Thought it would be good to break off from other threads to discuss personal experiences/plans and observations in you community
For us we are stocking up a bit on semi -perishables (I’m not a rice beans or pasta person) so buying things like cheese and eggs that last a good long time. Also just got a bunch of those individually wrapped boneless skinless chicken breast for freezer. Frozen veggies etc…
We had no travel plans so no change their.
More vigilant about hand washing and Purell. And then lotion at night.
Stores here out of Purell Advil, Cold eze (???)
Manager at grocery said restocking cart wipes twice a day ( used to be once a month)
My mostly Russian/Polish employee salon has been inundate with clients who used ,to go to Chinese employee salon
I am bringing home my work laptop every day to make sure I can work if Metro cancels bus routes. Other than this, we always have a stocked pantry and freezer.
We’ve been taking care of my elderly mother for over a year, so we are fully stocked with gloves, hand sanitizer and bleached wipes. We were vigilant about wiping down door knobs, all surfaces when she was in rehab and have been doing the same at home.
Besides purell, I am bringing a ziploc bag of bleached wipes and gloves to wipe down airplane seats and tables for upcoming trip. Something that I should have done all along. Those tables are nasty!
I’m taking normal business trips (domestic flights) with just my normal precautions… There is no evidence around here in the mid-South of anyone changing behaviors. At work we have a committee to plan for any shutdowns or local alerts.
I generally wash my hands a lot anyway because I have a small bladder and while I’m cooking and cleaning up in the kitchen. I use moisturizer constantly because I wash my hands so much.
I never use wipes at the grocery store and I don’t use
any antibacterials like Purell.
I also don’t use a paper towel etc., to open doors or to touch anything.
I was on a flight two weeks ago and didn’t wipe down anything.
I am going to do my regular marketing next week. I always buy enough for two weeks as I hate shopping. When I run out of fresh veggies I use the frozen ones I have. I buy big bags of those every so often because I don’t like having to run to the market in between shops. I also always have a lot of meat and poultry in my freezer because my husband has a lot of very late nights at the office, so it’s easier for him if I make casseroles type meals that can be reheated easily when he comes home (plus he is the griller in the family.)
The only trip planned In the next few months is just an overnight stay for a Bat Mitzvah next week and we are driving.
I went to a couple of different grocery stores this weekend and saw no obvious hoarding or stockpiling. Life seems to be going on as usual.
I was looking into a trip to Europe in the summer but now I am just waiting to see how things develop. And I am considering a driving trip rather than a flight for domestic travel. I think I will be in contact with fewer people that way. But since driving is statistically more dangerous, I may fly. Still up in the air on that one.
I bought Clorox wipes yesterday and a larger bag of rice than I would normally buy. Other than that, life goes on as normal.
I’m going to a large conference on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if there are any special precautions there.
My biggest concern is two upcoming trips we have planned. We are heading to my daughter’s graduation in late April, with my 85 year old mother who has leukemia. Then, the following week we are heading to Orlando to Walt Disney world (not with my mom). H and I have already had discussions of contingency plans if this all blows up.
I get the concern, but I honestly think this kind of post feeds the hype. Hand washing is the number one thing we can all do.
Having said that, maybe something good will come from all this. Maybe we will all take more care to keep our hands clean and away from our mouths, nose, and eyes.
Frankly, I’m far more concerned about the economic impact of this.
I also am not doing much besides trying to be informed and learning. I work in a hospital setting but for the most part am not involved in patient care. I trust the health care system to communicate and educate us well there.
I really think at anytime in my house I have a month worth of food. Might not be exactly everything I want and surely I’d run out of some things, but we could eat for a few weeks for sure from our freezer/pantry.
I’m sort of stumped why the purell shortages. If I’m stuck at home contact with other will not be a factor and besides, what’s wrong with soap and water? (I get some purell for traveling but otherwise??
@abasket, I work at a mental health clinic and our office manager bought bottles of Purell for all the therapists to have at their desks. I think purchases like that could fuel a shortage.
I plan to buy big bags of frozen veggies and fruits. That’s the only item we’d need if we couldn’t go outside for a long period of time. I’m thinking there may be quarantines of certain areas of the country at different times. I have no reason to leave my house (except for the gym, which I could pretty much do at home) so it would really just be a minor inconvenience.
I don’t keep a lot of food in the house. I went and bought 2-3 weeks old food. Soups, pasta, beans, fruit, vegetables. Frozen vegetables and chicken. Toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, hand sanitizer and meds. All this stuff I use regularly, so to me it’s no big deal. You never know when you need to be home.
I probably jumped the gun and bought N95 masks, but can send them back when they arrive or try to call and cancel. DH says keep if we ever need them in the future.
Started trying to remember to wash my hands and not touch my face. I’m a big face toucher. Easier said than done.
We are visiting family in Denver. Went to the zoo yesterday. It was crowded as… a zoo. Family bougt a large box of Corona beer and some Kirkland signature paper supplies. Costco here looked like a typical Costco on a weekend day.
A few people in my family have food allergies, so we’ve always been proactive about washing hands and surfaces. I’ve stocked up on wipes (both disinfecting and Castile soap) and gloves to avoid running out if others buy them up. Same with shelf-stable foods – a very small segment of what’s available is safe for my family members. I’ve been bumping up that inventory.
Husband works at a VA in non-medical capacity. We started talking about a go-kit to keep him comfortable if he ends up having to stay on the campus.
My 89 y.o. mother is already a homebody who’s happiest with hardly any social contact, so at least avoiding crowds won’t be a hardship for her. I’m concerned about her risk level because of age plus she had TB decades ago. I take her to appointments and buy/deliver her groceries. Will just keep a sharper than usual eye out for how she’s feeling and take it from there.
Have already moved up our regular order of medical equipment for son who has major physical disabilities, will do the same for his medication tomorrow.
We used to always stock at least two weeks worth of non perishable food per our local official recommendations, but have to ask H what happened to our stocks when we moved recently (have a hunch most of it is buried in the boxes all over the house we haven’t gotten around to open yet. Will do so before starving I’m sure.) I recall that bottled water is actually part of the official recommendation because they’re meant to cover more than one type of emergency. Personally, I couldn’t be bothered right now to think through whether it makes sense for this specific crisis to stock up on some foodstuffs but not on others.
Due to sons disability, we always have loads of hand sanitizer around anyway. Need to think about gloves some more.
The one thing I’m really doing differently is washing my hands often for at least 20 seconds. I never thought about it before but my average hand washing time was about 5-7 seconds, not really long enough to do too much. I’m still surprised how many times in the men’s public bathroom that guys don’t wash their hands after using the urinal and someone’s the stall. Wow!
Regarding travel, I’m still going on out of state business trips almost weekly, but will be more diligent about not touching my face and trying to stay away from the crowds the best I can.
I have a feeling in the coming weeks as the virus spreads in the US that people will stop shaking hands until this pandemic blows over.