Coronavirus - Health and preparedness aspects - II

[audreyh1]

What’s with the water? Are people worried they are going to not have tap water? That all utilities will shut down, or that their tap water will become infected?

This is annoying.

I understand if your tap water already tastes bad, or you don’t drink it for other reasons.

 

[Pellice]

As long as people have an interest in posting to this thread, I don't think it's run its course. I find the discussion interesting and don't mind hearing the scary stuff, either.

I agree. I've gotten some useful information from this thread, and I also find the "snapshots" of what is going on in different places and at different times very interesting, both from a personal and an historical point of view. Mods are doing a great job keeping us within reasonable "trading bands" (rather than a single hard line) of levity, fear, speculation, facts, and advice. Thanks, mods!

 

[Alan]

What’s with the water? Are people worried they are going to not have tap water? That all utilities will shut down, or that their tap water will become infected?

This is annoying.

I understand if your tap water already tastes bad, or you don’t drink it for other reasons.

I agree.

Even when we lived in hurricane areas we used to prepare for approaching hurricanes by filling up existing containers with tap water and also filling a bathtub. Even the 3 times we did lose power for several days when a hurricane did hit us we never lost tap water.

 

[Dtail]

What’s with the water? Are people worried they are going to not have tap water? That all utilities will shut down, or that their tap water will become infected?

This is annoying.

I understand if your tap water already tastes bad, or you don’t drink it for other reasons.

Never really understood that either. Possibly just the thing to do for some folks in addition to the bread and eggs.....

 

[Pellice]

Well, wouldn't filling plastic jugs and such just be a highly temporary measure? You can't really sterilize them. Likewise the bathtub, even if you sterilized it with bleach first. I'd be fine with it for a week, but after that ....

I suppose you could keep emptying and refilling, but a high quality hard plastic commercial jug is more practical. My problem is that I pretty much use only tap water and forget about my stored water. I about 10 gallons of commercial water on hand, but some of them are VERY old. I've found the hard plastic, such as Poland Spring's jugs, last a lot longer than the soft plastic store brand.

I'm assuming that the old water is fine, so long as it has neither been opened nor leaked.

 

[Alan]

Well, wouldn't filling plastic jugs and such just be a highly temporary measure? You can't really sterilize them. Likewise the bathtub, even if you sterilized it with bleach first. I'd be fine with it for a week, but after that ....

I suppose you could keep emptying and refilling, but a high quality hard plastic commercial jug is more practical. My problem is that I pretty much use only tap water and forget about my stored water. I about 10 gallons of commercial water on hand, but some of them are VERY old. I've found the hard plastic, such as Poland Spring's jugs, last a lot longer than the soft plastic store brand.

I'm assuming that the old water is fine, so long as it has neither been opened nor leaked.

The water in the tub is for flushing the toilet and washing yourself.

But the real point is that the chances of a virus outbreak causing the tap water to stop running is extremely unlikely.

 

[Ronstar]

...But the real point is that the chances of a virus outbreak causing the tap water to stop running is extremely unlikely.

I can't think of a reason why the water would stop running. For the most part, municipal water supply is automated and contaminated free unless there is a watermain break. Then someone would have to shut off valves to stop the water. I don't think that a virus could affect water at any point from source to faucet.

We are on a well, so the only ways that the water would stop flowing is if the well goes dry, the pump goes out, or the pressure tank malfunctions. There is no way for a virus to get to the water until it is exposed to the air when it comes out of the faucet.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I can't think of a reason why the water would stop running. For the most part, municipal water supply is automated and contaminated free unless there is a watermain break. Then someone would have to shut off valves to stop the water. I don't think that a virus could affect water at any point from source to faucet.

We are on a well, so the only ways that the water would stop flowing is if the well goes dry, the pump goes out, or the pressure tank malfunctions. There is no way for a virus to get to the water until it is exposed to the air when it comes out of the faucet.

Bingo. Water is the least of my worries. More important are things that are harder for me to control:
1) Will there be an adequate supply of antibiotics? In previous pandemics (e.g. Spanish flu of 1918/1919), it is thought that many people died of secondary infections. (Quick version: The virus causes anti-bodies to attack the intruder and high temperatures. This leaves the body vulnerable to other things (like Strep) which require antibiotics).

2) Will there be an adequate supply of other care related items? Ventilators, Saline solution, IV tubing, and perhaps most importantly medical practitioners.

These are more worry some to me because I can't control them and have no idea of their supply situation or ability to ramp up supply.

While I have plenty of TP, even that isn't worry some. If I have to I will go outside in the woods and use leaves. [Note to self: Don't forget to bring along some sanitizer.]

But the underlying issue is a societal one. Most people live their lives with very little preparation for emergencies. In fact, they scoff at those who are prepared - call them "preppers" or "nutcase". It's frustrating because not that many decades ago having extra food or a well stocked pantry, or knowing how to make many things from scratch was considered normal. We've lost that in this age of "Just in Time" everything. So maybe just maybe this might be a wake up call for many.

 

[Tiger8693]

Hoarding water, making runs on grocery stores (Costco, et al), all part of the panic caused by the mind running away in negative thought. This kind of action and the perpetuation of it by the media (and yes, forums where people advocate it) CREATE the problem with shortages, financial market panics, etc.

As someone posted earlier. Please. Get. A. Grip. Or maybe we should be looking at mass production of dementia testing kits?

 

[NW-Bound]

As I mentioned, even in Wuhan with the most serious virus outbreak and a draconian lockdown, the water is still running and the light is still on.

It may be prudent to have some water on hand, but I see people loading up on packs of bitty bottles of drinking water. Those would not last them long. A few 5-gal plastic pails can hold a lot more water, and can be emptied and refilled with fresh water every so often.

About people getting scared, a good thing coming out of this is that it should help checking the spread of the virus. We don't want our hospitals to be overrun as the ones in Wuhan did. So, don't knock the alarm sounders.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Last minute Walmart pickup. Put some powdered milk in the digital cart. SOme kinds sold out but some still in stock. This morning I get a note that no powdered milk available and no substitutes available. oh well.

 

[braumeister]

As I mentioned, even in Wuhan with the most serious virus outbreak and a draconian lockdown, the water is still running and the light is still on.

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

 

[Nemo2]

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

Is it hoarding, for the most part, or simply minimizing the number of trips to (possibly) crowded stores?

 

[Corporateburnout]

Stopped at our local Stop and shop store this morning. All shelves were stocked with the exception of hand sanitizers. No panic buying and traffic was a normal weekday shopping.

Our state has two cases of the virus.

 

[NW-Bound]

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

So is much food production. But it's good to always have some on hand. It's no different than not living paycheck to paycheck and to have some cash reserve.

We always have so much food stuff because my wife hoards it when she finds things on sale. TP too.

I thought about what else I would add to the pile, and decided that I needed nothing else. I can last 2 or 3 months on the stuff I have already. Maybe even longer.

 

[aja8888]

No panic buying around here (Houston area), but, then again, we are used to hurricanes and seem to only worry about power off situations and running low on gasoline.

The big box stores look normal (Costco and Walmart) when I visited both yesterday.

 

[MichaelB]

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

Some people feel compelled to do something and this satisfies that need. Work was like this.

The supply chain in the US is marvelous, very efficient. Every day goods are moving and store shelves are being restocked. My guess is next week most household items will be in plentiful supply and we will discover that everyday life continues.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

I think its bc they are affordable, I have storage space for them, and they have no expiration date. So I always have an CASE of paper towels, 2 of toilet paper and a big hunk of napkins. Plus theyre large in the cart so I only choose to deal with them once maybe twice a year. We decided to not renew our Sams card so we bought double just before it expired. At the same time we got a multipack of Clorox wipes. Timing worked out with the panic de jour

 

[fh2000]

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

The first country that caused panic buying of toilet paper in Asian (not to be named) few weeks ago, was due to a rumor that the material for making masks are the same as toilet paper. Since that government took over control of all masks manufacturers and doubled the output and also due to shortage of raw material imported from China, people feared that the toilet paper materials will run out soon.

The manufacturers came up explaining that materials are totally different. They also had other import sources from Africa so the panic soon died out.

But, then copycat fear of TP shortage spread over other Asian countries..

 

[REWahoo]

Is it hoarding, for the most part, or simply minimizing the number of trips to (possibly) crowded stores?

^ This. I don't want to risk being wiped out by Covid-19 simply because I had to make a trip to buy TP.

 

[MRG]

And paper products are all made right here in North America. I always find it hard to understand people hoarding them.

+1

I guess my DF'S stories of the days before TP are calming. The heck with TP, I'm going to the feed store for some corncobs. [emoji4]

Seriously I don't think anyone will die for lack of TP, or bottled water. I've collected up some stable foods and am not worried. There's not many people in this part of the world and I'm not going to do very much. We are not going places to be exposed to tourists and just focusing enjoying life.

 

[NW-Bound]

^ This. I don't want to risk being wiped out by Covid-19 simply because I had to make a trip to buy TP.

What a sh**** way to expire! People would say "poor guy died for lack of TP".

 

[pacergal]

hospital worker ignored self quarantine in New Hampshire

According to a NY Post article, and now has exposed others!

Reports from WHO seem to show rapidly declining positive tests in China, most likely due to their strict isolation of cities, closing of schools, factories, etc.

Wondering if leaders in the US would/will resort to that if or when, covid-19 continues to spread. And would we adhere to it Kind of frightening that the person in NH did not.

Utilizing 5-6 feet of space separation in public and excellent hand washing, along with not touching your face is a good way to help avoid exposure. We have our usual disaster stuff and I have plenty of bleach and alcohol, along with food. Water, I can get from the tap. Thats about all I have done.

 

[NW-Bound]

I observed that panic buyers flock to Costco, while other stores may still have the stuff. Here where there are no active virus cases, I observed that traffic at Costco was higher than normal, while some other stores saw nothing unusual.

I attribute this to the fact that Costco sells things in large packages, and that makes it easy for people to grab a big bundle of something. The prices are also a bit lower, and that helps when you buy a lot of stuff.

I am sure things will get restocked soon at stores that got "ransacked". Masks are something else though. I read that some healthcare providers are having problems getting them.

 

[Safe Harbour]

2) Will there be an adequate supply of other care related items? Ventilators, Saline solution, IV tubing, and perhaps most importantly medical practitioners.

I bought a 6L/min. O2 Concentrator. If hospitals don't have enough machines this could be a cheap ($300) insurance policy. In my community of 300 seniors in single family homes, I might not needed it. But if it comes to that surely one of my friends might. Over reaction? My risk may be 10% (of the population becoming infected) and 10% (patients needing O2) = 1/100 but for those 300 friends it's = 300/100. Of course that's times the probability of hospitals being short of machines due to demand. In my city of 500,000 the need for machines could be 5,000. Being short of O2 machines is probably a sure thing if we come to 10% of the populations being infected and 10% of those needing O2. Other people must have felt the same way. These machines are pretty much all sold out on Amazon and other sellers.

Full disclosure I also bought masks.