The problem is you cannot stock supplies for indefinite periods. So, what are we trying to do here? How long do you plan to stock for?
The lockdown in Wuhan is ongoing for 4 weeks. Chinese people are more obedient than American people. Will Americans stay indoors for 4 weeks?
My main concern right now is that a huge wave of panic buying will clear out all the store shelves of frequent consumables (food, toilet paper, soaps, etc.) and we'll have an indeterminate wait until the stores will be able to get fresh supplies in. This has already happened in countries in the midst of the outbreak, per this article I just found:
Stocking up to prepare for a crisis isn’t ‘panic buying’. It’s actually a pretty rational choice
Recent days have brought reports of shoppers clearing out supermarket shelves from Wuhan and Hong Kong to Singapore and Milan in response to the spread of coronavirus.
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When it comes to stocking up (or hoarding) a large private collection of goods to see us through a disaster, we don’t know how much we will need because we don’t know how long the event will last.
Accordingly, we tend to err on the side of caution and buy too much rather than too little. This is the natural response of a rational person who faces future uncertainty and seeks to guarantee their family’s survival.
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figure out what you already have and what you need to get.
Then you can make a shopping list and steadily gather the things you need. Done this way, it gives shops time to restock and won’t leave the shelves bare.
Bolding mine. If many people did this, it would work better and we may not see the empty shelves pictured where panic buying is taking place. (Of course, our local Walmart is notoriously bad at keeping shelves stocked under normal circumstances.
) Sadly, many people are reactive rather than proactive. Around here, even with 3 days notice of a lake effect snowstorm (which hit yesterday), people will wait until the storm is almost upon us, or has already started, to head out and get anything.
I wonder if stores are starting to order in larger quantities now, just in case. Hopefully, but probably not.
Not being allowed to go out is a secondary consideration for me. I have a hard time imagining how such a thing would be enforced here. So many people in Asia live in apartments. It's easy to literally barricade people inside on a mass scale. Not so much here. We do have at least one neighbor 2 houses down who would be more than happy to turn other people in for venturing outside against a quarantine order, I'm sure. But our local police are stretched too thin as it is. Too many roads in and out to effectively barricade and provide manpower for.
I do envision a scenario of certain types of businesses having to close temporarily because of a lack of staff due to mass sickness. Grocery stores could be off limits for an unknown period of time due to either lack of stock or lack of staff. The same thing could happen with restaurants, even if you're inclined to get takeout. Maybe gas up your car a little more often right now, too.
I'm planning to stock up in the near term until I can't anymore, either because the panic buying has begun and shelves are empty, or I've run out of room to put the stuff.