Covid-19 (Coronavirus) - Status Update Thread

by Simon 656 Replies latest jw friends

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  JeffT

  I live in a Seattle suburb. Our local school district just announced they're closing for at least 14 days. The small private school where my two older children teach (and our grandaughter is a student) will be closed for a week.

  I did some shopping at Costco yesterday. The last of of the toilet paper went off the shelf just before I got to it. I saw people with carts that must have had 100 rolls of toilet paper in them. They other big one was cart loads of bottled water. Do they think the water is going to get shut off?

  Crazy. I think some social psychologist will write a great PhD thesis about all this.
  
• 

  stan livedeath

  
  
• 

  Tantalon

  I live in rural Wetern Australia and we have no bloody toilet paper in the shops. I can only figure that if you get the virus you will get the shits??? The whole bloody country is sold out of loo paper!! Panic buying at it's most bizzare.
• 

  MeanMrMustard

  WTF? Things have changed a bit in my area. It looks like people are buying lots of bottled water. Target has tons of displays pushed forward, and people are loading carts full of generic brand bottled water. I watched it for a bit. They are selling it by the cart. The local grocery has barely any water left (bottles and gallon jugs). This seems ... odd. Even if a full quarantine went into effect and you were boarded and sealed into your home Chinese-style, why would your water service shut be cut? That seems like the one resource you don’t have to worry about right now.

  Edit: just noticed this from a couple posts up. JeffT noticed the same thing:

  They other big one was cart loads of bottled water. Do they think the water is going to get shut off?
• 

  Simon

  Crazy. I think some social psychologist will write a great PhD thesis about all this.

  It isn't crazy though - those things are going to run out (they have) and there is zero risk to having it ('cause it doesn't go off and you use it anyway) but quite an unpleasant risk if you do run out.

  Basic necessities are important. You never know what is going to happen. What if there are many people sick and utilities don't function as a result of the staff not being there? It's possible that water might be cut off because there is a leak and no one there to fix it or whatever, or shipments of things they need are delayed.

  What they should do it limit purchases, one or two per customer. They don't because retailers and manufacturers like the economic boost it gives them - they don't care who buys it as long as it's bought.

  There's also the issue that the bulk packs of toilet-rolls are big and bulky so empty shelves are easy to achieve and more obvious than when a smaller shelf of some item is out.
• 

  Simon

  One interesting snippet to share:

  Flu-like viruses do better in dry conditions, which is why they tend to spread mostly in winter.

  They don't linger in the air as long or develop in your throat as successfully if it's not dry, so consider raising the humidity setting on your heating or get a humidifier.

  Maybe one of those small things but lots of small things add up.
• 

  road to nowhere

  How are we going to flush all that TP with water service cut off? Better to buy lime for the pit toilet .
• 

  Simon

  Useful reminder of how to properly and thoroughly wash hands. 20+ seconds people, with soap and water - a quick rinse doesn't cut it.

  
  
• 

  MeanMrMustard

  Basic necessities are important. You never know what is going to happen. What if there are many people sick and utilities don't function as a result of the staff not being there? It's possible that water might be cut off because there is a leak and no one there to fix it or whatever, or shipments of things they need are delayed.

  But we do have some idea of what is going to happen, even in a worse case scenario. For example, let’s say that everyone finds out that 24 hours after dying of Covid19, the dead awake and want to eat brains. The zombie apocalypse is actually upon us. All water facilities are abandoned. Perhaps they will be staffed for the next day, but likely people will bugger out of there quickly. Even then, the water will be on for a few days at least. It doesn’t just shut off. There still water in the towers, and water will still flow to the towers for (probably) weeks before something shuts down. Nevertheless, I have days to grab whatever containers I have available (and I have plenty) and fill them with water. Hell, I would fill the tubs too.
  

  Food? That’s a different story. There is a 2 day supply chain - max - for food.
  

  I guess what I am saying is that I’m seeing people leave the food and buy the water bottles.
  

  They need some food, and for Christ sakes, grab some spare medicine. If the zombies start roaming, I’m grabbing my shot gun and heading to the drug store first.
  

  What they should do it limit purchases, one or two per customer. They don't because retailers and manufacturers like the economic boost it gives them - they don't care who buys it as long as it's bought.

  And water is low hanging fruit. It’s a waste. Buy food. Buy medicine.
  

  There's also the issue that the bulk packs of toilet-rolls are big and bulky so empty shelves are easy to achieve and more obvious than when a smaller shelf of some item is out.

  This too is odd to me. Ok, so back to worst case... zombies are out and about. Toilet paper will definitely be limited availability soon. Grab your shotgun and run to Home Depot. Snag a bidet. That will keep your ass clean for the remaining time we have water pressure, as well as the toilet water.
  

  Obviously at that point you are OK, but you would need a plan to get out of town and find natural resources.
  
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  I was in stores yesterday. No shortages on anything. No one stocking up on TP or water.......or anything, that I noticed. Guess we're all just gonna die of thirst, starvation, or dysentery (without TP) when the pandemic hits here.