Wuhan Coronavirus: Megathread - Got too big

[ColtWalker1847]

Nice strawman you've built there for yourself. Just because your idea of prepping consists only of muh scary guns and ammo does not mean shit. Basic necessities, such as securing water supply and backup water supply, means to purify water, foodstuffs, hunting and fishing supplies, medicine etc. are very high on the lists.

None of that shit is relevant to what is happening now. This isn't a nuclear first-strike we are dealing with. It is people getting an illness. Knowing about treatment and prevention and preparing for that if it should come to pass is, far and away by a country mile, the important thing. Not stockpiling random shit like it's the end of days.

You know much about hoarding behavior? Hoarders always have piles of shit. Sometimes it's good shit. Sometimes it's crap. But to them each and every single piece of it is some crucial thing they cannot discard because something could happen where they need it. One little bit of it was useful once so they must keep the entire hoard. Proof positive that they don't have a problem, you have a problem. You no-hoard-haver.

Prepping is basically that. It passed reasonable disaster preparedness a long time ago.

I mean, you just seriously argued the need for a backup water supply and the capability of water purification as "basic necessities". BASIC

 

[JosephStalin]

My thoughts re preparedness.

Believe here in the USA we are rather likely not to be hit hard by this virus. Our medical system is a quantum leap better and more robust than China's. We have a good primary care capability. Lots of acute care and convenient care clinics, all over. Suggest those working at these facilities have gotten the latest on the virus, what to look for, what to prescribe, when to refer patient to emergency room. We have health departments in our cities, counties, and states, not to mention at the national level. You have already seen returnees from China being quarantined right off the bat. Our water/sewer/septic/power systems are better overall than China's. Have trash collection in every town and city.

We may well have individual workers in the support systems become ill with the virus, but it's pretty unlikely that everyone at any one establishment or even one shift at, say, a power plant will become ill at the same time. And some people will never catch the virus at all. Same thing at supermarkets, stores, dining establishments. You might see movies close down due to the chance of spreading the virus in an enclosed space, but no big deal. Most of the shit they call movies these days isn't worth watching, and there's tons of stuff to watch via the various streaming services. Now, you may see a lot of child care centers close down temporarily or reduce services due to the chance of spreading the virus. That will impact parents who need the child care so they can work.

We aren't going to starve. We grow far more than we can eat. Could be shortages of some imports but you'll still be able to find bread, milk, meat, eggs, potatoes, rice, etc., in stores. I could buy several cases of TOTMs (smaller version of an MRE) tomorrow at the commissary (military grocery store), a few miles from our place, but know it's most unlikely I'll eat them, and I know my family won't either. We keep our pantry pretty well stocked, anyway. Also have extra supplies of many of the medicines I use. Get them 90-day supplies at a time with automatic refills. Since refills not expensive I just let the refills keep coming even if I have a lot of one particular medicine. Am also fortunate in that I can get by without any particular medicine for a while, won't kill me.

I'll join the chorus of those saying it doesn't hurt to lay in extra supplies of the foods you eat regularly, as well as some bottled water. Maybe get extra over-the-counter medicines, such as painkillers, allergy medications, etc. And frankly, you should already know your neighbors, at least the ones right around you. I know all of my immediate neighbors. Not that hard to do.

One big advantage we have in the USA is living in more of a bottom-up, free society, if you will. We don't shoot messengers. If anything, sometimes we take the messages a little too seriously until we have more facts. Doesn't mean people won't be quarantined. Doesn't mean access into and egress out of infected areas won't be controlled, but whole cities won't be locked down. National Guard will be called out as needed, Army Reserve units activated as needed, plus any regular force support. As much as we bitch and complain about the way governments at all levels do or don't do things, find it most unlikely that we'll fuck things up as much as the CCP has done. Have no idea just what is going to happen there, but believe things there will get much worse before they get better. Maintain we'll keep things from getting too bad. I remember FDR's words, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." As a nation, if we keep our wits about us, and am sure we shall, we'll get by okay. If anything, we could come out of it stronger as a nation, maybe see some divisions healed or helped, realizing we're all in this together.

 

[Bum Driller]

If something, happenings like these show you who are level-headed individuals who can keep their shit together and assess the situation straight, and who are neurotics who crumble in to power-tripping(all this prepping shit is really just very refined sexual fetishization and power-fantasy) balls of hysteria when given opportunity. It tells something that it's almost always certain political tendencies that go hand in hand with this behaviour.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Electricity was out for three days in 2003 and I was the most popular person in the building because I still had a landline and the phone was working. Everyone just barbecued food that was going to spoil anyway. It was no big deal in the long run. Storms like Sandy knock our power off and outside NYC snowstorms can leave you snowed in for a few days.

I just realized the 2003 blackout was over 16 years ago. I feel old.

That makes you feel old? Try remembering the '77 one. That's feeling old.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I just wanted to point out a few things to those users who may be reading this thread and living dreams of grandeur in the apocalypse of Corona-chan and how they're going to be self-sufficient. I have terrible news:

Unless you've been working towards this goal for years and you have a large family or group of friends to help you, you're fucked. Sorry. And even if you have all the cards in your favor, you're still fucked.

The best example of how truly fucked you are can be readily found in the Middle Ages. In Medieval England an average peasant household required 10 acres to sustain itself. And that was with livestock, enough land to allow fields to go fallow, fertilizer, and generations with the know-how to harvest these crops. You can get buy with less acreage by growing potatoes, but potatoes a full meal does not make and you would still require livestock or mechanized implements to harvest enough for a family.

There has been exceptionally few humans, save those who lived a neolithic lifestyle, who were "self sufficient." Even mountain men of the 1840s still came into town to trade furs for powder, shot, whiskey, and whores. The medieval peasant did not smith his own scyth or turn the pole that attached to it. The medieval peasant did not mine the iron that went into the fittings for the village ox's harness; he didn't own the fucking ox. The medieval peasant did not gather the lime for his house. Nor did he do a myriad of other trades that were common and necessary in the Middle Ages.

The world is more interconnected globally than it has ever been, but humanity has always been reliant on trades and crafts to get the things necessary for survival. In a situation where trade stopped in 1105 England, you can rest assured those peasants would be equally as poorly as if it stopped in 2020. The only difference is that the world was more plentiful in 1105 and there were far less people to feed.

But you could just buy shit ton of non perishable food that will last you well after either soceity gets back on track or corona-chan decimates the population and you can take other people's fields.
I think the most important question is whether or not you live in a country that is able to create fuel, if not then you are completely fucked.

 

[Unog]

There seems to be a consistent failure in this thread to recognize the very distinct difference between people giving disaster preparedness advice/tips and people saying that there is an impending disaster.

Trying to be helpful to those who may not know anything about emergency prep isn't the same as running around screaming that the sky is falling.

 

[Syaoran Li]

I'm all for reasonable disaster preparedness, like having some extra bottled water, toilet paper, batteries, food, and other basic necessities, but that's something everyone should do anyways, even if there wasn't a viral pandemic going around.

Disaster preparedness is a good thing to keep in mind, but it's because you're far more likely to be caught in something like a flood, a severe thunderstorm or snowstorm, prolonged blackouts (this is especially true if you live in a rural area), a tornado, or some other natural disaster.

People are freaking out like this is going to be a repeat of the Spanish Flu or a real-life version of The Stand, when it's probably going to be a largely Chinese phenomenon as opposed to a true global catastrophe, even with the economic after-effects taken into account.

Admittedly, I don't keep up with the coronavirus news that often, but the vast majority of deaths from the virus are in mainland China, a notoriously corrupt hellhole with very dysfunctional sanitation and infrastructure, severe overcrowding issues, and an extremely impoverished underclass.

There are a few cases of the virus in the United States, but the majority of the cases seem to be quarantined and under observation. I think we'll get through this.

Keep calm and stay alert, but don't be paranoid either.

 

[RodgerDodger]

The thing is, @ColtWalker1847 we don't KNOW what's going to happen.



Corona-chan has a lethality rate of 2.9-4.1% It's current estimated infection rate is 60%.

You are operating from a very bad piece of data. Or rather one of the few good pieces of data, that you are looking at the wrong way. That 2.9-4.1% Mortality Rate is for Patients that develop a severe pneumonia and require hospitalization and advanced treatment. For most people catching it you have a mild to bad flu. Those that get it bad enough to require advanced medical care are less than 20% of the infected. Probably closer to 10-15%. The 2.9-4.1% Mortality rate is 4.15 of that 10-15% of serious cases. And those 10-15% serious cases so far seem to be 80%+ already compromised patients. The Elderly and Infirm. Etc.

The 2.9-4.1% is a good number. It's a solid well based study of two of the Wuhan Hospitals done by outside people with boots on the ground. So no chinese bullshit. But they were just looking at the most serious cases. Typically those that required an ICU. 2.9-4.15 of those died. Once advanced pneumonia sets in, thats when you are looking at the ~ 4% death rate. It's not a general mortality rate against all infected.

 

[AmpleApricots]

Some of you people better not google how many people die of other stuff each year.

 

[ZMOT]

None of that shit is relevant to what is happening now. This isn't a nuclear first-strike we are dealing with. It is people getting an illness. Knowing about treatment and prevention and preparing for that if it should come to pass is, far and away by a country mile, the important thing. Not stockpiling random shit like it's the end of days.

You know much about hoarding behavior? Hoarders always have piles of shit. Sometimes it's good shit. Sometimes it's crap. But to them each and every single piece of it is some crucial thing they cannot discard because something could happen where they need it. One little bit of it was useful once so they must keep the entire hoard. Proof positive that they don't have a problem, you have a problem. You no-hoard-haver.

Prepping is basically that. It passed reasonable disaster preparedness a long time ago.

I mean, you just seriously argued the need for a backup water supply and the capability of water purification as "basic necessities". BASIC

in a string of stupid posts this is probably the best one so far. let's see

1) 90% of the world being fine means fuck all if you're stuck in the 10%
2) thinking all kiwis live in the exact same spot and circumstances is not only stupid it's outright retarded.
3) the sickness or whatever will have a far lesser impact than the disruption itself (unless we're talking hordes of corona zombies).
4) thinking only other people will have to that deal with that disruption is probably the retardation gold price. if you're stuck in a city without power and supplies coming in, shit will hit the fan fast because newsflash: everybody wants food. and when it gets to that level it will not be only your city having this problem. this also means when shit breaks, and it will, have fun waiting for someone to fix it when there's more urgent shit and your worker pool that can do it is already highly diminished.
4) no on is running around OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING REPENT NOW, so why so do some specialists go off the other extreme with LAWL IT'S JUST THE FLU BRO. people talking about how to be prepared or even hunting doesn't mean everyone in this thread is now buying a fucking hunting rifle. it's interesting info for some, irrelevant for others but ofc you had to be that guy showing everyone just skipping posts of low personal interest is apparently worse than the virus itself.

 

[Unog]

People are freaking out like this is going to be a repeat of the Spanish Flu or a real-life version of The Stand, when it's probably going to be a largely Chinese phenomenon as opposed to a true global catastrophe, even with the economic after-effects taken into account.

Admittedly, I don't keep up with the coronavirus news that often, but the vast majority of deaths from the virus are in mainland China, a notoriously corrupt hellhole with very dysfunctional sanitation and infrastructure, severe overcrowding issues, and an extremely impoverished underclass.

There are a few cases of the virus in the United States, but the majority of the cases seem to be quarantined and under observation. I think we'll get through this.

Follow me on this:

This all started near the beginning of Dec, right? Now think about how long it's taken for the amount of people that are currently in China to get infected (and show outward symptoms) from then, to now. About 9-11 weeks.

The first case in the west (or the US at least) was confirmed on Jan 21, three and a half weeks ago. Between then and now there's been a number of fuckups as far as containment goes, and this virus is known to stay asymptomatic for a while.

I think it's still too early to be calling which way this is going to go.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Trying to be helpful to those who may not know anything about emergency prep isn't the same as running around screaming that the sky is falling.

The problem is that there are people screaming about how "THIS IS THE BIG ONE BOIS!" in this thread.

People should 100% be prepped, not "I am gonna survive the end of the world" prepped cause that just ain't gonna happen..but if you have room in your apartment and even I do and I have a small ass apartment you should have a good months worth of something that will last and be edible and a few gallons of water as well as a Go-bag in case you gotta GTFO.

Even if it isn't perfect "I would eat this in normal times" food, who gives a shit that something like pop tarts aren't the super best food on the planet. They are edible, don't require specific storage and don't require water or heating to be edible.

 

[Autistic lurker]

We have a good primary care capability.

You know, it's a good argument. A typical savage african man from jungles is superior at living and adapting in wilderness; any western prepper will not even come close at this. However, I'm pretty sure it won't matter at all once he catches eh.. ebola? In fact, many things we have discussed are not really relevant, because epidemic won't worsen to such a degree which is happening right now in China. News about outbreak won't be censored, any person showing symptoms will receive attention from CDC and local authorities. To make an analogy, these measurements are like putting out a small fire in a room, meanwhile China started to act too late, at a point when a whole house is on fire.

Discipline and organization are truly the most important things which separate a civilised man from savages. If your country doesn't act like chinese government, you can calm down and feel safe.

 

[Shoggoth]

I look at it in a way like a bet. I hedge myself against the likelihood of occurrences with appropriate expenses, meaning
While disruption in food supply chains is not very likely where I live, it's a possibility, so I spend a low amount of money on some dry and canned goods. I don't think I even have enough for a month, but it will get me through a tight spot.
I don't think disruptions in electricity and water supplies are even remotely plausible where I live, so I don't hedge against that. It's just a heuristic of assigning likelihood to events and spending the amount of resources proportional to the likelihood and the severity of an event.
Unless you're in a hot spot at the moment spending over 100$ is a bit much IMO. If you already had a case in your state I'd at least double that. If you're a burger and live where hurricanes or earthquakes are common, you probably have most of what you need already.
Just hedge your bets wisely, no need for hysteria.

 

[Unog]

The problem is that there are people screaming about how "THIS IS THE BIG ONE BOIS!" in this thread.

If you could give some examples of people saying that without any hint of irony or comedic hyperbole that'd be great.

Most of that talk seems to be either hypothetical (for the purposes of instructions) or in jest that I've read, though I could just be reading it differently than others here are.

Just hedge your bets wisely, no need for hysteria.

I don't get why this sentiment keeps getting echoed, I've been reading since ~page 30 and I have only seen a couple people who were actually acting like that.

 

[Coleslaw]

Ten days after another pregnant woman gave a stillbirth, she went back to work treating coronavirus patients. A Wuhan newspaper wrote an editorial praising her. "She had not had the time to fully leave the sadness of miscarriage, but she dried her tears and went back to the battlefront against the virus."

 

[Shoggoth]

I don't get why this sentiment keeps getting echoed, I've been reading since ~page 30 and I have only seen a couple people who were actually acting like that.

Non hysterical people make less noise. I'm mostly lurking the thread and looking for tidbits I can use to stress my coworkers over.
Edit: forgot to point out the obvious fact of wanting to know when shit turns to the worse and I have to act accordingly, so keep reading and bookmarking useful advice, etc.

 

[Jarolleon]

That's cool if you feel like nothing will happen and everything will be great. That the worst that will happen is the new iPhone Faggot Edition will be late and cost a bit more.

I've heard all the excuses on why having food stocks and shit is stupid. How "This will never happen" or "that will never happen" and that's all fine.

I don't think it is one guy. I also don't believe that everything falls apart as soon as a Pollution Goblin in Portland Oregon sneezes. Nor do I think that it will devolve into Mad Max style bandits roaming the Apocalypse. I don't believe that this will be as bad as the Spanish Influenza epidemic, much less the Black Death.

What I do believe in is keeping stores of food and supplies for disasters. In knowing survival skills and basic first aid.

It's served me well over the years.

The actual Black Death didn't cause a Mad Max style collapse, but maybe it's because you can't "collapse" much further than feudalism.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

None of that shit is relevant to what is happening now. This isn't a nuclear first-strike we are dealing with. It is people getting an illness. Knowing about treatment and prevention and preparing for that if it should come to pass is, far and away by a country mile, the important thing. Not stockpiling random shit like it's the end of days.

You know much about hoarding behavior? Hoarders always have piles of shit. Sometimes it's good shit. Sometimes it's crap. But to them each and every single piece of it is some crucial thing they cannot discard because something could happen where they need it. One little bit of it was useful once so they must keep the entire hoard. Proof positive that they don't have a problem, you have a problem. You no-hoard-haver.

Prepping is basically that. It passed reasonable disaster preparedness a long time ago.

I mean, you just seriously argued the need for a backup water supply and the capability of water purification as "basic necessities". BASIC

I keep reading your posts and I keep trying to understand why you feel so strongly about this. Comparing a hoarder who has 52 tons of back issues of National Geographic lining his corridors and causing his kitchen to collapse into his basement to people stocking up on legitimately useful things like shelf-stable foods, water, and other necessities in case there's a logistics problem when people get sick or a quarantine of some sort is issued, like we've been seeing in China due to this exact disease, is completely asinine and just plain stupid.

Do some preppers have a hoarder mentality and overprepare? Probably.
Is telling people to have a few 5 gallon jugs of drinking water available if they need to shelter in place and cannot get access to clean water for whatever reason a bad idea? No.

Knowing about treatment and prevention - yes, great idea. I don't see why you can't also stock up on canned food just in case the grocery store has problem getting deliveries because half the drivers it uses are sick, or people start panicking and buying out all the stock immediately, or you want to avoid the store for reasons of safety and just sit in your house the a month while the shit blows over.

 

[Keystone]

The jury's still out on domesticated animals being able to transmit the disease, but that's still not stopping Chinese in cities and villages from killing them.

Spoiler: very graphic. 100% guaranteed to ruin your day if you're an animal person.

Jon Smith on Twitter: "Meanwhile in China they’re killing pet dogs th…

archived 14 Feb 2020 09:25:11 UTC

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