COVID-19 / Coronavirus Prep

Written: 3/10/2020 @ 4:25 PM EST

When changes are made then I will put an update time on this.

Preparation

Here are the quick bullet points:

This isn't the apocalypse; but it is going to be a bad time. The mortality rates vary by age but average many times worse than flu.
Minimizing non essential travel and trips out is smart.
Keep three feet separation between people as a general guideline.
Having extra food on hand is worthwhile; having lots of water isn't because you can't practically have enough on hand.
In terms of food - treat it as you are pre-buying groceries for a bad winter storm; just get things that last for a long time and the best case scenario is you donate stuff to food banks / homeless shelters.
This is a respiratory thing so if you have asthma then you want to have an extra inhaler on hand before they run out.
Key things to buy in addition to food: Cough and Cold Medicine, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Paper Towels, Toilet paper
It is unclear to me that hand sanitizer works on virus but hand washing does work so do the soap and water drill.
Cracked hands and small cuts on the hands are places for infection to get in so put moisturizer, bandaids and Neosporin where you need them (I put them in my cars).
There are likely to be supply chain issues on things from China.
Masks generally speaking aren't worthwhile and are best saved for emergency workers.
Hand washing is a must when you return home - make sure to NOT use a shared towel for drying (buy extra paper towels) and to turn off the water with your elbow.