type situations we’d be toast in CA. Nevermind that I’m 7 miles as the crow flies from the ocean!


But will things get so bad that you turn on your tap and water no longer comes out? I find that hard to imagine. I haven't heard that even in the hardest hit region of China that water is an issue.

BTW, Bisous, thanks for your recommendation of "The Daily's" episode on the coronavirus. It was really interesting.

[gatorsmom]

Oh water is pretty much my one concern. We are parched out here. Crops grow like crazy but we have no fresh water sources. In apocalyptic type situations we’d be toast in CA. Nevermind that I’m 7 miles as the crow flies from the ocean!

Can i just say though, aside from Fever reducers, what is going to save people from the Corona Virus? I’m talking OTC meds here. It’s not a disease of congestion. Do people think that cough medicine will save lives? I think if it gets serious enough home remedies are not going to cut it! So is it mostly for comfort? And to present the spread?

Well, I can’t speak for others but I bought cough medicine and congestion medicine because if my kids or DH can’t stop coughing, they can’t fall asleep and then they can’t heal. Non-stop coughing is exhausting and just makes recovery harder. The Advil and Tylenol are along the same lines. Prevent pain and make the sick ones comfortable so they can rest and let their bodies heal itself. I don’t have any illusions that any of the OTC meds I bought will prevent the spread. Hopefully improved efforts around our house of hand washing and sanitizing will do that.

[doberbrat]

Sounds like a great time to switch to a diva cup (I'm telling you it was a game changer!!!).

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haha I thought the same thing! I went to BJs today. We're out of bread, ham & salad and had less than a week's worth of tp .....

On my way in, a woman was leaving with 4 cases of water, 2 things of TP and multiple clorox wipes and 1 or 2 other things. Most of the bjs TP brand was out. Only 2 small packages of the ultra soft were left. No Charmin basic. Everything was moved around - clearly they moved stuff around to fill the holes. I was trying to figure out how much the verious tp were since they were out of my 'normal' one. The water section was nearly emptied. So was the bread. A little shocking. A co worker suggested stocking up on coke jic. Things will be U-G-L-Y if my coke supply gets cut off!

[PZMommy]

haha I thought the same thing! I went to BJs today. We're out of bread, ham & salad and had less than a week's worth of tp .....

On my way in, a woman was leaving with 4 cases of water, 2 things of TP and multiple clorox wipes and 1 or 2 other things. Most of the bjs TP brand was out. Only 2 small packages of the ultra soft were left. No Charmin basic. Everything was moved around - clearly they moved stuff around to fill the holes. I was trying to figure out how much the verious tp were since they were out of my 'normal' one. The water section was nearly emptied. So was the bread. A little shocking. A co worker suggested stocking up on coke jic. Things will be U-G-L-Y if my coke supply gets cut off!

Hahaha! I stocked up on my Coke Zero. I think we are pretty set with water, but if I don’t have my Coke Zero, there will be problems!

[gatorsmom]

A co worker suggested stocking up on coke jic. Things will be U-G-L-Y if my coke supply gets cut off!

Beginning of last week we ran out of tp on our main floor. It’s not a huge problem because I have other bathrooms but with 6 people in the house, I do try to make sure every bathroom is supplied. So when I made my last Target run I had 3
huge packs of tp in my grocery cart as well as a 6 pack of paper towels which we also needed. I’m sure I was pegged as a hysteric prepper.

As for the coke, I can’t remember where I heard this (probably here) that most artificial sweeteners are made in China and productions has nearly stopped now. So sodas made with artificial sweeteners are running out in some areas. So unless you like regular coke with sugar, maybe you should stock up. Or switch to tea and honey. :)

[KpbS]

My question is, if people that have been exposed are told they need to self quarantine, who is monitoring that? I can easily see people deciding that since they don’t feel sick, they will not follow the rules strictly and go out and about.

This is why it will spread. People are bad about staying home when sick, keeping sick kids home from school, etc. Also they will spread the virus before they are feeling symptomatic of course.

[niccig]

I went to the store and got extra packs of the cold medicine we take, cough medicine and cough drops. I know it just helps with symptoms, but when you’re miserable any little bit helps. Then I stocked the pantry and freezer with things we will eventually eat, but it means don’t need to go to the store if we all get sick. I also need things DH and DS can cook if I get sick.

We got hit hard last November with a virus. I went down first as I’m usually patient zero as I work with so many little kids. Then 3 days later, DH and then DS got it. I was barely better and had to go to the store to get more medicine and some food. DH couldn’t go as he was sicker. I’ve learned from that, whoever isn’t sick yet, is to get more meds and perishables so we can go a week or so and hopefully the first person is then better and isn’t contagious when they go to the store.


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[icunurse]

We just received our Costco rebate and we stock up every year using it for nonperishables. I want some paper towels and disinfecting wipes (not because of what is going on, but because we regularly use them and keep them in supply). I’m going to be disappointed if I can’t get them because these are two things that we are brad particular on. But if that’s the worst thing in my life, I’m doing okay lol

[essnce629]

I’m not worried about getting sick, but I am worried about running out of tampons and not having a way to get them. (Don’t worry - I stocked up.)


Sounds like a great time to switch to a diva cup (I'm telling you it was a game changer!!!).

Or cloth pads or Thinx!!! I haven't had to worry about running out of pads or tampons for 15 years! I have at least a dozen pairs of Thinx and probably 2 dozen cloth pads and liners.



I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

I've never treated a fever with Tylenol or Ibuprofen so don't keep large amounts of it. I'll buy like a tiny bottle of 24 pills to have when we go on vacation and that's about it (even then the bottles get thrown away because they expire). We use natural remedies like sodium ascorbate powder, Oscillo, goldenseal, echinachea, and elderberry syrup which I get on Amazon through subscribe & save. So I reordered those since DS2 was sick back in Jan and we were low.







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[JBaxter]

I kind of don’t understand the flu/cold medicine mania. Do people not usually keep these stocked? We buy ibuprofen from Costco and have to toss it at the expiration date because we can’t possibly use it all up!

Ibuprofen is the only thing we go through here. We rarely get sick so what I had was old or had one pill left in the package. I did have allergy meds but not cold meds Tylenol or elderberry anything

[ett]

Similar here. We have ibuprofen, flonase, and allergy meds. I also picked up a box of Sudafed last week. We don't take cold meds here. I wouldn't even know what to buy.

[JBaxter]

Similar here. We have ibuprofen, flonase, and allergy meds. I also picked up a box of Sudafed last week. We don't take cold meds here. I wouldn't even know what to buy.

Since its respiratory I got the mucinex DM Target brand and a box of real sudafed I should be good till the next apocalypse.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Since its respiratory I got the mucinex DM Target brand and a box of real sudafed I should be good till the next apocalypse.

It’s not congestion though. Just cough and fever.


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[JBaxter]

It’s not congestion though. Just cough and fever.


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I have a 5 yr old bottle of cough syrup with codeine I found way in the back of the cabinet I guess I wont toss it just yet.

[wendibird22]

My question is, if people that have been exposed are told they need to self quarantine, who is monitoring that? I can easily see people deciding that since they don’t feel sick, they will not follow the rules strictly and go out and about.

My understanding is that it is up to the local department of health to enforce a quarantine. That said, my further understanding is that currently the fed govt is only track who is coming back into the US from China. This will likely change/expand. So I know that universities are being asked to share the names of students being brought home from China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, and Italy with their local health departments to help enforce student self-quarantine at their own homes (not at school).

But yeah, I'm sure there will be plenty of people who don't believe there is a need for them to stay put.

[khm]

Well we were those people stocking up on Lysol, bleach wipes, etc. But it was because of the Noro Virus that appears to be hitting the area HARD. Kid 1 Thursday, Kid 2 Saturday, Husband Monday. Ugh. Our sister office across the state is also getting hit with it.

I do think all this talk of Corona is making people more aware of the regular flu, the stomach flu, etc.

I think people do just stock up on water automatically for anything. Then once there appears to be a run on it, people who didn't have it on the list grab some too. We're all sheep! :)

[gatorsmom]

Well, I feel like our house is stocked with food and meds if we get stuck at home. However, now I’m concerned about our spring break trip to Colorado skiing. I’m not worried enough to take any extra precautions (not sure what that could even be) but it sure would suck to be sick on vacation and not able to get back home for whatever reason. We leave this Saturday.

[MSWR0319]

Well, I feel like our house is stocked with food and meds if we get stuck at home. However, now I’m concerned about our spring break trip to Colorado skiing. I’m not worried enough to take any extra precautions (not sure what that could even be) but it sure would suck to be sick on vacation and not able to get back home for whatever reason. We leave this Saturday.

I don't think I'd be super worried about a trip this weekend unless you're from an area that's hit hard (and I don't think you are). We're headed to Disney in a few weeks and I'm a bit concerned about that because of all of the people there, but not enough yet to cancel.

[georgiegirl]

I don't think I'd be super worried about a trip this weekend unless you're from an area that's hit hard (and I don't think you are). We're headed to Disney in a few weeks and I'm a bit concerned about that because of all of the people there, but not enough yet to cancel.

I’d be freaked out about Disney. People from all over the world come bringing their germs. They won’t let something Iike influenza or puke slow them down if they spent tons of money on a once in a lifetime trip. A friend who is an infectious disease specialist (we often meet their family at Disney) jokes about how tracking the spread of infectious diseases at Disney would make for a great study. Last time I was at Disney, I saw a kid licking a pole/post right in front of the Peter Pan ride. I’m sure that kid was puking 48 hours later [emoji2961]. But I’m also a huge germaphobe and Disney germs freak me out. We have plans to go to Las Vegas in two weeks for spring break, and I’m mostly worried about getting on the airplane. We’ve already decided we will stick to outdoorsy activities (valley of fire and Death Valley) if we decide to go.


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[ezcc]

DH is headed to Colorado to ski on Thursday, and he will be in Vegas after that for a convention. So far is planning on both. I am going to Florida at the end of the month and still planning on that. I do know several people who have cancelled European vacations this month though. Biggest fear for them was getting stuck and the cost of having to stay in Europe for an extended amount of time if some sort of travel bans are enacted.

[JBaxter]

DH is headed to Colorado to ski on Thursday, and he will be in Vegas after that for a convention. So far is planning on both. I am going to Florida at the end of the month and still planning on that. I do know several people who have cancelled European vacations this month though. Biggest fear for them was getting stuck and the cost of having to stay in Europe for an extended amount of time if some sort of travel bans are enacted.

Currently we have 2 cases in Florida One was at a local hospital the ER nurses who cared for them are in quarantine ( One in Tampa one Sarasota) We are still planning a trip to London for spring break Keeping our fingers crossed.

[essnce629]

DS1 and I are still planning on going on our college tour trip to Washington and Oregon in 17 days. Our flights and Seattle hotel have been booked for weeks, although I still haven't booked our Portland hotel. We plan to still go unless the 8 colleges we're touring are shut down!

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[petesgirl]

What kind of cough syrup is good? For kids and adults. We never use any.

[elbenn]

Sounds like people are still planning on going on their spring break trips to most places. I know lots of people are planning trips to locations in Mexico, Florida, and various other tourist spots. Do you think those trips will most likely be fine?

[KpbS]

Sounds like people are still planning on going on their spring break trips to most places. I know lots of people are planning trips to locations in Mexico, Florida, and various other tourist spots. Do you think those trips will most likely be fine?

We are planning to visit family a couple of states away, but I’m totally preparing for the possibility of cancelling because one family group is sick.

[hwin708]

My question is, if people that have been exposed are told they need to self quarantine, who is monitoring that? I can easily see people deciding that since they don’t feel sick, they will not follow the rules strictly and go out and about.
I had friends fly in from China. As it was Chinese New Year, a lot were already vacationing elsewhere and just came back to the US as opposed to risking a city-wide quarantine. Some had to swing back to China first, though, to make arrangements for pets. None were in or had been to the Wuhan province.

So based on their experience - no one is monitoring. Even the airport officials weren't very clear on how exactly they should be self quarantining. One friend had been in China 12 days ago, and in Europe for the past 12 days. She was told to self quarantine in the US for the full 14 days, because the 12 days elsewhere didn't count. Why? Because she may have come into contact with other people in that country who had the virus. Even though she was more likely to come in contact with the virus in the US than where she was in Europe. They were just trying to interpret the vague instructions given to them by giving vague instructions to her. She said she had another inter-US flight in 4 days, and they told her that would be fine. How does any of that make sense???

For the most part, everyone was just told to take their temperature multiple times a day and to self quarantine, and sent on their way.

I just don't think there is any order to the US response.

[carolinacool]

Aaaaaand it's arrived in North Carolina. One person in Wake County has been diagnosed. Apparently he/she visited someone at the same long-term facility in Washington state that has reported the deaths. Sigh.

[mikala]

Interesting article on the current stats: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/03/how-many-americans-really-have-coronavirus/607348/?

[Tenasparkl]

I went to a portfolio review event at a local art school today and was handed rubber gloves when I walked in. There were so many people there putting hands on the same materials - I was happy to put the gloves on. It made me very aware of how many times a day I must usually touch my face.

[NCGrandma]

Aaaaaand it's arrived in North Carolina. One person in Wake County has been diagnosed. Apparently he/she visited someone at the same long-term facility in Washington state that has reported the deaths. Sigh.

Fooey! But not at all surprising. Things seem to change by the hour. (My RI DGD2 was waiting for the school bus this morning when my DIL got a robomessage from the elementary school saying "school closed, details later")

[AnnieW625]

Just want to add that both Costco ibuprofen and Benedryl work long past the expiration date. I use them up until I feel like they aren’t effective anymore. I think both bottles we have expired in late 2018.

I am going to Portland a week from Friday and I don’t plan on not going, but it is freaking out my coworker because it is so close to Washington. I have told him multiple times that Portland and Seattle are 3 hours apart.

My Target still had tampons, maxi pads, and generic Flonase. I found the nasal spray I bought in Denmark (it was the only type of cold meds. other than Benedryl you could get at a pharmacy because medicine is socialized there so everything comes from the doctor) on Amazon as well and am going to order some....it is called Ortrivin. It is sold in Canada and many European countries just not in the US.


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[carolinamama]

Aaaaaand it's arrived in North Carolina. One person in Wake County has been diagnosed. Apparently he/she visited someone at the same long-term facility in Washington state that has reported the deaths. Sigh.

Yes it is. I'm waiting for the panic to hit. Curious to see if it's utter chaos with closings or business as usual. I feel like it will be one extreme or the other.
I need to pick up some household basics at Target in the next day or so but I'm dreading it. Friends told me Costco was absolutely over the top on Sunday.

[georgiegirl]

Target had everything except hand sanitizer


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[mikala]

Could you do a drive up order? Our Target was bonkers too.

[essnce629]

I am going to Portland a week from Friday and I don’t plan on not going, but it is freaking out my coworker because it is so close to Washington. I have told him multiple times that Portland and Seattle are 3 hours apart.

Not to freak you out or anything but the virus is already in Oregon, specifically the Portland area. I have a friend in Oregon who needed to take her son to urgent care over the weekend for a foot injury and they asked her if they had visited China or Lake Oswego (15 min south of Portland) lately. We are heading to Portland in 17 days and the hotel I planned to book is in Lake Oswego. We still plan on going as long as the colleges are open.
https://www.koin.com/news/health-officials-more-oregon-coronavirus-cases-likely/

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[twowhat?]

I think we can all assume that the virus has spread further than any of the numbers show (at least in the US). Wash your hands (hand sanitizer if washing with soap and water isn't an option)! Practice proper sneeze/cough etiquette! Don't touch your face (this really is a big one...watch people and see just how often faces are touched to scratch or wipe away a secretion...SO OFTEN and most people aren't even aware of it). And be mindful of the elderly...if you're not feeling well and you MUST be out and about, make sure your hands are washed, don't touch your face, and cough/sneeze into your elbow.

[Kestrel]

Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle is expected to bring at least 100,00 visitors to the area from all over the country and beyond... or was before the outbreak. I wonder how many will come anyway, and fly... The organizers have added extra hand sanitizer stations and are going to continue as normal. I'm afraid this is really going to spread things....

This is scheduled to be March 12-15. :(

[niccig]

Well we were those people stocking up on Lysol, bleach wipes, etc. But it was because of the Noro Virus that appears to be hitting the area HARD. Kid 1 Thursday, Kid 2 Saturday, Husband Monday. Ugh. Our sister office across the state is also getting hit with it.

I do think all this talk of Corona is making people more aware of the regular flu, the stomach flu, etc.

I think people do just stock up on water automatically for anything. Then once there appears to be a run on it, people who didn't have it on the list grab some too. We're all sheep! :)

This was me. I saw the water shelves mostly empty at Target and thought, should I get water too??

The TP aisle was nearly empty and not a single container of disinfecting wipes left, except for the all natural, no bleach wipes. They were still on the shelf.

I got a few things we were low on, tissues and TP


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[AnnieW625]

Not to freak you out or anything but the virus is already in Oregon, specifically the Portland area. I have a friend in Oregon who needed to take her son to urgent care over the weekend for a foot injury and they asked her if they had visited China or Lake Oswego (15 min south of Portland) lately. We are heading to Portland in 17 days and the hotel I planned to book is in Lake Oswego. We still plan on going as long as the colleges are open.
https://www.koin.com/news/health-officials-more-oregon-coronavirus-cases-likely/

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Yes I saw that yesterday. My brother and sister in law live in SE Portland so that is about 30 minutes from Hillsboro and Lake Oswego is about 15 minutes from where I will be staying. My SIL is also pregnant and works with the elderly and she is a very reactionary person and this has yet to show up on her social media feed so I am assuming they still think it is safe for everyone to come up (I am going for her baby shower).

If you want a few non Lake Oswego options I recommend the Silver Cloud Inn in NW Portland (great area), or the Embassy Suites in Tigard.

https://www.silvercloud.com/portland/
http://www.hilton.com/search/es/us/or/tigard/0/00000000000/0/0/0/0/20?WT.mc_id=zlada0ww1es2psh3ggl4advbpp5mob6multibr 7_153664217_1003528&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7dac8Of_5wIVAhx9Ch0ikQzhEAAYAyAA EgLkNPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


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[essnce629]

If you want a few non Lake Oswego options I recommend the Silver Cloud Inn in NW Portland (great area), or the Embassy Suites in Tigard.

https://www.silvercloud.com/portland/
http://www.hilton.com/search/es/us/or/tigard/0/00000000000/0/0/0/0/20?WT.mc_id=zlada0ww1es2psh3ggl4advbpp5mob6multibr 7_153664217_1003528&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7dac8Of_5wIVAhx9Ch0ikQzhEAAYAyAA EgLkNPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


Thanks, I'll check them out!

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[robinsmommy]

In Portland we like the Inn at Northrup Station. It’s on a tram line, and has free parking. Be sure to consider parking- it can be prohibitively expensive at hotels there.

[AnnieW625]

In Portland we like the Inn at Northrup Station. It’s on a tram line, and has free parking. Be sure to consider parking- it can be prohibitively expensive at hotels there.

I haven’t stayed at Silver Cloud in quite some time, but I don’t recall a parking charge. There was no parking charge at the Embassy Suites and we stayed there in 2017.

My parents also usually stay at The Comfort Suites in Clackamas (which I think is where I am staying with them and my sister next weekend) and that is all the way on the SE side of the area (so about at least 30 minutes from Hillsboro/Lake Oswego), but about a 10 minute drive to SE Portland, which is kind of a cool hip place you and your DS might like.


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[carolinacool]

Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle is expected to bring at least 100,00 visitors to the area from all over the country and beyond... or was before the outbreak. I wonder how many will come anyway, and fly... The organizers have added extra hand sanitizer stations and are going to continue as normal. I'm afraid this is really going to spread things....

This is scheduled to be March 12-15. :(

I am curious about all the basketball tournaments. Most of the major conferences will hold their men's tournaments next week, and then the national NCAA tourney kicks off March 19 with first-round sites all around the country. My city is hosting a conference tourney and is also one of the first-round sites for the men's NCAAs. I had planned to try to attend games for both, but now I'm not so sure. There's some talk of them either canceling or playing the games in empty arenas. The men's and women's basketball tournaments are huge moneymakers for the NCAA and the host cities. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[NCGrandma]

I am curious about all the basketball tournaments. Most of the major conferences will hold their men's tournaments next week, and then the national NCAA tourney kicks off March 19 with first-round sites all around the country. My city is hosting a conference tourney and is also one of the first-round sites for the men's NCAAs. I had planned to try to attend games for both, but now I'm not so sure. There's some talk of them either canceling or playing the games in empty arenas. The men's and women's basketball tournaments are huge moneymakers for the NCAA and the host cities. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I’ve seen a number of news articles speculating that they would play in empty arenas but haven’t seen anything definitive. But decisions will have to be made soon for some games. (You’re certainly right about the money-making potential involved! Not to mention all those rabid fans [emoji1])


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[elbenn]

Went to my Costco today and there was no cold medicine at all. I looked and looked because there weren't even any shelves for it and then asked and they said they were completely sold out. All of the bottled water was also gone. There were quite a few items that I usually buy that were not available so it made me wonder if there are supply issues.

[georgiegirl]

Out Costco still has mostly everything but this sign was up
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200304/facbec874f59ada8db1bc6fb7c889ea1.jpg

There’s no hand sanitizer in the entire metro area

[icunurse]

I did all my shopping today. I made it to Costco first thing and it wasn’t bad. Plenty of water, Clorox wipes, and paper goods. Everyone seemed to have something in their cart, but I saw more in their stock area. Ibuprofen was limited. By the time I left, it was getting busier. The gas areas had some empty pumps and long lines. Trader Joe’s was fine. Aldi was fine, but out of brown rice, crackers were very limited, bread looked on the low side, TP was there. Target was fine, too. Med shelves were stocked, but sparse. Wipes were fully stocked. We are pretty set.

[doberbrat]

guess I should buy some rice since we're almost out of that too? sigh

[Tenasparkl]

There’s no hand sanitizer in the entire metro area


I was surprised to find some small scented hand sanitizers at Target in the tween clothing part of the store with the bath bombs, jewelry etc. It looks like they're called More Than Magic. There were also some small spray bottles left in the baby aisle from Sun Bum's baby line. All of the purell was gone, but these felt like a good find to leave in the car door, throw in the kids lunchboxes etc.

[jgenie]

Went to my Costco today and there was no cold medicine at all. I looked and looked because there weren't even any shelves for it and then asked and they said they were completely sold out. All of the bottled water was also gone. There were quite a few items that I usually buy that were not available so it made me wonder if there are supply issues.

I was in Sam’s today and there was a lady with TWO shopping carts full of bottled water 8 cases in each cart!

[essnce629]

DS1's trip to Japan in June with his Japanese school was canceled today. He'll be super bummed. He's been looking forward to it for a year. They hope to reschedule it for summer 2021, which will be his last summer before going to college.

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[NCGrandma]

I was in Sam’s today and there was a lady with TWO shopping carts full of bottled water 8 cases in each cart!

This afternoon, I was behind a guy at the grocery store whose entire order was an overflowing cart full of bottled water ... and one giant head of cauliflower! The mind boggles!


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[carolinacool]

I was surprised to find some small scented hand sanitizers at Target in the tween clothing part of the store with the bath bombs, jewelry etc. It looks like they're called More Than Magic. There were also some small spray bottles left in the baby aisle from Sun Bum's baby line. All of the purell was gone, but these felt like a good find to leave in the car door, throw in the kids lunchboxes etc.

And check Bath and Body Works for small containers of hand sanitizer. I buy mine there anyway because I like the different scents.Perfect size for handbags. And they sell little holders that make it super easy to attach to a kid’s lunchbox or backpack.

[mom2binsd]

I listened to a very good interview with a man in Illinois who was on that cruise ship that had all the people. He told a very detailed review of his treatment, mostly just some Tylenol and every type of gatorade (he said the light blue was his favorite). Both he and his wife were taken by plane, then bus to a military base in Nebraska. He was calm, said the worse was a quick developing fever spike that he got on the plane after they had been quarantined on the ship for 12 days. He said the actual virus was not bad, the worst was just all of the media attention etc. He is now at home and fine. The fact that he was on a cruise ship in Japan at the beginning 9d this was so much worse. He made a lot of the people who called in later feel a lot better about the whole thing.

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[trales]

I get everything but the water. Are people thinking with the virus spreading the water supply will get cut off? I really don't understand.

[georgiegirl]

I get everything but the water. Are people thinking with the virus spreading the water supply will get cut off? I really don't understand.

I know! It’s not like it’s a natural disaster that will affect the water supply. I did buy some water since we actually have no water stored since we moved last August. I live in an area that sometimes gets tornados and can have major ice/snow storms, so having some water is a good idea.

DS2’s kindy teacher asked for hand sanitizer, so I’ve been on the lookout for that. I can find a few tiny bottles here and there, but I need large pump containers for a kindergarten class, not tiny bottles that clip not purses,


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[carolinacool]

DS2’s kindy teacher asked for hand sanitizer, so I’ve been on the lookout for that. I can find a few tiny bottles here and there, but I need large pump containers for a kindergarten class, not tiny bottles that clip not purses,


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Maybe Office Depot or Staples? Someone on another message board mentioned that office supply stores carry hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, paper towels etc. but most people don’t think to look there.

[icunurse]

Maybe Office Depot or Staples? Someone on another message board mentioned that office supply stores carry hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, paper towels etc. but most people don’t think to look there.

I was able to get 2 large pumps of hand sanitizer at Office Depot. I’ll use them to refill our smaller/travel containers.

[mikala]

Maybe Office Depot or Staples? Someone on another message board mentioned that office supply stores carry hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, paper towels etc. but most people don’t think to look there.

You might also try hardware stores and standard grocery stores. Our Target was wiped out of a lot of stuff but our regular grocery stores were still pretty well stocked with everything but the elusive hand sanitizer.

There's also a DIY version: https://www.kuow.org/stories/purell-is-low-in-seattle-how-to-make-your-own-hand-sanitizer

[TwinFoxes]

DS1's trip to Japan in June with his Japanese school was canceled today. He'll be super bummed. He's been looking forward to it for a year. They hope to reschedule it for summer 2021, which will be his last summer before going to college.


I'm sorry to read this. I'm sure it's really disappointing for him. :(

[TwinFoxes]

I listened to a very good interview with a man in Illinois who was on that cruise ship that had all the people. He told a very detailed review of his treatment, mostly just some Tylenol and every type of gatorade (he said the light blue was his favorite). Both he and his wife were taken by plane, then bus to a military base in Nebraska. He was calm, said the worse was a quick developing fever spike that he got on the plane after they had been quarantined on the ship for 12 days. He said the actual virus was not bad, the worst was just all of the media attention etc. He is now at home and fine. The fact that he was on a cruise ship in Japan at the beginning 9d this was so much worse. He made a lot of the people who called in later feel a lot better about the whole thing.


But they couldn't talk to the people on the same cruise ship who died.

[TwinFoxes]

I did all my shopping today. I made it to Costco first thing and it wasn’t bad. Plenty of water, Clorox wipes, and paper goods. Everyone seemed to have something in their cart, but I saw more in their stock area. Ibuprofen was limited. By the time I left, it was getting busier. The gas areas had some empty pumps and long lines. Trader Joe’s was fine. Aldi was fine, but out of brown rice, crackers were very limited, bread looked on the low side, TP was there. Target was fine, too. Med shelves were stocked, but sparse. Wipes were fully stocked. We are pretty set.

I think that stores are getting their regular re-stock. And if you are there at the right time you can buy the items you need. I was at Wegmans today, and it was clear their TP and paper towels had been restocked, but they were out of wipes. I want wipes for our regular cleaning supplies! We just happened to run out last weekend. I am not lucky with hitting stores who've been restocked. :irked:

[ang79]

I'm in PA. I was off work today so ran some errands and decided to stock up on normal stuff we use (dish washer detergent, laundry detergent, hand soap, TP, tissues, Clorax wipes). At Target I noticed that all the Target brand large containers of wipes were sold out (so I bought Clorax brand). I also could not find hand sanitizer or Wet Ones, but it was a different Target than I normally go to, so it may have been in an odd place. Target brands of some cough medicines were also sold out. I picked up Delsym, Tylenol, and cough drops just in case. Later I was in a local grocery store and got the last two bottles of hand sanitizer, as well as Wet Ones wipes.

[mom2binsd]

But they couldn't talk to the people on the same cruise ship who died.The point of my post was that this guy was very calm and not hysterical. I realize people have died, but how about our medical community get more involved in prevention of all of the deaths, especially of children from influenza. I'm sorry but it's ridiculous that the media has created this frenzy. Just wanted to give the perspective of a person who went through it all.

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[div_0305]

I get everything but the water. Are people thinking with the virus spreading the water supply will get cut off? I really don't understand.

I literally had the same q yesterday, so I tried googling--even the federal government says to prepare for a pandemic with stocking water. The best I could come up with was an article saying that if you rely on public water, water could become unpotable because of too few workers coming in to treat and run the water utility or disruption in the chemicals that water utilities use to sanitize the water. I'm on well water, so I don't think about that.

[AnnieW625]

The point of my post was that this guy was very calm and not hysterical. I realize people have died, but how about our medical community get more involved in prevention of all of the deaths, especially of children from influenza. I'm sorry but it's ridiculous that the media has created this frenzy. Just wanted to give the perspective of a person who went through it all.

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Part of me really agrees with this. I don’t remember the same hysteria with bird flu other than avoiding travel to Asia or swine flu (and I was pregnant with Dd2 during the swine flu and am pretty sure I had a mild case of it as well because I was sick with a respiratory infection after I got the swine flu vaccine). My company is taking lots of precautionary measures and cancelled all large conferences and business travel. I hope it doesn’t last long.


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[icunurse]

I read a very interesting article yesterday from a doctor at WHO who went to see the how China is responding to the outbreak and bringing their numbers down:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/health/coronavirus-china-aylward.html

It says in there that a “mild” case can be up to and including pneumonia, as long as the patient does not require oxygen. So while some people may have more minimal symptoms, that’s a pretty far stretch to still be considered mild.

I am also surprised at how many people continue to just dismiss this as a hoax, overreaction, or no big deal. It’s a fast-spreading, unknown virus that is causing deaths. I’m not saying at all to panic, buy masks, or whatever. But when the CDC and WHO are giving facts as they know them (such as spread and death rates) and people choose to ignore them or bring up the non-comparable flu, it only supports one of their fears - that denial will bring a bigger spread. Follow science and prepare for a 14 day quarantine. Wash your hands. Stay home if you are sick. If you think you will only get mild symptoms because you aren’t a risk category, that’s great, but think about others, too.

[TwinFoxes]

I am also surprised at how many people continue to just dismiss this as a hoax, overreaction, or no big deal. It’s a fast-spreading, unknown virus that is causing deaths. I’m not saying at all to panic, buy masks, or whatever. But when the CDC and WHO are giving facts as they know them (such as spread and death rates) and people choose to ignore them or bring up the non-comparable flu, it only supports one of their fears - that denial will bring a bigger spread. Follow science and prepare for a 14 day quarantine. Wash your hands. Stay home if you are sick. If you think you will only get mild symptoms because you aren’t a risk category, that’s great, but think about others, too.

I 100% agree. Someone posted on a local FB page that people were stocking up because they are "morons and don't listen to medical science." It was pointed out that the officials at the CDC, actual medical scientists, said to have two weeks of supplies. I don't have toilet paper to last until the end times, but I bought big pack sooner than I normally would. I'm not trying to buy masks, but I did make sure I had an extra jar of almond butter and jam.

[twowhat?]

I think it's inevitable that this will become widespread, but that we should still be doing what we can to SLOW the spread as much as possible. Slowing the spread means that health systems and resources won't get overwhelmed all at once, and that will contribute to better outcomes for those who develop serious disease. I'm expecting my bay area company to make an announcement soon about limiting unnecessary travel (yay!), and perhaps pushing telecommuting as a preferred option. What I really wish is that people would take handwashing and covering coughs/sneezes with something OTHER than your hands and not touching your face seriously. I watch people at airports and just in the general public and what I see makes me cringe. Hand sanitizer is great but technically second best compared to washing hands. You can make your own too, just make sure you have a high enough alcohol content since that's the active ingredient...I have isopropyl alcohol on my grocery list and am curious if stores are sold out of this as well. If you make your own, be careful to know what you're starting with (70% isopropyl alcohol vs 90%).

We personally have enough toilet paper and kleenex for at least two weeks, but I didn't do anything special to get there...having 3 females in the house just means I always keep the closet fully stocked:) I use cloth pads. I didn't worry about water. Food is something we don't have enough of for 2 weeks and is probably something I should start planning on but it's tough - we've never been a freezer/pantry family, preferring to go to the grocery frequently instead so I have to change my mindset.

[robinsmommy]

A couple things with food- if you do get sick, you may not feel like cooking. Ditto if you are caring for sick family members. So I have soup leftovers in the freezer, and some TV dinners.

Emergency food ideally is stuff that you would eat anyways over time, but in an emergency, you aren’t going to be as fussy- the goal is to not be hungry. Nutrition matters more over the long term than a couple funky weeks. Basics and some decent condiments will go a long way.

I also gambled with seeds and put my garden in early with cold tolerant crops. If it doesn’t work, I’m out $20 of seed. If it does, we have food on hand that I don’t have to go out for. I also know whose hands have touched it- we might be stuck relying on cooked veg only if the spread is really bad in CA and locally- I don’t see how one could guarantee the cleanliness of things like lettuce. There are a lot of hands between the field and a fridge at home.

[AnnieW625]

I 100% agree. Someone posted on a local FB page that people were stocking up because they are "morons and don't listen to medical science." It was pointed out that the officials at the CDC, actual medical scientists, said to have two weeks of supplies. I don't have toilet paper to last until the end times, but I bought big pack sooner than I normally would. I'm not trying to buy masks, but I did make sure I had an extra jar of almond butter and jam.

The only thing we don’t have now is water and we might be running low on Kleenex, and I still need to get some more elderberry syrup. We rarely use hand sanitizer (I always just wash my hands), but have some mini ones in my purse and think I might have a bottle in my kitchen. If not I will make it with aloe Vera and rubbing alcohol as both my kids have eczema so it is probably better and less harsh that way as well. We also need to get some ramen I guess, but that is all normal stuff we use on a daily basis. I really think they just want to make sure that people are not unprepared if they do get quarantined....but in general I do think there is a subset of people who are overbuying because they can.


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[lizzywednesday]

... Follow science and prepare for a 14 day quarantine. Wash your hands. Stay home if you are sick. If you think you will only get mild symptoms because you aren’t a risk category, that’s great, but think about others, too.

I think this is sensible; I am not panicking but I am also not unconcerned.

Personally, I am in an at-risk category for flu, so I am assuming that I am also more susceptible to COVID-19 (I have an asthma diagnosis) than your average 40-something.

While children do not seem to be among the most at-risk for COVID-19 with the present information (which changes daily), DD has a heart condition, so I am concerned about her risks ... but I refuse to panic. Will I take sensible precautions? yes.

We practice good hand hygiene and have both had our flu shots. Right now, I'm not sure what else I can do because information is so limited (for various reasons), but it's probably a good idea to take a good, long look at my current grocery list and edit as necessary.

I am checking WHO and CDC and NIH documentation regularly, while tuning out the network newscasts because they err on the side of "WE'RE EXPERIENCING THE STAND IN REAL LIFE" ... but this also impacts my ability to have additional pantry food (I currently shop for 2 weeks at a time anyway) because other folks' anxiety may be ramped up quite a bit.

[ged]

Part of me really agrees with this. I don’t remember the same hysteria with bird flu other than avoiding travel to Asia or swine flu (and I was pregnant with Dd2 during the swine flu and am pretty sure I had a mild case of it as well because I was sick with a respiratory infection after I got the swine flu vaccine). My company is taking lots of precautionary measures and cancelled all large conferences and business travel. I hope it doesn’t last long.


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A bit off topic...

Annie - you're with state government, right? Im interested in hearing that your company canceled business travel. Was there an agency wide directive, or is it case by case basis, or just your dept, etc? I have business travel next week (I am with the State of CA) and my supervisor is still insisting that i go.

[carolinacool]

I've decided that if it all ends for me because I touch my face, it will all just have to end. I just cannot not touch my face. It must be a tic.

My company hasn't canceled domestic travel, but one segment of our business is being asked to work from home tomorrow to test our ability to do so. There are a few departments in which employees work from home once a week, but by and large, most people come to the office every day. My team is technically part of another business segment, so it doesn't apply to us. We also work from home once a week, so we know that we can. It will be totally weird to be in a practically empty building tomorrow.

[bisous]

Is the CDC reporting that this virus is actually stoppable if we use good hygiene and don't travel to busy areas? I mean are they just being optimistic? I guess part of me has always thought that the spread of the virus and my exposure to it is inevitable right now, barring letting my family become hermits. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic. I am aware of the risks of this virus which do appear to be greater than the flu and I think could be even catastrophic but I wonder at the tactic of trying to present this facade that this virus is somehow avoidable at this point? If I'm way off base please let me know!

[Kindra178]

Is the CDC reporting that this virus is actually stoppable if we use good hygiene and don't travel to busy areas? I mean are they just being optimistic? I guess part of me has always thought that the spread of the virus and my exposure to it is inevitable right now, barring letting my family become hermits. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic. I am aware of the risks of this virus which do appear to be greater than the flu and I think could be even catastrophic but I wonder at the tactic of trying to present this facade that this virus is somehow avoidable at this point? If I'm way off base please let me know!

Your post reminded me of a NYT op ed I read earlier in this crisis. While some of the statistics the author cites are outdated due to the changing scope and breadth of the Covid19 outbreak, the author said that she and her family were living in China during the SARS outbreak. Her kids didn't miss school. The school focused on hand washing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/coronavirus-prevention-tips.html

[essnce629]

We got an email from DS1's high school yesterday that any students traveling to coronavirus level 2 or 3 countries over spring break will need to stay at home for 2 weeks upon arrival back to the US and will not be allowed at school until then. His school is private with lots of really high income families. Level 3 countries are China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran. Japan is level 2.

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[elbenn]

So we leave for Mexico in a few days. My friend just cancelled their family trip to Germany over concerns about quarantines. What do you think is the likelihood of quarantines being implemented for travel to Mexico? I am talking about self quarantines where everyone that travelled to Mexico would be required to stay home for 1-2 weeks upon return to the US. I am trying to gauge likelihood as we have a lot of things scheduled for when we get back to the US that I would rather not miss.

[bisous]

Your post reminded me of a NYT op ed I read earlier in this crisis. While some of the statistics the author cites are outdated due to the changing scope and breadth of the Covid19 outbreak, the author said that she and her family were living in China during the SARS outbreak. Her kids didn't miss school. The school focused on hand washing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/coronavirus-prevention-tips.html

Interesting. I know one key difference between Coronavirus is that in SARS you can’t spread the virus without symptoms, which does not appear to be the case with Coronavirus. But I think the way China stopped SARS was fascinating. This Podcast Will Kill You covers it a little in their Coronavirus episode.

[twowhat?]

Is the CDC reporting that this virus is actually stoppable if we use good hygiene and don't travel to busy areas? I mean are they just being optimistic? I guess part of me has always thought that the spread of the virus and my exposure to it is inevitable right now, barring letting my family become hermits. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic. I am aware of the risks of this virus which do appear to be greater than the flu and I think could be even catastrophic but I wonder at the tactic of trying to present this facade that this virus is somehow avoidable at this point? If I'm way off base please let me know!

I think we don't know enough about it to make the claim that the virus is "unstoppable", but that should not prevent us from trying. We don't know for sure how easily it is spread by asymptomatic people. Are there carriers? There could be, maybe even children. How many people have mild enough disease that we just don't know about? We don't have enough bandwidth to test everyone to figure that out. We don't know for sure how well the virus survives on surfaces, etc though we can make good educated guesses. Good hygiene and avoiding travel/crowds are the exact same guidelines for really any infectious disease spread by respiratory droplets to slow the spread. It's not known how the virus will respond to seasonal changes in temperature - it could very well be that when it warms up, a lot of it goes away. So I don't think you're being overly dramatic. Trying our best to stop the virus is beneficial no matter the outcome. Strategies to stop the virus will at a minimum slow the spread, which is beneficial in terms of time and resources, which in turn benefits patients who develop serious illness. I don't think we should panic (some guy at Costco was trying to buy 4 packs of Chlorox wipes...an employee removed two of them from his cart and put them back on the shelf LOL). We should take reasonable approaches to prevent spread as best as we can (avoid unnecessary travel/crowds, handwashing/hand sanitizer, covering coughs/sneezes but not with your hands unless you can wash them right away, staying home if you're sick and being prepared to actually stay at home, etc.). If enough of us can do this, then great. Because there will be plenty of people who cannot or will not or don't know better. But that doesn't mean that the ones who can shouldn't, right?

[squimp]

The NPR website has been putting out a lot of really good reports. One talks about who is most at risk.
https://www.npr.org/series/812054919/the-coronavirus-crisis

This article was helpful in terms of seeing how the fatality rate is lower in other areas, and how we are learning from China's experience. Outside of Wuhan the death rate has been much lower 0.7%, which is still higher than flu but bettter than the 3-4% in Wuhan.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/03/809904660/why-the-death-rate-from-coronavirus-is-plunging-in-china

[mommy111]

Your post reminded me of a NYT op ed I read earlier in this crisis. While some of the statistics the author cites are outdated due to the changing scope and breadth of the Covid19 outbreak, the author said that she and her family were living in China during the SARS outbreak. Her kids didn't miss school. The school focused on hand washing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/coronavirus-prevention-tips.html
However, her kids school, the international school, was the only one not to close. Local schools closed. And she wore a mask to high risk crowded places, including in an airplane

[essnce629]

Excellent info!


Who is getting sick, and how sick? A breakdown of coronavirus risk by demographic factors
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/03/who-is-getting-sick-and-how-sick-a-breakdown-of-coronavirus-risk-by-demographic-factors/

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[wendibird22]

A bit off topic...

Annie - you're with state government, right? Im interested in hearing that your company canceled business travel. Was there an agency wide directive, or is it case by case basis, or just your dept, etc? I have business travel next week (I am with the State of CA) and my supervisor is still insisting that i go.

Not Annie, but work for a state and our state has suspended all work-related travel for state employees to the 5 impacted countries (japan, iran, italy, china, s.korea). The state has also requested a list of work-related travel to all international locations for the next 60 days. I suspect more countries will end up on the travel suspension list in the near future.

[DualvansMommy]

DH’s company which is a global one, with headquarters based in the U.S have offices globally. They cancelled trips to China few weeks ago, and just announced last week ALL International travel is banned. They’re telling employees to telecommute, phone calls, webcams as much possible until this is cleared. Domestic travel is banned, only permissible to be signed off by Vice President of the company and deemed urgent trip. Large conference gatherings of more 200 is cancelled as well.

My office implemented a policy to stay home and work from our laptops if we exhibit cold/cough symptoms.


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[doberbrat]

DD's school hosts a food bank and NJHS kids help staff it. The kids were told at the last minute that they could not help because the school didnt want them in contact with so many strange adults. The VP told them it was NOT due to Covid but apparently one student heard them say it was. I mean, they're honors kids. Its the ONLY thing thats changed. They've been helping for years and suddenly they cant be around 'so many strange adults?" what else could it be?

Next week there is supposed to be a district wide performance thing at night. Last year, 1300 students participated. It'll be interesting (and sad) to see if it gets suddenly canceled

[essnce629]

DD's school hosts a food bank and NJHS kids help staff it. The kids were told at the last minute that they could not help because the school didnt want them in contact with so many strange adults. The VP told them it was NOT due to Covid but apparently one student heard them say it was. I mean, they're honors kids. Its the ONLY thing thats changed. They've been helping for years and suddenly they cant be around 'so many strange adults?" what else could it be?

Next week there is supposed to be a district wide performance thing at night. Last year, 1300 students participated. It'll be interesting (and sad) to see if it gets suddenly canceledDS1 attends Japanese school on Saturdays and we just got an email saying school is canceled till April!!! I don't get it. The entire "school" is like 80 kids in 10 classrooms. They meet once a week for 4 hours. Seems like a little much to me! [emoji848]

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[squimp]

So we leave for Mexico in a few days. My friend just cancelled their family trip to Germany over concerns about quarantines. What do you think is the likelihood of quarantines being implemented for travel to Mexico? I am talking about self quarantines where everyone that travelled to Mexico would be required to stay home for 1-2 weeks upon return to the US. I am trying to gauge likelihood as we have a lot of things scheduled for when we get back to the US that I would rather not miss.

Mexico has very few cases, far fewer than the US. More likely they wouldn't let you in if purely based on number of cases. But who knows.

This map shows where the cases are, Johns Hopkins have been keeping track of this since the beginning.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html

[trales]

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the 2 weeks of food on hand, or maybe I am.

To me, that means I should have 2 weeks of easy to make, already frozen or shelf stable things in case the 2 weeks starts today or 2 weeks from now.

The woman ahead of me in line today told me she had 2 weeks of food, but it was all berries, perishables and things that I am not sure will even last 2 weeks if her quarantine started today.

A work mate told me she was going to the store every 3 days to make sure she has 2 weeks of food in the fridge.

I have enough TP to make it a good long time.

I am not buying water b/c I have a well.

[zukeypur]

We have stocked up on non perisherables and TP. Our college has already canceled all travel for the foreseeable future and has told us to prepare for teaching all classes online. In a lab program. ��

[bisous]

I read a very interesting article yesterday from a doctor at WHO who went to see the how China is responding to the outbreak and bringing their numbers down:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/health/coronavirus-china-aylward.html

It says in there that a “mild” case can be up to and including pneumonia, as long as the patient does not require oxygen. So while some people may have more minimal symptoms, that’s a pretty far stretch to still be considered mild.

I am also surprised at how many people continue to just dismiss this as a hoax, overreaction, or no big deal. It’s a fast-spreading, unknown virus that is causing deaths. I’m not saying at all to panic, buy masks, or whatever. But when the CDC and WHO are giving facts as they know them (such as spread and death rates) and people choose to ignore them or bring up the non-comparable flu, it only supports one of their fears - that denial will bring a bigger spread. Follow science and prepare for a 14 day quarantine. Wash your hands. Stay home if you are sick. If you think you will only get mild symptoms because you aren’t a risk category, that’s great, but think about others, too.

This was fascinating! Thank you for sharing!

[AnnieW625]

A bit off topic...

Annie - you're with state government, right? Im interested in hearing that your company canceled business travel. Was there an agency wide directive, or is it case by case basis, or just your dept, etc? I have business travel next week (I am with the State of CA) and my supervisor is still insisting that i go.

Yes I am with the state government. I believe it was a decision made in just our agency. I will send you a PM.


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[niccig]

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the 2 weeks of food on hand, or maybe I am.

To me, that means I should have 2 weeks of easy to make, already frozen or shelf stable things in case the 2 weeks starts today or 2 weeks from now.

The woman ahead of me in line today told me she had 2 weeks of food, but it was all berries, perishables and things that I am not sure will even last 2 weeks if her quarantine started today.

A work mate told me she was going to the store every 3 days to make sure she has 2 weeks of food in the fridge.

I have enough TP to make it a good long time.

I am not buying water b/c I have a well.

Seriously??? I stocked up pantry and freezer items. I know we could get low on perishables so have freezer or canned options.


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[robinsmommy]

MacKay’s article suggested slowly stocking up on non-perishables (though that would not apply to place like CA or WA I would think), and had a list of stuff to do last minute- that made good sense to me.

Going to the store every 2-3 days? I would think you’d want to avoid that just now in some areas!

[gatorsmom]

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the 2 weeks of food on hand, or maybe I am.

To me, that means I should have 2 weeks of easy to make, already frozen or shelf stable things in case the 2 weeks starts today or 2 weeks from now.

The woman ahead of me in line today told me she had 2 weeks of food, but it was all berries, perishables and things that I am not sure will even last 2 weeks if her quarantine started today.
.

The only way I can see why someone would do that is if they plan to use those perishables in some sort of dish they plan to freeze. Maybe she was going use the berries to make muffins to freeze? Recently I doubled some recipes to make extras to freeze myself. I know they will get eaten regardless of if anyone gets sick but if I am at home nursing kids or sick myself, those frozen homemade meals will be super handy.

[niccig]

MacKay’s article suggested slowly stocking up on non-perishables (though that would not apply to place like CA or WA I would think), and had a list of stuff to do last minute- that made good sense to me.

Going to the store every 2-3 days? I would think you’d want to avoid that just now in some areas!

Which article are you referring to?


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[TwinFoxes]

The only way I can see why someone would do that is if they plan to use those perishables in some sort of dish they plan to freeze. Maybe she was going use the berries to make muffins to freeze?

I was thinking this too. The woman in front of me at Wegmans had what looked like the making of a big batch of chicken stew in her cart, family pack of chicken, potatoes, a bunch of veggies and herbs. Plus lots and lots of wine.

[robinsmommy]

Which article are you referring to?


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https://virologydownunder.com/so-you-think-youve-about-to-be-in-a-pandemic/

There is a last minute list toward the bottom.

China was really worried about their fresh veg supply as it is a big component in diets there.

[lizzywednesday]

Not Annie, but work for a state and our state has suspended all work-related travel for state employees to the 5 impacted countries (japan, iran, italy, china, s.korea)....

NJ just put out a press release about state travel being restricted with an announcement from the Governor's office (https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20200305b.shtml).

They announced a 2nd presumptive positive case (both cases are in Bergen County - 1 in Fort Lee was announced earlier this week; 1 in Englewood was the new one) yesterday, plus Frisch School (in Paramus) is self-quarantining its students by temporarily closing based on their exposure to another presumptive positive case at a bat mitzvah in Westchester County (NY)

The state health departments are working together to trace the chains of contact and reduce the spread.

[squimp]

For water, it is not a bad idea to have a gallon per person per day. Rather than raiding Costco for their mostly plastic water bottle bricks, the easiest thing to do is fill up a few of these 7 gallon containers and keep them in the garage. We have a bunch we take on long rafting trips and we keep them filled just in case.

https://www.rei.com/product/618168/reliance-aqua-tainer-7-gal

We have a well storage unit which has about 50 gallons at all times - but even for us, in case of emergency the first thing I would do is fill up a bathtub so we can use that water for washing up. Although they do make those big water storage drums, even a big garbage can would be a good thing for water storage.

[DualvansMommy]

I was thinking this too. The woman in front of me at Wegmans had what looked like the making of a big batch of chicken stew in her cart, family pack of chicken, potatoes, a bunch of veggies and herbs. Plus lots and lots of wine.

That was me actually this morning. I was really happy to see Wegmans still had their cleaning, Lysol and wipes on hand and not completely out. I needed it to clean down the house as kids are just over their stomach bugs. And needed to make a big batch of chicken noodle soup, and I grabbed bananas and berries to make banana bread & muffins to freeze.

So people need to stop hoarding and emptying out the stores! Just buy enough for 2 weeks. We need it for other purposes! Like cleaning house down after the regular flu and stomach bugs!


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[o_mom]

For water, it is not a bad idea to have a gallon per person per day. Rather than raiding Costco for their mostly plastic water bottle bricks, the easiest thing to do is fill up a few of these 7 gallon containers and keep them in the garage. We have a bunch we take on long rafting trips and we keep them filled just in case.

https://www.rei.com/product/618168/reliance-aqua-tainer-7-gal

We have a well storage unit which has about 50 gallons at all times - but even for us, in case of emergency the first thing I would do is fill up a bathtub so we can use that water for washing up. Although they do make those big water storage drums, even a big garbage can would be a good thing for water storage.


Our emergency water supply is some of these 4-gallon "water cooler" containers from Sam's Club:

https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-water-bottle/prod23602570?xid=plp_product_1_16

It is cheaper than buying containers for filling. Since it is factory sealed, it is good indefinitely, so no worrying about sanitizing and refilling every six months.

[wendibird22]

My rural Wegmans was cleared out of lysol/clorox wipes, soap, and hand sanitizer. My rural CVS still had wipe and soap, but no hand sanitizer.