Rongnongno Loc: FL

Personal understanding:
Is the risk of infection serious? Yes.
Is this hyped too much? Yes. This leads to panic.
Is there a need to panic? No.
Is there a need to stock up? No, mitigated by folks who panic buy and create a situation of apparent penury. So far my wife and I have not felt the impact because we go to stores at the right time and get what we need in time.

Medical:
Short supplies of masks and other consumables are due to panic more than anything.
Respirators are in short supply. This could be mitigated if and only if the Gvt orders companies to produce them, so far, nothing. Yes it is a criticism.
Vaccination will come in time, not soon enough for many but it will come. Trust the scientists and researchers instead of bashing them.

Political:
The reaction to the virus depends not on the humanity of a person but on the political leanings. THAT IS SHAMEFUL.
Bail out is the most infuriating senseless step taken by the Gvt. Folks need help, not corporations. Folks include all the small businesses that employ only a few people. These, despite the appearance are not covered or helped at all.

Examples to recognize:
Some individuals took steps to help like the billionaire in Detroit that suspended all rents in his business buildings until the crisis is over.
A few banks also are taking steps to prevent further deterioration by stopping eviction procedure and interest payments for the duration.

People to recognize and support at all cost:
Healthcare professionals
Emergency services workers
Police in the street
Military deployed to help
I am sure my list is too short.

howIseeit Loc: Kootenays, BC Canada

I am with You on those points too!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

blackest Loc: Ireland

I would include the people who help bring us food especially the shop workers, most of us can limit interaction with other people but they get to be exposed to everyone and the ugly side of humanity.

I guess i'm lucky to be an essential worker that can mostly work from home.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

Pretty much find myself in full agreement with your thoughtful analysis - There is however one item you did not discuss - Mass repeated testing of the population - Until that happens we are a lot like the cat chasing it's tail -- From what I have read there is about a two week period from the time an individual catches this virus until they "think" may have it. Ongoing testing would identify those individuals & allow the medical community to properly isolate them-- In other words flatten the damn curve --- Maybe even get healthy folks out of their isolation & back to work & kids back into their classrooms

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

So, what do you think about the "duration"?

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I have always "stocked up" when I went shopping. Not to excess, but because I have room to store a couple months of stuff like TP. When there's a sale I buy one or two large packages (e.g. 20 TP rolls in a pkg). I don't consider that hoarding but only limiting necessary trips to the store. As far as TP is concerned I estimate the two of us use one roll per week, so a large package is around 4-5 months supply. Similarly, I buy large packages of paper towels when they're on sale.

I don't see a need to buy a lot of milk. We go through 2-3 half gallon cartons a week so I usually get 3. In most stores that pretty much matches the expiration date. Costco sells milk with a fairly long expiration date so I have occasionally gotten 6 there, but since it limits the space available for other stuff in the fridge I don't usually do that.

OTOH, my normal consumption of rubbing alcohol is about a pint per year. So we usually have only 1 or 2 in the house. When the usage rate suddenly rises by a few thousand percent, it becomes a problem.

(Download)

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I am, like everyone, in the dark and guessing.

A contagion comes in waves so we are in for the long run, not 'just' a couple of weeks. Especially that it has been published by reliable sources that it can be caught again by folks who were 'cured'. So... Only when a vaccine or an effective way to prevent it will we be 'safe'.

That is my opinion and 'take', like the rest of this thread.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

We have the room for some stuff also. It just reduces the number of trips to the store. Living in Florida for a long time, I have a tendency to stock up on a FEW more things when a bad storm (snow/water) is coming through. I never panic buy, a little extra each week at the beginning of the storm season.
Costco TP lasts months, a box of Costco kitchen trash bags lasts two years...
I didn't buy anything that had to have water added to make it when I prepared for hurricanes, NOR any perishables.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I agree that this will not end soon. By that I think the waves will be coming for months, or more.
The economy will be in trouble even longer.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I actually made a big purchase this year...

I purchased a water filtration system for the well in anticipation of the next hurricane season. I had been looking at this for about a couple of years now. Each year is getting us closer to the 'big one' so, this virus thing 'told me' to get ready because if we have both... Good luck.

Do I think we will lose water? No. Could it be polluted or contaminated? Possibly. The well is drinkable (I have it tested every other year).

Now this thing has been sitting in the garage for a couple of months so... Maybe I need to install it?

Anhanga Brasil Loc: Cabo Frio - Brazil

Fully agree.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

If you're sitting at home with nothing else to do, any project is worth starting.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Wouldn't hurt to install it!
Agnes came through PA in 1972? Our water facility was under water for a week or two.
That was fun.

repleo Loc: Boston

The number one priority has to be PPE for our HCWs. A respirator is useless without a whole team of Doctors and Nurses to run it. Our HCW's are heroes but they are not superheroes. They face the same danger of infection as the rest of us. They cannot attend to a patient if they are infected. Without qualified staff to run them, the respirators will just sit in storerooms and corridors while patients die gasping for air. In other words :
No PPE = No medical staff = Useless respirators = Dead patients
What is the Govt doing with the strategic stockpile? It is not going to the centers that need it most. It is starting to look suspiciously like the Govt is playing political favorites with these essential supplies.