I’ve been banging this drum for like three days now, but I’m serious, folks. You need to get ready. Shit might get real, here.
First: Don’t panic. Panic doesn’t help.
Second: Start getting ready now. Today. For real.
You should stock up on food. Get canned goods, dry goods, things that are nourishing and that will last. You should get a couple of weeks of food laid in, and honestly, I’m going to be aiming for at least a month, myself. Don’t forget to get extra water and/or water storage.
You should stock up on necessities. Tylenol and ibuprofen. Cold medicine. Paper towels and toilet paper. Garbage bags. Do you wear contacts? Get extra contact lens solution. Go around your house and make a list of the paper products and bathroom goods you usually use.
Don’t forget your pets. Get extra pet food and kitty litter and whatever they need.
Do you take medicine regularly, like insulin, heart meds, mental health meds, etc.? Call your doctors and ask them for extra. I’d say get at least a month’s extra of your regular prescriptions, and ask your doctor and/or pharmacist how best to rotate and store them so your supply stays fresh.
Be ready for when the shelves are empty and everything’s closed and people – including you – are sick.
Look, we’re not talking about The Stand here. We’re probably not even talking about the 1918 flu pandemic. It seems like a majority of those who catch COVID-19 are going to have a mild disease. Some may be completely asymptomatic.
But a lot of people are going to get very sick and we’re going to be busy dealing with that, and when that happens, the rest of society gets rocky.
There could be enforced quarantines. Businesses and schools may close for the duration. Other places will be short-handed as workers get sick and stay home. People will panic-buy the stores empty and it’ll take awhile to restock – possibly multiple days, or even a few weeks if supply lines get disrupted due to sickness and closures and so forth.
You need to get ready. Here’s another reason why: Not everyone can.
There are a lot of people who won’t be able to afford to stock up, or even if they can swing it financially, might not have the storage space or time to lay in supplies. And those of us who can get ready, who are that fortunate, have a responsibility to do so, so that supplies can be available for those who can’t.
Hey, this might not go down. Everything might be fine. We might get lucky. But if you stock up now and don’t need it, you’re all set for the next hurricane, flood, earthquake, winter storm, what-have-you.
Get. Ready. Now.
Resources & Reading
- New York Times: Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Officials Warn Americans to Brace for Likely Outbreak
- Daily Kos: COVID-19: A world at the ‘tipping point,’ and what it will mean if we fall off the cliff
- Virology Down Under: Past Time to Tell the Public: “It Will Probably Go Pandemic, and We Should All Prepare Now”
- The Scientist: How COVID-19 Is Spread
- Ready.gov (Pandemic Prep)
- Virology Down Under: So you think you’re about to be in a pandemic?
Reporter Quoting the CDC:
Another Great Reason to Start Getting Ready…
… the people in charge of dealing with this are dumber than shit, y’all.
Some Good News…
Wall Street Journal via MSN: Drugmaker Ships First Experimental Coronavirus Vaccine for Human Tests
Image: Man washing his hands. Do a lot of this. Sneeze/cough into your elbow. Don’t touch your face.
Notes & Thoughts 