Covid-19 Supplies

[Ma'am]

What do you think or what are you doing?

I used to keep many months worth of nonperishables, frozen foods and household supplies anyway just because it was more convenient but I stopped that a few years back.

Right now, I estimate that if we absolutely had to, we have enough of everything to get by for a month. (We are in the middle of moving).

Also, I feel like the worst things that could happen besides the stores being out of everything (even if due to hoarding), are:

1) If the police were spread too thin and/or there were too many people doing without. So whatever type of personal and home protection one can get and believes in is good.

2) The worst thing about getting Covid-19 would be if you could not breathe and the hospitals were short on staff or equipment. I got so stuck on this idea (we are both ex-smokers) that I ordered an oxygen concentrator but it is taking a long, long time to get here. Also, er, I don't quite understand it so I'm not even sure if it would even be that extra layer of protection.

What do you think?

[Irwin]

I keep a spare bottle of tequila, just in case people start hoarding it.

[Ma'am]

I keep a spare bottle of tequila, just in case people start hoarding it.

They just might! :p

[Amnesiac]

Tons of rice, tons of beans, tons of flour, tons of masa. I am fine. Plus, I have a super-stocked bar. If Rome is going to burn, lemme just go rosin up my bow. I also have a decent bank account, I'm debt-free, and I grew up in a remote mountain town, so if the power grid goes tango-uniform, it's no sweat: I know how to use kerosene lanterns and candles, and I have a great abundance of both.

[Ma'am]

It seems to me either the hoarders are stocked up now or the supply is catching up with demand. I was able to order a bunch of disposable masks online yesterday, some even n95 when before, the few that were available were being reserved for medical workers.

I was also able to order a bunch hand sanitizer, which previously was also in short supply online and largely being reserved for medical workers as well.

Also, for my online pick-up grocery shopping, previously there was a limit of two on just about everything but now the limit is four or six.

Like everyone probably, I'm eager for any hint of this situation improving.

[Foxee]

I've always bought an extra of things when they're on sale and so usually have quite a few pantry items already stocked up to some extent, meat in the freezer, canned tuna stocked up, plenty of dried beans and rice. When things started going out of the stores I started buying basic ingredients instead of things already made (like bread). As luck(?) would have it I started a sourdough starter about a month before the quarantine which is good because I can't find yeast to buy.

Flour's scarce but not impossible to find and I now have what my husband calls my 'hoarder tote' which is just a gray plastic tote for any extra stuff that doesn't fit in the other pantry areas.

I bought barley (people had bought a lot of the rice and beans but apparently don't know what to do with barley) and when flour got scarce I started roasting that and buzzing it down in the blender. Adding that to the white all-purpose flour I can still find adds nutrition and flavor. That combo made some really nice English muffins.

Most of my gardening is done at my mom's and I help her can and freeze food so she stocks up her freezers and canning shelves and I go up to 'mom's store' for tomato soup, green beans, corn, meat and broth, jelly, chili sauce, etc. And she has chickens so that's where I get eggs.

I'm starting some seeds for a kitchen garden as soon as I grab some potting soil.

[CyberWar]

As much as I'd like to see Covid-19 as the reason to indulge my survivalist fantasies and weather the storm in a well-stocked fallout shelter buried in my back yard before emerging to rebuild civilization to my own liking, here in my parts the virus has proven to be little more than an inconvenience. The stores are still open, there's no shortage of goods now or in the foreseeable future, people including myself still go to work. Asides from public recreation venues being shut down, and reasonable restrictions imposed on socializing, life goes on.

So my special Covid supplies are limited to an extra bottle of hand disinfectant. Should the apocalypse truly arrive early, I'd be called up with the military anyway and could let my CO worry about the supplies.

[Xander416]

Most people seem more concerned about toilet paper than anything else, at least where I am. Food? No. Water? Nah. Medical supplies? Screw that. Seriously, toilet paper is the only thing retailers are running out of.

[Amnesiac]

Yeah.... I didn't just go out and buy this stuff. I've been keeping a 4-6 month supply of staples for years, now. I rotate the stock so that it's used, but I always refill that "savings account." Pasta, tons of canned goods, sugar, salt, rice, beans, various condiments, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc. etc. ad infinitum.

BTW, I did the math, this morning. Covid is only .067% lethal, worldwide. That's less than just about anything.

[Irwin]

We got a fresh supply of snow last night.