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Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

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Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#101

Post by ksdale »

dangom wrote: post #41
cronix wrote: post #31

I haven't done too much, but that's because I'm generally prepared with 2 months food/water supply for general purpose emergencies. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we're expecting a pretty large earthquake as we're statistically overdue. Once panic has set in, it's too late to prepare for much of anything. Preparing is taking action beforehand, not after. I mean, if we even get news of 100 degree weather in this par…

Definitely good to be prepared, but AFAIK there is no such thing as being "statistically overdue" for an earthquake.

I believe the parent is referring to the fact that there have been large earthquakes with remarkable regularity in the PNW every ~500 years for the past few thousand years, and it's been well over 500 years since the last one.

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#102

Post by tabs_masterrace »

allovernow wrote: post #18

This is very likely to overwhelm not just medical infrastructure, but shut down supply chains for basic necessities for months. If the pandemic hits, most businesses will shutter, just like in China. It is prudent to stock up now for 1-2 months of cheap, non- perishable foods like rice and beans (complete protein together) at a minimum. There's just no excuse not to now if you make a tech salary - a couple hundred do…

Not too worried, but that's what I'm doing just in case supplies chains break down. Mostly beans, dried fruit, chicken stock. You might want to get a few things to boost your immune system, and to compensate for less then ideal nutrition. Vitamin C, D, B12 are the most important ones. Thyme is supposedly very good. Tea, green & rosehip. Red wine, chocolate.

Don't bother with masks or anything, you probably won't be able to avoid infection anyway. Also I'm already convinced the panic & paranoia will cause way more disruption then the virus itself.

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#103

Post by yummybear »

dfsegoat wrote: post #97
allovernow wrote: post #18

This is very likely to overwhelm not just medical infrastructure, but shut down supply chains for basic necessities for months. If the pandemic hits, most businesses will shutter, just like in China. It is prudent to stock up now for 1-2 months of cheap, non- perishable foods like rice and beans (complete protein together) at a minimum. There's just no excuse not to now if you make a tech salary - a couple hundred do…

I find this to be pretty alarmist. "If the pandemic hits" ... the virus has already hit. The WHO itself has backed off the Pandemic classification [1]. The virus has an overall 98% survival rate, and most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms (which itself is a cause for concern re: spread). The annual Flu, MERS and SARS were far far worse. The flu kills between 26,000 and 52,000 annually i…

How is a virus, more contagious and more lethal than flu/MERS/SARS, a smaller problem?

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#104

Post by nwah1 »

dfsegoat wrote: post #97
allovernow wrote: post #18

This is very likely to overwhelm not just medical infrastructure, but shut down supply chains for basic necessities for months. If the pandemic hits, most businesses will shutter, just like in China. It is prudent to stock up now for 1-2 months of cheap, non- perishable foods like rice and beans (complete protein together) at a minimum. There's just no excuse not to now if you make a tech salary - a couple hundred do…

I find this to be pretty alarmist. "If the pandemic hits" ... the virus has already hit. The WHO itself has backed off the Pandemic classification [1]. The virus has an overall 98% survival rate, and most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms (which itself is a cause for concern re: spread). The annual Flu, MERS and SARS were far far worse. The flu kills between 26,000 and 52,000 annually i…

The annual flu was worse in terms of numbers, but this illness is still early and was showing a much higher mortality rate, in proportional terms.

Of course, from what I can tell, growth in mortality has been shrinking in percentage terms. [1]

But if judging based on the early stats, it was literally hundreds of times more deadly than a common flu. Approximately to 4% of people in their 60s who contracted it died. And 15% of those in their 80s who contracted it were killed. The annual flu is not nearly that bad.

[1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-...

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#105

Post by gonehome »

dfsegoat wrote: post #97
allovernow wrote: post #18

This is very likely to overwhelm not just medical infrastructure, but shut down supply chains for basic necessities for months. If the pandemic hits, most businesses will shutter, just like in China. It is prudent to stock up now for 1-2 months of cheap, non- perishable foods like rice and beans (complete protein together) at a minimum. There's just no excuse not to now if you make a tech salary - a couple hundred do…

I find this to be pretty alarmist. "If the pandemic hits" ... the virus has already hit. The WHO itself has backed off the Pandemic classification [1]. The virus has an overall 98% survival rate, and most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms (which itself is a cause for concern re: spread). The annual Flu, MERS and SARS were far far worse. The flu kills between 26,000 and 52,000 annually i…

I think the Flu mortality rate is 0.1% and Coronavirus is 2%?

That seems pretty dramatic, the earlier article about the disease in China stated that some percentage of people that get infected require ICU attention to oxygenate their blood or they die (and it doesn't seem like it's limited only to old or at risk people).

That seems a lot worse than the seasonal flu?

With SARS and MERS we got lucky because they didn't end up spreading that widely even though the mortality rate was higher. I'm not convinced that's evidence that this won't be a problem.

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#106

Post by valas »

Looking at the overflowing hospitals in Wuhan, I'm preparing for the possibility of being mildly sick at home and not being able to get a bed in the hospital. The best hope is then that somehow we reduce chance of cross-infection inside the family. For that I got:

- Oxygen/HR meter ($15 @ Amazon) to monitor when oxygenation drops real low so that we know we have to get to ER and staying at home is suicidal.

- Some medical gloves, some masks (not hoarding - I think we have ~50 cheap masks from the time Bay Area was full of smoke).

- A ton of tissues and toilet paper.

- UV lamps to disinfect rooms.

- Basic staple foods to last for quite a while.

It's quite likely I won't be able to prevent cross-infection, but at least I've tried.

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#107

Post by drcode »

veemjeem wrote: post #54
bad_user wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Masks don't help because of low quality and people lack proper training... you shouldn't touch the mask, you shouldn't reuse it, you should properly dispose it, etc. A saner advice is to wash your hands frequently and to avoid touching your face when in public. Because you can get this virus by touching infected surfaces and then touching your face. It doesn't seem to be an airborn virus, but it does survive on surfa…

is it possible to reuse a mask if you put the mask through an autoclave?

You might be able to use UV-C light sterilization. Strangely, these types of lights are all suddenly sold out on amazon, wonder why... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W1PHS9P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#108

Post by exclusiv »

thinkmassive wrote: post #69
tmaly wrote: post #13

I wash my hands well and try to avoid touching my face. I try to avoid touching bathroom door handles and use some type of napkin or glove. I have been doing this for a long time, so its not really something I am doing just for this virus. If you read CDC website they also recommend washing hands and avoid touching your face. It is much harder if you have small kids, just don’t forget to also wash their hands if they…

These are good everyday recommendations, along with the vampire cough/sneeze technique, which I really wish would become more widespread.

I've been doing that but what happens when you released your germs into your elbow/sleeve? It wouldn't get cleaned or sanitized until you wash your clothes. So I think if you are near a sink, it would probably be better to cover nose and mouth with hand and then clean right away. But yeah, I usually do the vampire method when I'm on the go.

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#109

Post by dfsegoat »

yummybear wrote: post #103
dfsegoat wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this to be pretty alarmist. "If the pandemic hits" ... the virus has already hit. The WHO itself has backed off the Pandemic classification [1]. The virus has an overall 98% survival rate, and most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms (which itself is a cause for concern re: spread). The annual Flu, MERS and SARS were far far worse. The flu kills between 26,000 and 52,000 annually i…

How is a virus, more contagious and more lethal than flu/MERS/SARS, a smaller problem?

> more lethal than flu/MERS/SARS

WHO reports a 34% fatality rate for MERS, while at present it is around 2.4% for COVID-19 [2]. So it would be helpful if you provide sources when throwing down comments like this. I'll admit it's more contagious, as they state below, but again, most US cases are asymptomatic.

1 - https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/

2 - http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-720...

Re: Ask HN: How are you preparing for COVID-19 disruptions?

#110

Post by natch »

dfsegoat wrote: post #97
allovernow wrote: post #18

This is very likely to overwhelm not just medical infrastructure, but shut down supply chains for basic necessities for months. If the pandemic hits, most businesses will shutter, just like in China. It is prudent to stock up now for 1-2 months of cheap, non- perishable foods like rice and beans (complete protein together) at a minimum. There's just no excuse not to now if you make a tech salary - a couple hundred do…

I find this to be pretty alarmist. "If the pandemic hits" ... the virus has already hit. The WHO itself has backed off the Pandemic classification [1]. The virus has an overall 98% survival rate, and most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms (which itself is a cause for concern re: spread). The annual Flu, MERS and SARS were far far worse. The flu kills between 26,000 and 52,000 annually i…

>most diagnosed cases in the US, are not actually showing any symptoms

Where did you hear this? Why would these people even be tested, much less diagnosed, if they are not showing symptoms?

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