Grocery store shelves are being emptied all over the country...

You need to keep in mind the hospitalization levels. Patients requiring hospitalization range from 15% to 20%.
The places with the highest death rates are those where the healthcare infrastructure gets overwhelmed.

There is little immunity among the adult population. So if even 10% of the population requires hospitalization in the next 3 months, many people will die. If 10% require hospitalization over the next year, fewer people will die.

 

Don't assume that everything you're seeing is actually the correct response. At least some of it really was bonkers extreme, counterproductive and stupid.

It's an infection none of us have had before. We can't afford to all get it at once. The right thing to do is really hard to do: take turns disengaging from society in 2-3 week cycles as the disease passes through the population.

 

johns hopkins is a good site for reasonable information

 

taking simple zinc and vitamin C before being infected with covid reduces symptoms, duration and severity significantly .
Simple antique unpleasant Niacin after infection reduces lung damage in compromised patients

my guess is we can’t officially endorse any of the above
since people will OD on zinc and end up in the hospital not realizing one pill is more effective than a bottle at a time.

 

Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Coronavirus Deaths - The New York Times

I'll quote the highlight:

So a bit worse than the annual flu.

The good news is that is the worst case scenario if we do nothing. If we take aggressive measures (close all but essential stores, stay at home, social distancing, etc) we can reduce that number significantly.

 

What amazes me is the level of panic from something not nearly as serious as the 1918 flu .. or polio .. or cholera. It's potentially serious and could be fatal, but so is a lot of other stuff. The fact is none of us are getting off this planet alive, unless we're astronauts and we die in space.

 

My wife, being very prepared for things like this, already had several packages of Lysol disinfecting wipes at home. She placed one each to our cars, and told us to use it as we enter the car from outside world to keep the inside of the cars "clean". She then told our adult son to hide the wipes out of site through windows. Oh NO, I never thought there would be a day we are worried about our cars being broken into because of a disinfecting wipe. sigh

 

It's going to continue to be a problem.

The people of Wuhan already proved that you can all stay the f home, sending out one member per household to gather groceries once a week, and the grocery stores and distribution chains could run on skeleton crews.

All this other stuff we did with filling two carts full of TP, pickles and peanut butter just served to maximize community transmission while standing in line, and get a whole bunch of useful groceries oddly allocated.

This has encouraged a synchronized spike of cases. It could happen if there was a lot of community transmission in progress- it's the perfect way to make self-scattering hotspots.

Bottom line: we could have made a vastly smarter and smoother transition from normal activity to an emergency lockdown.

 

My wife does the same. Wives are so sweet to keep all the family functioning.

 

Well, the problem with keeping wet wipes in a car was that... THEY WERE FROZEN SOLID THIS MORNING WHEN I TRIED TO USE IT.

 

maybe use alcohol wipes in the car, and use the bleach/soap ones elsewhere?

 

Yeah, if we can buy any new alcohol wipes from stores.

 

You're one tough dude.... not to be worried about something that has a 1 or 2 percent chance (greater in some areas?) of killing you. Me, I don't ever want to get as sick as I have been in the past with the flu & double pneumonia. I hope all your 40 (more?) extended family members, babies, cousins, nephews, nieces, other relatives, friends, acquaintances, friends of friends, work partners, & community members are as tough as you. It appears that many, many people weren't as tough as you. Its so nice to communicate with someone that really believes in survival of the fittest & heck with the rest of you. Must be very comforting to be.... so tough, & not care about others.

 

Thank you. I'll start taking some mineral & vitamin supplements.

P.S. My wife just found the good multi-vitamans & minerals that I have been neglecting to take.

 

Pandemics....nucular war....climate change....Politics.....
There's a world of stuff out there to worry about if you're into that sort of thing.
1. People's reaction to this bug will be worse then the bug. I'm thinking that there will be many MANY more bankruptcies than fatalities.
2. Welcome to Prepper-101....or living where there are hurricanes...or earthquakes...ice storms....etc.
There are people who prepare for these things and there are those who do not.
3. I find that the older I get, the less I worry.
I used to sleep deep underwater sandwiched between a hissing nuclear reactor and (the potential for ) live nuclear weapons......all built by the lowest bidder and over 30 years old.
You just sorta ration your worrying after that.

As somebody said earlier....this will probably develop some good muscle memory for the next thing that comes along.
Computer virus next time, maybe?

 

That is a good example of not interpreting the numbers properly.

While what you say is absolutely true, there is absolutely NO evidence that the amount of serious complications will be anywhere near that high.
The fatality rates quoted are a percentage of those INFECTED, not a percentage of the whole population.

So, just making up some numbers........if 10% of the whole population becomes infected and the fatality rate is 3%......then it should be expected that about 3 out of a thousand will die. NOT 3 out of every hundred.

 

No need to be confrontational here.
It is not "being tough", it is being practical.

And I will go one step farther:
MOST of those who die from this likely would be dead in the next year or two anyway.

I say that not to change anybody's mind on the subject.......but as food for honest thought.
AND....although not there yet, I am getting close to being in that category myself.

 

Look for a gas station that sells E85 ????

 

Which is just shy of 1 Million people? Do you not consider that worthy of taking precautions?

The whole idea is we take precautions so that we don't have a catastrophic event. If we wait until it is obviously happening, it is too late.
Look at Italy vs South Korea. Italy delayed taking serious steps, and they are now in a world of hurt. South Korea took very strong, very quick steps and has minimized the impact.

When you have a new illness for which the populace has little to no resistance, it can be a problem.

 

Its good to know that coronavirus-filled hospitals, have no other patients with other health concerns to deal with, during the increasing coronavirus increase. Lots of room in them their hospitals.