Are you doing anything to prepare for the Corona virus?

[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 . 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 . 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...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.