Coronavirus - Health and preparedness aspects - II

[brewer12345]

When we are done with this, we will see the world longevity revised downward.

And the IRS will revise the table for RMD calculations.

Macabre, I know, but that's a fact of life.

I wonder who wrote all the catastrophe reinsurance for life mortality?

 

[Dtail]

I'm done with stocking up (for now), but I went to two different supermarkets to buy regular stuff today (fresh veggies, meat, etc) and noticed that cleaning product shelves were more than half empty at both stores. They were both totally out of hand sanitizers. Tons of TP though.

Yeah noticed the same. We got lucky on Saturday with buying 20 1 oz hand sanitizers at Bath Body works.

 

[Ready]

On another note, I can't get people on the pickleball courts to stop trying to shake my hand. It's like a nervous tick. Don't these people watch the news?

I've had to resort to just keeping six feet away from them and reminding them that we are not shaking hands right now. But why do they even want to?

The pickleball itself is likely covered with germs. Oh well, not much I can do there. I try to hit the ball as hard as I can hoping the power from my stroke will kill any virus on the ball.

 

[Sunny]

I'd asked earlier what metric people were going to use to determine when/if they practice some social distancing. We fall into CDC's definition of higher risk, so they say avoid crowds as much as possible.

We haven't truly been doing that but we may be starting now with 3 local cases just reported by our governor. They had travelled back from Egypt 5 days ago but came down sick and went to the doctor here.

This still feels way too early to avoid crowds, but I think we will stop going to restaurants and I'll order some dumbells and use out treadmill at home instead of heading to the gym.

Going to feel silly doing this for months on end though.

 

[brewer12345]

I've been searching online for hand sanitizer now for the past week. There is literally none in stock anywhere in the country, other than a few bottles being listed for hundreds of dollars by price gougers.

I tried making my own yesterday. 2 parts alcohol 1 part aloe vera gel. Unfortunately what I ended up with is a liquid so thin that it really isn't any thicker than just the alcohol. So it's basically like pouring rubbing alcohol all over your hands. It's nothing like Purell or the other products.

Costco never has water, toilet paper or paper towels anymore. But Trader Joe's had plenty of water, and Amazon has plenty of paper goods.

So all in all, I haven't really had any problems stocking up on anything other than the sanitizer.

You can buy hibiclens on amazon and probably your local store. More effective than purell type stuff.

 

[Dtail]

On another note, I can't get people on the pickleball courts to stop trying to shake my hand. It's like a nervous tick. Don't these people watch the news?

I've had to resort to just keeping six feet away from them and reminding them that we are not shaking hands right now. But why do they even want to?

The pickleball itself is likely covered with germs. Oh well, not much I can do there. I try to hit the ball as hard as I can hoping the power from my stroke will kill any virus on the ball.

Just tap the rackets with each other. That is what we do to say hi and goodbye.

 

[Sunny]

I've been searching online for hand sanitizer now for the past week. There is literally none in stock anywhere in the country, other than a few bottles being listed for hundreds of dollars by price gougers.

.

Try Menards: https://www.menards.com/main/grocer...-28-oz/1000034071/p-79431343124552-c-6792.htm

Don't now if $10 a bottle for 28 ounces is elevated pricing or not, but certainly less than $100 a bottle.

 

[GenXguy]

I tried making my own yesterday. 2 parts alcohol 1 part aloe vera gel. Unfortunately what I ended up with is a liquid so thin that it really isn't any thicker than just the alcohol. So it's basically like pouring rubbing alcohol all over your hands. It's nothing like Purell or the other products.

I actually thought about doing this last Sunday, but they had plenty of hand sanitizer in stock, so I didn't have to deal with mixing anything. I bought two 34 oz. bottles for $4 ea (for me only). I happened to be there again yesterday, and the hand sanitizer was out of stock.

Even with Purell, once I rub it over my hands, it feels like rubbing alcohol as it evaporates.

 

[Ready]

Try Menards: https://www.menards.com/main/grocer...-28-oz/1000034071/p-79431343124552-c-6792.htm

Don't now if $10 a bottle for 28 ounces is elevated pricing or not, but certainly less than $100 a bottle.

Looks like they have it in stock but the nearest store is 2,000 miles away and Prop 65 prevents them from shipping it to California. Thanks for the effort though!

 

[audreyh1]

I'd asked earlier what metric people were going to use to determine when/if they practice some social distancing. We fall into CDC's definition of higher risk, so they say avoid crowds as much as possible.

We haven't truly been doing that but we may be starting now with 3 local cases just reported by our governor. They had travelled back from Egypt 5 days ago but came down sick and went to the doctor here.

This still feels way too early to avoid crowds, but I think we will stop going to restaurants and I'll order some dumbells and use out treadmill at home instead of heading to the gym.

Going to feel silly doing this for months on end though.

Yeah that one Egypt cruise boat is pretty wild. This is not a large boat - nothing like the giant cruise ships. Yet somehow a bunch of Americans went on one of several week long cruises recently, returned home, and are sick.

I turned 60 recently. I’m pretty healthy. We normally avoid crowds and don’t go out much anyway. But I still plan to fly this month as I have to be with DF. The only thing I can do is try to minimize my exposure when traveling.

I’ve noticed some others use 70+ as the cutoff. That feels more sensible to me, but what do I know.

I’ve noticed things can really change in a week. I expect the US case numbers to explode over the next week. The US wasn’t testing much and now we are.

 

[Just_Steve]

I've been searching online for hand sanitizer now for the past week. There is literally none in stock anywhere in the country, other than a few bottles being listed for hundreds of dollars by price gougers.

I tried making my own yesterday. 2 parts alcohol 1 part aloe vera gel. Unfortunately what I ended up with is a liquid so thin that it really isn't any thicker than just the alcohol. So it's basically like pouring rubbing alcohol all over your hands. It's nothing like Purell or the other products.

Costco never has water, toilet paper or paper towels anymore. But Trader Joe's had plenty of water, and Amazon has plenty of paper goods.

So all in all, I haven't really had any problems stocking up on anything other than the sanitizer.

I was reading some govt site that stated if using the above recipe and you used 70% alcohol to start with the final product is only 47% therefor ineffective. I can't find a link for the site.

 

[Fermion]

Well the panic finally hit our small mountain town Wal-mart. Tonight the toilet paper isle was completely empty, even the single ply store brand.

Strangely there was plenty of food, so I stocked up a bit more. I had already gotten my 100 rolls of TP weeks ago because I knew this was coming. Four things of hand sanitizer too, although I don't trust it nearly as much as washing hands after reading you might need to have it on for 5 to 10 min.

 

[Ready]

I was reading some govt site that stated if using the above recipe and you used 70% alcohol to start with the final product is only 47% therefor ineffective. I can't find a link for the site.

And it’s too thin to be useful anyway since it evaporates before you can really rub it around enough to do anything useful.

 

[Nemo2]

And it’s too thin to be useful anyway since it evaporates before you can really rub it around enough to do anything useful.

Oops, I thought you were referring to TP...never mind.

 

[jollystomper]

The way DW and I figure, with (A) 3500+ books in our home (and probably another 500+ copies of magazines and periodicals), and (B) the need to downsize, if we run out of toilet paper and cannot obtain more, we have a solution... our sanitation company might notice a few more plastic bags of garbage from us.

 

[tmm99]

You can buy rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle, so you can just put your 90% (or 80% or whatever) alcohol in a spray bottle and spray it on your hands and rub your hands together? That should do it, shouldn't it? The alcohol from the sprayer doesn't dry that quickly. Just forget the aloe vera gel. I bought 91% isopropyl alcohol. It takes longer to kill germs/viruses if the percentage is weaker.

Or take Lysol wipes with you in a plastic bag and used it on your hands? (I don't know how toxic those wipes are though...)

 

[aja8888]

The way DW and I figure, with (A) 3500+ books in our home (and probably another 500+ copies of magazines and periodicals), and (B) the need to downsize, if we run out of toilet paper and cannot obtain more, we have a solution... our sanitation company might notice a few more plastic bags of garbage from us.

Just curious, but are you running a library? Where do you keep 3,500 books??

 

[Ready]

There is no logical reason to buy out the entire store worth of toilet paper. I think it’s just one of those things that snowballed. A few people made a rush to buy it. People who don’t even need it noticed the stores were empty and figured I better get some next time I see it. And now everyone is buying it just in case they need it and the store is out of stock when they run out.

There is plenty of it available at Amazon. Prime members get free shipping. It’s just something about Costco. I don’t even like their brand of toilet paper.

 

[Ready]

You can buy rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle, so you can just put your 90% alcohol in a spray bottle and spray it on your hands and rub your hands together? That should do it, shouldn't it? The alcohol from the sprayer doesn't dry that quickly. Just forget the aloe vera gel.

Or take Lysol wipes with you in a plastic bag and used it on your hands? (I don't know how toxic those wipes are though...)

The problem is that rubbing alcohol is bad for your skin. It can dry your skin out and cause it to crack, leaving it even more susceptible to viruses. The aloe keeps your skin soft and adds enough moisture to offset the drying effects of the alcohol. Getting it in just the right proportions is the tough part. That’s why Purell is completely sold out. They have the formula nailed down.

 

[Just_Steve]

And it’s too thin to be useful anyway since it evaporates before you can really rub it around enough to do anything useful.

COVID19 only requires 15 seconds of 70% alcohol to be killed. Again I have been reading a lot of govt sites but didn't save the links.

 

[brewer12345]

I hit the grocery store at 8AM this morning. A few more people than I expected. The shelves were mostly full, but t was clear that this was because they were putting real effort into restocking. I saw 3X the usual stockers and the paper goods item was fully stocked and had piles of stuff on the floor in the aisle to boot. This far the supply chain seems to be coping with the demand surge. Hopefully the surge calms down before they run out.

 

[GenXguy]

COVID19 only requires 15 seconds of 70% alcohol to be killed. Again I have been reading a lot of govt sites but didn't save the links.

My 62% ethyl alcohol hand sanitizer directions say to use it for 15 seconds to kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses.

 

[tmm99]

The way DW and I figure, with (A) 3500+ books in our home (and probably another 500+ copies of magazines and periodicals), and (B) the need to downsize, if we run out of toilet paper and cannot obtain more, we have a solution... our sanitation company might notice a few more plastic bags of garbage from us.

As long as there's water/shower/bidet, it's all good. No paper needed

 

[Just_Steve]

The problem is that rubbing alcohol is bad for your skin. It can dry your skin out and cause it to crack, leaving it even more susceptible to viruses. The aloe keeps your skin soft and adds enough moisture to offset the drying effects of the alcohol. Getting it in just the right proportions is the tough part. That’s why Purell is completely sold out. They have the formula nailed down.

WHO approved mixture and in the description is the mixture modified for 70% alcohol. Not a gel but thin enough to be sprayed.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I was reading some govt site that stated if using the above recipe and you used 70% alcohol to start with the final product is only 47% therefor ineffective. I can't find a link for the site.

That's why you start with 91% alcohol. For instance here are some combinations of 91% rubbing alcohol, aloe vera and overall % alcohol. I wouldn't want to go much (if any) below 70% (last column)
Oz Alc % Alcohol Oz Vera Total Oz Tot % Alc
10 91% 0 10 91%
10 91% 1 11 83%
10 91% 2 12 76%
10 91% 3 13 70%
9 91% 3 12 68%
8 91% 3 11 66%
7 91% 3 10 64%
8 91% 2 10 73%
8 91% 3 11 66%