What time is it? Time to...?

[danb]

Hello. It is 5:30 in the morning. I am up and getting ready to go shopping at a local grocery store. I wanted to take advantage of the special senior citizen only shopping hours. (1.5 hr.) This whole virus thing is starting to sink in for me. A few months ago it was in China. Not something that I had to worry about (except that my Lao Po was in China). That had me worried but she was over 600 miles away from Wuhan. She was aware of the situation and was taking precautions. She was pretty much staying at home. Recently when she is starting to leave home, she is staying away from crowds and wearing the required mask.. Things are much more positive there than here. What should I be thinking? How concerned should I be? On a scale of 1 to 10 where should I be? A 1 being not concern and planning a trip to Disneyland to a 10 being in a panic mode and starting to hoard things such as food and maybe even some ammo. 3 weeks ago I was maybe at a 1.5 or two. In the past week I moved up to maybe a 5. I am watching the stock market, the unavailability of TP at the market, what seems to be less traffic on the roads, schools closing, the restaurant's seating area closed, and the state that I work in being closed down. Maybe I should be edging up to a 6! How do you guys see it? BTW, I do read/follow most of the posts on this forum that pertain to the the virus as it pertains to China, the US and the world. Until now the situation has not been affecting me much. Danb

 

 

PS, Randy feel free to move this post if you think that there is a better place for it. Thanks.

Edited March 21, 2020 by danb (see edit history)

[Martin B]

We're at about 4-5 on a scale of 10, but expecting a major escalation in the next week or two.

 

Buy enough food for at least 2 weeks to minimize the number of times you need to go outside.

[Greg.D.]

If/when you do your shopping, think way ahead and try not to go out again for a week at least and, pending the rise of cases in your area, maybe even longer.

 

I am in the heart of Denver and in a small but most-infected county. People came directly from Italy (Alps) to Vail and Aspen for skiing and, once in the hospital up in the mountains, are advised to move to a lower elevation and, apparently, the Mile High City is low enough.

 

Most of my neighbors either don't care to or don't understand how to use their recycling bins and I doubt I'll see them give a sheet about their neighbors and the coronavirus. Wish I was hunkered down somewhere out on the fringes rather than in a densely populated part of town.

[Allon]

The CDC.gov site has an excellent list of things to do during this time. I follow sterile technique a little more strictly than they do. Fortunately, when I saw what was going on China, I got sterile gloves, and masks, (although they are hardly effective), and plenty of TP, milk and eggs. Costco where I am, is completely out of flour.

 

As Greg says, panic buying is the worst thing to do. Buy what you need for 2 weeks, not 2 months or 1 month. Give the supply chain a chance to catch up. And thanks to some racist remarks by a national figure calling it The Chinese Flu, take your wife with you everywhere. Never let her go alone. Arizona is so full of reddis neckus americanus and they say some of the awfulest things. So be ready. We are an open carry state and I open carry with a Px4 9mm compact. (Obviously, know your carry rules.) Things get quiet when I walk ahead of her.

 

She does not like it but now understands when she read about Chinese people being sprayed with Lysol. One Chinese woman was beaten to death by a bunch of thugs who thought she had COVID. Of course, incidents like this get exaggerated by the Chinese press here so the Chinese people here start buying guns.

 

Old feelings of Vietnam are hard to keep tucked away.

[danb]

Yesterday, I got back from the store about 7:30. I got several things that were either the last or 2nd to last items. I got to the store at 6:00. The only thing that I bought that was excessive was a 20 pack of TP. As far as food I got some can foods, soup, vegetables and fruit. I am still looking for a hand sanitizer. I was going to go back to the store today for ice cream and to Taco bell for a snack. I thought about it and said, "hey stupid" stay at home. No need to mix with crowds. Some times the choices that we make are sound and some of them are "stupid". I am trying to figure if my current new idea is smart or stupid. I have read the posts on this forum about masks. In general I know that I don't need one. I don't work in the medical field. I don't use public transportation. At work I have a medium exposure to co workers. It also helps that I work 2nd shift. (less workers) So, I got this idea to have my Lao Po some me some N95 mask from China and perhaps some lite-weight silk like scarfs/ mufflers. Rectangular in shape, 4 in by 20 inch. They are not to be had in my area. Rationally I know I don't need them but I have this...urging to have them. I think it would give me piece of mind that I have them in my closet. Silly? Do you all have a cache of mask? Also how much cost and time would it be to get them from China? I hope everyone is well and please take care. Danb

[DocMartin817]

I don't know how you can get masks there -- back in the USA -- since I am still stuck in Wuhan with Liwen. We have to wear masks every time we go outside. Everyone does. I do not like masks -- but I wear one because if I don't I will be told to put one on. I know they are not effective in stopping the virus. They do stop the spread from the person who may have the virus though. Then I read one good reason for wearing a mask. If only people who have the virus wear masks, they would be shunned -- like wearing a sign -- I have the coronavirus! And people who may have the coronavirus would not wear them so as not to be stigmatized. But if everyone wears them, then it is okay for the person who thinks they may have the virus to wear it too. So why not take the effort to wear a mask then?

By the way, we are still completely quarantined in Wuhan. I keep hearing rumors that we will soon be able to leave the apartment complex once every three days to go grocery shopping -- but so far that is all they are -- just rumors. I cannot emphasize enough to keep your social distance. Learn from Wuhan -- we now have had 5 days without one new case of coronavirus being reported. We had two people who had to go back to the hospital who were previously released and one reported case was not the virus. But we have survived the first wave -- and hopefully can stop the second wave when the people who left Wuhan are allowed back in and people once again can ride buses and walk the city. So please take care.

[Allon]

JUst another obvious thing but maybe some don't know: hand sanitizers are usually 61% ethanol. Not effective enough. Get some isopropyl alcohol in a small sprayer and use that. It will kill the bugs. Hard on the hands but mix with aloe or glycerin with rose water. Don't dilute too much.

 

Another killer is chlorine or bleach. Mix 4-5 teaspoons with 32 fl ounces of water in a good sprayer. Good to go. Spray the handles, door knobs,any unpainted surface. Cheap and it works.

[danb]

The mask situation in the US is very confusing but the bottom line is that I don't think they are presently available to the average citizen except maybe for a very dear penny. There seem to be a shortage of them now but sometime in the future there may be a huge excess of them. At the present there are millions of them that are on order and also being made. It sound as if there millions and millions on order but not many available. Hospitals and medical personnel are complaining that they have less than a weeks supply of masks left. I don't understand why they are having to play catch up. I was in China and Asia in December and January and maybe a week in February. In the beginning of my travel I saw almost no masks being worn. At the end of January there some people who were wearing masks on the planes. In February the number of mask wearers greatly increase but was still less 60 % on the planes that I was on. In the states there are not many people wearing mask around the city that I live in. Some but very little. But I think that may change as Covid-19 takes hold here. From the few people I have talked to in China it is mandatory to wear masks when outside and there are citizens who monitor that you are.. Is that true? BTW the way, I heard today that 100.4F or 38.0C degree is the temperature that determines whether one has a "high" temperature. I didn't know that. Doc , I wish you and your wife good health. Take care.

[Randy W]

I was flagged as 'high' when they got my temperature at 37.3°C (37.2 = 99.0°F is okay). They verify with the underarm thermometer, and then it must be reported.

 

Jiaying had to show them my passport so they could report the ID.

 

I had her turn down the heater - no more problem (the room temperature affects the reading).

 

Masks are in plentiful supply in China, and they are exporting the excess capacity. Some were even donated to those poor, medically starving people in America.

 

DISCLAIMER: Sarcasm not intended. Only a reference to what our parents used to tell us about "poor starving children in China" to get us to clean our plates.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the NY Times


The U.S. Needs China’s Masks, as Acrimony Grows
Beijing has signaled a willingness to supply the U.S. as its outbreak spreads. Increasingly harsh language and logistical issues could make it difficult to reach deals.

“If China or any other country has some masks, gloves or other products we need for the American people, we welcome that with open arms,” he said. “What we don’t need is some kind of propaganda exercise during a crisis that the actions of the Chinese Communist Party have made far more serious than it otherwise would have been.”

 

See Jack Ma's donation at http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/50049-coronavirus-in-the-u-s/page-3?do=findComment&comment=644423

[Randy W]

more from the NY Times article

American officials have estimated that the country would need 3.5 billion masks to cope with a yearlong pandemic. Local health officials in the United States say nurses, doctors and other responders face hazards to their own health as infections mount.


China has what they need. Beijing undertook an enormous national mobilization to respond to its outbreak and now produces 116 million masks a day, or about 12 times what it made before. Most are disposable surgical masks, not the N95 respirators that health care professionals need. But a second wave of production of N95 respirators is starting to come onto the market, respirator and mask traders said.

 

 

[Cale1953]

Part of the problem is that masks in North America ended up back in China in January and February as the parallel traders bought them up and shipped them back. You cant blame them there was a desperate need for masks at the time and it was profitable to do so.

 

They are not really high tech items and in theory it should be possible to ramp up mass production and I think we will see a lot more in the future.

[Greg.D.]

I sent a really nice box of 20 n95 3M foldable health care (not industrial) + 6 of those stiff 3M masks in January. They got them in China 2 weeks later. I noticed the U. S. was very late in increasing domestic supply.

 

I’m sure a lot of individuals sent masks to family and friends.

 

But, the material has to be limiting and the machinery to make the masks would be the bottleneck here, too. I heard that China issued a ban on mask export and then a day or two later the 100% independent citizen/not a tool of the party Jack Ma was sending us a million or so out of his private reserve.

 

If you don’t live in NYC you might only need a mask for going to the store. If you do live there, you should be worried.

 

Mrs Greg went to Walmart this past Sunday to pick up an online order (they moved such pickups to an inside the store location rather than bringing it to you in the parking lot. Thanks, Walmart). She said there were entire multigenerational families shopping together, from infants to grandparents. She was the only one with a mask.

 

The next morning at 7 AM she went to our business Costco and it was a different scene: single shoppers, only a few white people without a mask. Most had gloves. Staff didn’t touch anything of yours. People spaced at 6 feet in the lines.

 

No raw meat on the shelves. Still.

[danb]

That article that Randy posted was an interesting read. There are many facets about the relationship between China and the USA:

 

 

" China, already the world’s largest producer of such gear by far, has ramped up factory output and is now signaling that it wants to help."

We dont seem to hear 'Made in the USA or Made in Japan' much anymore.

"Washington and Beijing make handy foils for each other — and essential protective gear could get caught in the middle unless they reach an understanding."

" At heart, the two countries, which only recently reached a truce in President Trump’s trade war, have some similar problems. Both face harsh questions over their missteps in responding to the outbreak. "

So now is that why there is a lot of finger pointing at each other? I would think that at this time it might be healthier to hold one's tongue and let our people and medical personnel breathe thru much need masks from China.

Just my two cents. Danb

[eseum]

The U.S. didn't reduce tariffs on masks and other medical supplies, from China, useful in combating the virus until March 5th. The U.S. seems to be falling all over itself in response to this problem. Hopefully we can get it together before things really go south.

 

We don't go out much except for exercise. We have enough of everything important to last at least a month. I spend most of my time on the computer doing family research for a family genealogy. I also try to read for several hours every day. Thankfully, I purchased several hundreds of dollars worth of books from the bookstore before it shuttered due to the virus.

 

I can recommend "The Martian" by Andy Weir. It is one of the best scientifically based scifi books I have read in a while. It is the basis for the movie. which I have not seen yet. For history, I am currently reading "The Immortal Irishman" by Timothy Egan. It chronicles the life Thomas Meagher and is quite an eye opener for English, Irish and American history. For those with a love of the strange, try "Killing Commendatorie" by Haruki Murakami, my favorite author of the weird, strange and yet somehow of the very human.