I think I took a reasonable middle ground between full on panic (which tbh I think a lot of you are doing) and reasonable precaution. Bought 5 gallons of water and enough rice for a week and a few cans of ravioli. I live in california so earthquake preparedness isnt a bad idea either.
I bought the last of the waters though. They were all sold out.
Not sure you understand exponential growth either though as every flu season has exponential growth as well both in infections and deaths and that is with the existence of a decent vaccine and without tracking if deaths are flu related or not. Both sides are spiking the ball here. The correct view is that we lack enough data and should prepare like the worse death percentages are accurate.
I take a train regularly through Beaverton to get to work west of there from Portland. On a typical Sunday there are 40-50 customers at my work, a large arcade. 6pm tonight there were maybe 10 customers.
Are you quite sure the virus can’t stay viable for more than a week?
FWIW, I’ve seen viable on surfaces for a few days thrown about a lot from various sources, but I haven’t really checked thoroughly.
I have read that as the minimum viability. It can even remain viable for much longer (IIRC).
I think I’ve seen posts on reddit says up to 9 days but I don’t think I’ve read any thing official about it. But who knows it seems like everything is just best guesses at this point.
Passengers who were on a flight from Bali to Melbourne on Friday may have been exposed to the coronavirus after a woman on the flight was diagnosed with the illness.
A woman in her 30s, who was on her way back from Iran via Kuala Lumpur and Bali, was on the Malindo Air OD 177 flight that arrived at Melbourne Airport at around 6am on Friday.
She travelled by private car from the airport directly to her home before going to the hospital the following day after developing symptoms of the virus.
This is the third. So many people coming here from Iran have it.
But aren’t there many cases already of healthy people (like doctors and nurses) dying from it, proving it is more dangerous than the flu?
Something can be more deadly to certain groups of people and still kill less people overall. Flu kills children while covid-19 doesn’t. It is all way too soon to tell especially since we have no idea how many people are infected and just beat it without symptons. But we prepare for the worse case where it really kills 2% of infected and it doesn’t change with weather like the flu.
At least that last person killed in WA was in a long-term-care facility according to the link upthread. If someone there gets it, I think they won’t be able to fight it for weeks.
Another reminder that its cold somewhere I the world all year round. This isn’t disappearing in summer, although it may die down in the US.
On the plus side air pollution in China has dropped dramatically.
The flu shot doesn’t really prevent the flu, it prevents bad outcomes when you get the flu. I mean it prevents the flu a little, but it’s really about preventing bad outcomes.
8.8 million extra deaths every year from air pollution
It’s all best guesses, that was my point. No one really knows if COVID-19 stays viable for several days or for several weeks on surfaces. There’s a lot we just don’t know.
I’m trying to get my mom to watch the movie Contagion and give me a review so I can report back to you all; she has been on the waitlist for it at her library for weeks --apparently everyone is hyped to watch this movie right now. My parents routinely keep a closet stocked to the brim with canned goods and toilet paper, which apparently is a Scandinavian/Celtic tradition that I am only now beginning to appreciate.
I myself have six pounds of rice and several cans of baked beans and tomatoes and frozen broccoli and a few liters of water so I am ready to ride out the apocalypse for a few weeks if it comes to that.
Natural disaster every year called “winter”.