Countdown to COVID-19
I recently came down with the flu, and when I say "down", I mean down and out, O-U-T.
It was he worst pain from the flu that I have ever had, bar none. When I coughed, I thought the front of my skull was coming off.
Fortunately, I made it to the doctor quickly and was put on Tamiflu, which I believe is shortening the course of the disease.
I say all of this as a preamble to what the nurse told me as she handed me an extra mask, "Here, you'll need this, we're already at a national shortage."
Ironically, my wife, who also has the flu, works in a medical office and had a patient who said she had been exposed to the corona virus. The woman was overreacting, but the timing was classic and the degree of suffering made one think.
It's been much talked about how China will lose much industrial and manufacturing capability due to the effects of COVID-19. Similar to the United States, much of China's economic might is in small and medium businesses who have listed resources and funds. When workers stop showing up because they are sick or quarantined, things ground to a halt quickly.
Just a week or two ago, a friend who works in an emergency room said they expected summer to be when the shortages would hit - China would use their stock of emergency supplies on their own people and then not have the capacity to produce at the level to restock quickly.
Well, as my nurse said this las Tuesday, national shortages are already being felt.
The first case of COVID-19 without known direct contact has now been identified in northern CA (Sacramento if memory serves), because, you know, sanitation and hygiene are so good in that area right now.
The CDC has now said it's only a matter of when, not if, it sweeps our country.
Uncle Glenn has a good piece about what is coming for the US. The video is seven minutes long and well worth it for those in need of a wake up call or just a situation report. He doesn't believe this is going to turn into a mass death event (and I agree with him), but, just as with China, the economic ripples are going to be large and widespread.
There's even talk of quarantines - self imposed and/or government imposed. The .gov is saying have two weeks of water, food, and medicine on hand. Of course, more is always better.
With the way insurance works, prescription medicine is a crap shoot, but things like DayQuil and NightQuil, Excedrine, ibuprofen, immodium, zinc, and other such things. Be carful about the dosages as things like acetaminophen tend to sneak into many OTC meds. Gloves and masks are already difficult to get and a number of articles are saying masks aren't affective anyway.
Figure out how much water you go through in a week, factor in an extra 25%, and stock up on cases of bottled water. This isn't time to be picky about "plastic water bottles aren't good for the environment." The human body can only go a few days without water. If it makes you feel better, use use the one gallon or larger containers.
Quicky food stocks are jars of peanut butter, tuna fish, cans of soup, and crackers. Depending on how hard, and for how long, the working population is hit, will depend on the stability of the power supply. For now, refrigerated food is probably alright, but I wouldn't put all of my money there.
A fresh stock of common batteries, spare flashlights, tissues, blankets, hand sanitizer, cleaning chemicals, pet food, paper towels, and toilet paper are all things you wouldn't want to find yourself short of on day 3 of a 14 or 21 day quarantine, especially if some or all of your party is ill.
Also, you will want to entertainment or you'll get cabin fever. The internet should be solid, but it never hurts to have books on hand for all ages, and board games for if the power gets spotty. We are so used to being connected that should the power go out and we lose the internet (Oh, the Horror!), a small, battery powered radio is worth it's weight in gold. Here's one I bought for super cheap.
Security is also a concern. How many people are really going to have food for two to three weeks? About none and then they will come looking to take food from the mouths of your children. Now would be a good time to clean and lube your weapon and confirm zero on any optics you have... just in case.
It was he worst pain from the flu that I have ever had, bar none. When I coughed, I thought the front of my skull was coming off.
Fortunately, I made it to the doctor quickly and was put on Tamiflu, which I believe is shortening the course of the disease.
I say all of this as a preamble to what the nurse told me as she handed me an extra mask, "Here, you'll need this, we're already at a national shortage."
Ironically, my wife, who also has the flu, works in a medical office and had a patient who said she had been exposed to the corona virus. The woman was overreacting, but the timing was classic and the degree of suffering made one think.
It's been much talked about how China will lose much industrial and manufacturing capability due to the effects of COVID-19. Similar to the United States, much of China's economic might is in small and medium businesses who have listed resources and funds. When workers stop showing up because they are sick or quarantined, things ground to a halt quickly.
Just a week or two ago, a friend who works in an emergency room said they expected summer to be when the shortages would hit - China would use their stock of emergency supplies on their own people and then not have the capacity to produce at the level to restock quickly.
Well, as my nurse said this las Tuesday, national shortages are already being felt.
The first case of COVID-19 without known direct contact has now been identified in northern CA (Sacramento if memory serves), because, you know, sanitation and hygiene are so good in that area right now.
The CDC has now said it's only a matter of when, not if, it sweeps our country.
Uncle Glenn has a good piece about what is coming for the US. The video is seven minutes long and well worth it for those in need of a wake up call or just a situation report. He doesn't believe this is going to turn into a mass death event (and I agree with him), but, just as with China, the economic ripples are going to be large and widespread.
There's even talk of quarantines - self imposed and/or government imposed. The .gov is saying have two weeks of water, food, and medicine on hand. Of course, more is always better.
With the way insurance works, prescription medicine is a crap shoot, but things like DayQuil and NightQuil, Excedrine, ibuprofen, immodium, zinc, and other such things. Be carful about the dosages as things like acetaminophen tend to sneak into many OTC meds. Gloves and masks are already difficult to get and a number of articles are saying masks aren't affective anyway.
Figure out how much water you go through in a week, factor in an extra 25%, and stock up on cases of bottled water. This isn't time to be picky about "plastic water bottles aren't good for the environment." The human body can only go a few days without water. If it makes you feel better, use use the one gallon or larger containers.
Quicky food stocks are jars of peanut butter, tuna fish, cans of soup, and crackers. Depending on how hard, and for how long, the working population is hit, will depend on the stability of the power supply. For now, refrigerated food is probably alright, but I wouldn't put all of my money there.
A fresh stock of common batteries, spare flashlights, tissues, blankets, hand sanitizer, cleaning chemicals, pet food, paper towels, and toilet paper are all things you wouldn't want to find yourself short of on day 3 of a 14 or 21 day quarantine, especially if some or all of your party is ill.
Also, you will want to entertainment or you'll get cabin fever. The internet should be solid, but it never hurts to have books on hand for all ages, and board games for if the power gets spotty. We are so used to being connected that should the power go out and we lose the internet (Oh, the Horror!), a small, battery powered radio is worth it's weight in gold. Here's one I bought for super cheap.
Security is also a concern. How many people are really going to have food for two to three weeks? About none and then they will come looking to take food from the mouths of your children. Now would be a good time to clean and lube your weapon and confirm zero on any optics you have... just in case.
