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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?

#371

Post by Gibbon1 »

alasdair_ wrote: post #360
RegnisGnaw wrote: post #43

Refill your medication(s), that's the biggest one. India produces a lot of drugs and if they get infected, we will see shortage. China also produces a lot of the base chemicals used in medication, so this is worry some. If you have chronic conditions, you really don't want to be without. Soap and sanitizer. Mostly soap. Soap is equally effective as sanitizer in washing hands, etc. Soap is also much cheaper and more a…

>Refill your medication(s), that's the biggest one. I take a prescription medication that is a controlled substance. I feel like a criminal each time I fill it. I'm only given exactly the amount I need for the next 30 days and it routinely causes problems when I need to travel out of state around the time of my next refill. I really wish there was some way of saying "I've been taking this stuff for years, I've clearl…

Friend of mine was working for FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. He said he went to lots of houses where they had an elderly family remember with cancer who had run out of their pain meds. And no way to get more.

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

#372

Post by gentleman11 »

ttcbj wrote: post #114

Over the last few weeks, we have acquired enough food/supplies to stay isolated at our house for about 2 months (a combination of bulk rice/beans/grains, and pre-purchasing anything we use regularly which has a long expiration date). We also have medicines/toiletries/etc to last that long. Maybe 10-12 years ago I read the book 'The Great Influenza'[1], and there are enough similarities between that outbreak and this…

With a 2% mortality rate, if there is a breakout then there will be few people who don’t lose somebody they know. I’m worried about my parents. If I stock up on food etc, it will be to enable them stay indoors

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

#373

Post by gentleman11 »

tcbasche wrote: post #201
spanxx wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish people stop calling that Spanish Flu where it's totally unrelated to Spain...

Yeah! Coronavirus doesn't even have anything to do with the beer!

Apparently, corona beer sales are way down due to this unfortunate coincidence

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

#374

Post by cactus2093 »

kempbellt wrote: post #319
Recursing wrote: post #307

I'm really surprised there's 300 comments (with lots of panic) and nobody mentioned the official WHO guidelines https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2... especially the part about "How to cope with stress during 2019-nCoV outbreak"

Thank you for linking this. I commented below about doing what I am doing to not worry about it. Naturally it and was immediately dismissed by a panic induced response. FUD is extremely powerful people. If you want to stock up on some extra water and food - cool beans. But stay conscious of your own fears and manage your stress levels. Do what you can to stay calm about things and handle your emotions wisely.

I'm wondering how realistic a water or power shutoff is, those seem like much bigger concerns for a hurricane or earthquake. For covid-19 it seems like the municipal authorities will be able to keep at least the handful of people working that are required to keep the grids up (even if just about everyone gets infected, it sounds like ~80% of cases only have minor symptoms).

Restaurants shutting down and grocery stores running low on food seems like a more likely scenario.

Regardless, I've now stocked up on 2 weeks of water and about the same of food. Which is a good idea anyway for earthquake preparedness, but something I'd never gotten around to actually doing. So I'm feeling a good balance of prepared but not too stressed about it.

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

#375

Post by reddog »

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…

FYI: You can get get a 50 lbs bag of pinto beans at Sams for $33 and a 50 lbs bag of rice for $17. They will keep as is at least a year and provide, respectively, 76,000 calories and 82,400 calories. Maybe 80 days worth of food for a single individual.

It would be a pretty monotonous diet but better than the alternative.

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

#376

Post by pmoriarty »

matchagaucho wrote: post #297

I recently returned from Asia and completed a 14-day self quarantine. I was there most of Jan and Feb, when the virus news was emerging. The area I was in became highly xenophobic. It was disturbing to watch. 90% of prevention is just boosting the immune system, washing hands, and not touching your face. Carry hand cleanser everywhere and use it frequently. When I felt a scratch in my throat I'd stop by a 7 Eleven, b…

"When I felt a scratch in my throat I'd stop by a 7 Eleven, buy a $1 bottle of gin, and gargle."

Wait. What? I don't think that's actually effective at ridding you of a viral infection.

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

#378

Post by gentleman11 »

kempbellt wrote: post #319
Recursing wrote: post #307

I'm really surprised there's 300 comments (with lots of panic) and nobody mentioned the official WHO guidelines https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2... especially the part about "How to cope with stress during 2019-nCoV outbreak"

Thank you for linking this. I commented below about doing what I am doing to not worry about it. Naturally it and was immediately dismissed by a panic induced response. FUD is extremely powerful people. If you want to stock up on some extra water and food - cool beans. But stay conscious of your own fears and manage your stress levels. Do what you can to stay calm about things and handle your emotions wisely.

I personally can’t really imagine the water or utility systems going offline. Is there a realistic risk or recent precedent of that? Eg, I never heard of that happening in China for example and I think we have better infrastructure here

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

#379

Post by aaron695 »

Someone1234 wrote: post #2

I'm not. There's no meaningful preparations for avoiding what is essentially a really dangerous variant of the common cold at an individual level. Now governments and the medical field should be preparing for it. But most of that is logistical problems (e.g. number of hospital beds, preparing quarantine plans, test kits, etc). You can order a bunch of masks if it makes you feel better, but countries with common mask…

It's hard not to down vote this.

It's wrong, but the question was about what people are doing and thinking.

I think it's important to see what people think and people shouldn't be down voted for being honest.

But I have to be OT and say "a really dangerous variant of the common cold" - It's killing 14% of people over 80 who get it at last estimates. And permanently hurting a lot of people over 80 as well.

And we don't really do flu season as well as we could, as a society we need to step up a bit in general. We could all prepare for even the flu season more than we do. Common cold, perhaps meh.

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

#380

Post by pmoriarty »

jacquesm wrote: post #294
Recursing wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mortality in the west is way lower than what's been reported in China, healthcare and hygiene are very different, as is the distribution network. Even in wuhan the situation is stabilizing

That's because we still have plenty of reserve ICU capacity. As soon as that is maxed out the picture changes, rapidly. So better hope we never reach that stage.

"we still have plenty of reserve ICU capacity"

From what I've heard the US health care system is already close to being overwhelmed every year due to seasonal flu.

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