6 ms·

What should I be doing to safeguard myself and helping? There is a lot of uncertainty to manage.

by dpflan 7y ago

HSO 7y ago
It depends on your age and general health condition. If you are not a boomer and healthy, you don't actually need to do anything except maybe get that hour earlier to bed in the evening and eat extra healthy to help your immune system. This virus really only concerns particular "risk groups" which is why I DON'T understand why the onus is on younger, healthy people who are actually working to pay the price instead of telling at-risk groups who are mostly pensioners to isolate themselves until a vaccine or antidote is developed. Also, not to forget, those boomers are the ones who contributed 90 percent of the climate change with their consumption patterns and then told us "why would I care about climate change, I will be dead when it arrives." What the hell?
davidw 7y ago
Avoid other people. If you must go somewhere, like a grocery store, try and stay 2 meters away. Wash your hands a lot. Encourage other people to do the same things. https://staythefuckhome.com/ https://staythefuckhome.com/
- emayljames 7y ago
  I was pleasantly surprised to find that link is real.
- rosybox 7y ago
  Cannot stay 2 meters away at the check stand. How would that work?
  - dawnerd 7y ago
    force the distance? cart behind you and stand back from the person in front. It's what I've been doing at costco.
    - meowface 7y ago
      I'm guessing trying to face away from people's faces probably helps somewhat, too? If someone breathes, sneezes, or coughs viroids in your general direction, I would naively guess it's riskier if it's in the direction of their face to your face. If it touches your back and neck, I'd imagine you're still at risk, but not to the same degree. Can anyone verify if this logic makes sense? Or does it not really make a difference because it'll just float through the air and reach your face anyway?
      - sjg007 7y ago
        This is why they were masks in Asia. The problem is we don’t have enough masks so we need to save them for healthcare workers.
        benjohnson 7y ago
        The people in Hong Kong learned how to make their own and they work well. It's not hard and used readily available materials. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3050689/how-make-your-own-mask-hong-kong-scientists https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/artic... Instructions in English.
  - ardy42 7y ago
    > Cannot stay 2 meters away at the check stand. How would that work? There are plenty of photos Italians queuing up two meters apart, so just maintain extra space like they do?
- sjg007 7y ago
  Try to order groceries online for delivery or pick up. Same with Walmart or Target or use Amazon.
  - davidw 7y ago
    How should you handle those groceries to ensure that they're not covered with something from the delivery guy?
    - sjg007 7y ago
      less risk there I think but you could wipe them down a bleach solution. Wish your vegetables with soap and water etc...
sneak 7y ago
Get 30-60 days of food and any prescription drugs you require, and get home and stay there: no in-and-outs, including children. Don't have visitors, don't go anywhere not absolutely necessary for survival. Keep yourself and your family healthy. Tell your friends to do the same. Note: 60 days of food is probably much larger than any grocery trip you have ever done. Don't just go to the store and get a week's worth of food, like many are doing. In a week, grocery shopping will be impossible/dangerous. Two weeks, moreso. The doubling time on this thing is about a week and it's going to get worse for six weeks before it gets better. Also, avoid doing any activities that might cause any sort of accident requiring hospitalization. Hospitals are going to be hard no-go zones starting in about two weeks, for 6-8 weeks. Use the railing, be careful getting in and out of the shower, clean up spills, don't use power tools, et c. If you're having trouble getting groceries locally, Amazon still (for the moment! don't expect it to last) has 12-ct cases of Soylent in stock for about $40 in a lot of places for same or next-day delivery. (Figure 5 400kcal bottles per person-day for emergency rations if you can't get any local groceries. Even if you don't like it, it will keep you and your family alive while you can't go to the supermarket for a few weeks.) TIP YOUR DELIVERY DRIVER. When it arrives, pull the bottles out wearing gloves, and dispose of the boxes carefully, and WASH YOUR HANDS. EDIT: Reply to SketchySeaBeast below (I am throttled and cannot post new replies): Going to the grocery store is unnecessary contact/exposure that you can avoid by stocking up for the duration in advance. Grocery stores are chokepoints. It's better to shop once now than four times over the next 2 months. Shelf-stable food that you will eat anyway is not a huge cost, and limiting your exposure is valuable as this thing ramps up. Every passing week for the foreseeable future doubles the risk that you will encounter someone who has the virus, as it seems pretty plausible (due to the testing strategy) that the US, at least based on current information, will be doing very little that will be effective to stop the spread. It's probably just going to run its course unimpeded through society in the US, as it did in Italy prior to the lockdown. Would you want to be going to the grocery store in Italy right now? I don't want to be going to the grocery store in the US in 2-3 weeks. Remember: when China had as many cases as we do now, a 60M province was already in total lockdown. https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-peop...
- 7y ago
Traster 7y ago
If you're young (18-40) then you should consider offering to pick up supplies for your elderly (or at risk) friends/family/neighbours so that they can more effectively self-isolate. If you're old, self-isolation is the best thing.
- avocado4 7y ago
  Better yet, teach elders how to buy groceries online.
  - taborj 7y ago
    That works as far as it goes. The problem that we're starting to see is empty shelves. While at the store recently, I saw one of the store shoppers looking at an empty shelf muttering "I don't even know what to substitute here..."
- momofarm 7y ago
  Maybe someone should help build a site to help this?
  - smacktoward 7y ago
    In my neighborhood something like this is already getting started on Nextdoor. Not a great tool for organizing people, but it's better than nothing.

What should I be doing to safeguard myself and helping? There is a lot of uncertainty to manage.

by dpflan 7y ago

What should I be doing to safeguard myself and helping? There is a lot of uncertainty to manage.

HSO 7y ago

It depends on your age and general health condition. If you are not a boomer and healthy, you don't actually need to do anything except maybe get that hour earlier to bed in the evening and eat extra healthy to help your immune system. This virus really only concerns particular "risk groups" which is why I DON'T understand why the onus is on younger, healthy people who are actually working to pay the price instead of telling at-risk groups who are mostly pensioners to isolate themselves until a vaccine or antidote is developed. Also, not to forget, those boomers are the ones who contributed 90 percent of the climate change with their consumption patterns and then told us "why would I care about climate change, I will be dead when it arrives." What the hell?

davidw 7y ago

Avoid other people. If you must go somewhere, like a grocery store, try and stay 2 meters away. Wash your hands a lot. Encourage other people to do the same things. https://staythefuckhome.com/ https://staythefuckhome.com/

emayljames 7y ago
I was pleasantly surprised to find that link is real.
rosybox 7y ago
Cannot stay 2 meters away at the check stand. How would that work?
- dawnerd 7y ago
  force the distance? cart behind you and stand back from the person in front. It's what I've been doing at costco.
  - meowface 7y ago
    I'm guessing trying to face away from people's faces probably helps somewhat, too? If someone breathes, sneezes, or coughs viroids in your general direction, I would naively guess it's riskier if it's in the direction of their face to your face. If it touches your back and neck, I'd imagine you're still at risk, but not to the same degree. Can anyone verify if this logic makes sense? Or does it not really make a difference because it'll just float through the air and reach your face anyway?
    - sjg007 7y ago
      This is why they were masks in Asia. The problem is we don’t have enough masks so we need to save them for healthcare workers.
      - benjohnson 7y ago
        The people in Hong Kong learned how to make their own and they work well. It's not hard and used readily available materials. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3050689/how-make-your-own-mask-hong-kong-scientists https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/artic... Instructions in English.
- ardy42 7y ago
  > Cannot stay 2 meters away at the check stand. How would that work? There are plenty of photos Italians queuing up two meters apart, so just maintain extra space like they do?
sjg007 7y ago
Try to order groceries online for delivery or pick up. Same with Walmart or Target or use Amazon.
- davidw 7y ago
  How should you handle those groceries to ensure that they're not covered with something from the delivery guy?
  - sjg007 7y ago
    less risk there I think but you could wipe them down a bleach solution. Wish your vegetables with soap and water etc...

sneak 7y ago

Get 30-60 days of food and any prescription drugs you require, and get home and stay there: no in-and-outs, including children. Don't have visitors, don't go anywhere not absolutely necessary for survival. Keep yourself and your family healthy. Tell your friends to do the same. Note: 60 days of food is probably much larger than any grocery trip you have ever done. Don't just go to the store and get a week's worth of food, like many are doing. In a week, grocery shopping will be impossible/dangerous. Two weeks, moreso. The doubling time on this thing is about a week and it's going to get worse for six weeks before it gets better. Also, avoid doing any activities that might cause any sort of accident requiring hospitalization. Hospitals are going to be hard no-go zones starting in about two weeks, for 6-8 weeks. Use the railing, be careful getting in and out of the shower, clean up spills, don't use power tools, et c. If you're having trouble getting groceries locally, Amazon still (for the moment! don't expect it to last) has 12-ct cases of Soylent in stock for about $40 in a lot of places for same or next-day delivery. (Figure 5 400kcal bottles per person-day for emergency rations if you can't get any local groceries. Even if you don't like it, it will keep you and your family alive while you can't go to the supermarket for a few weeks.) TIP YOUR DELIVERY DRIVER. When it arrives, pull the bottles out wearing gloves, and dispose of the boxes carefully, and WASH YOUR HANDS. EDIT: Reply to SketchySeaBeast below (I am throttled and cannot post new replies): Going to the grocery store is unnecessary contact/exposure that you can avoid by stocking up for the duration in advance. Grocery stores are chokepoints. It's better to shop once now than four times over the next 2 months. Shelf-stable food that you will eat anyway is not a huge cost, and limiting your exposure is valuable as this thing ramps up. Every passing week for the foreseeable future doubles the risk that you will encounter someone who has the virus, as it seems pretty plausible (due to the testing strategy) that the US, at least based on current information, will be doing very little that will be effective to stop the spread. It's probably just going to run its course unimpeded through society in the US, as it did in Italy prior to the lockdown. Would you want to be going to the grocery store in Italy right now? I don't want to be going to the grocery store in the US in 2-3 weeks. Remember: when China had as many cases as we do now, a 60M province was already in total lockdown. https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-peop...

7y ago

Traster 7y ago

If you're young (18-40) then you should consider offering to pick up supplies for your elderly (or at risk) friends/family/neighbours so that they can more effectively self-isolate. If you're old, self-isolation is the best thing.

avocado4 7y ago
Better yet, teach elders how to buy groceries online.
- taborj 7y ago
  That works as far as it goes. The problem that we're starting to see is empty shelves. While at the store recently, I saw one of the store shoppers looking at an empty shelf muttering "I don't even know what to substitute here..."
momofarm 7y ago
Maybe someone should help build a site to help this?
- smacktoward 7y ago
  In my neighborhood something like this is already getting started on Nextdoor. Not a great tool for organizing people, but it's better than nothing.