Don’t Panic Buy for the Coronavirus

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

As the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic has been growing and progressing around the world, the level of panic here in the United States has increased. Some of this panic is due to social media, but the blame for most of it can be laid at the feed of the mainstream media.

This has resulted in stores being sold out of a number of items; some which are useful in protecting us from the disease and others which are not. The nationwide frenzy in buying toilet paper and medical masks make it clear that people are just following the herd, buying things that everyone else is, without thinking things through.

This raises the question that all those people should be asking themselves; namely, What should we be doing to get ready and protect ourselves from the virus?

First of all, if the virus hasn’t made it to your city and you don’t have contact with anyone who has been to an area where people are sick with the disease, you’re safe. Coronavirus can’t travel from city to city on its own; it needs to be carried by someone who is already infected.

Once it does get to your city, there are two ways you can catch it. The most likely is through aerosol. This happens when people who are infected cough or sneeze. Virus-rich droplets of spittle end up leaving their mouths, in something that looks like the mist out of a can of spray paint, if you could see it. that mist can travel as far as 12 feet (although most people are saying no more than six feet). If you are within range, you can breathe that in, getting infected in the process.

The second way you can get the disease is through direct physical contact with someone who has the disease or something they have coughed or sneezed on. The Coronavirus is able to live outside the body, on a hard surface, for as long as 9 days, according to the CDC. If you touch such a surface, and then touch your face, you could transfer the virus to your face or even into one of the openings in your face, infecting yourself.

So, protecting yourself is more about what you do and don’t do, than what you have. Masks really aren’t all that effective, except to put them on people who have the disease. Medical personnel say that the best thing that masks do for them, is remind them not to touch their own faces.

A mask will help if you are in direct contact with someone who has the disease, such as caring for a sick family member. But that doesn’t mean you need to walk around town wearing one.

More than anything, the best thing any of us can do is to wash our hands frequently. Washing your hands, with normal soap, removes half the bacteria on them. Then, avoid touching your face. If anyone in your family or place of work has the disease, be sure to clean everything they come into contact with, with a disinfectant cleaner.

As for those who are spreading the disease via aerosol, do the world a favor and give them a mask to wear. Other than that, stay away from them… far away. That’s ultimately more effective than you wearing a mask.

The disease is going to have to run its course, unless the government opts for instituting a quarantine. There are limits as to what they can do with a quarantine, but chances are they are going to try at some point in time. Quarantine is the absolute best way of stopping the spread of the disease, as the virus depends on our interaction to allow it to spread from one person to another.

With the possibility of quarantine being quite real, you want to make sure that you have at least two weeks worth of food in the house. Ideally, this should be non-perishable food, but there’s really no reason to think that the power will go out and your food would spoil.

In addition to the food, it’s a good idea to stockpile some disinfectants and cleaning supplies. That will allow you to clean any surfaces which are suspect of being contaminated. Since disinfectants are another thing that people are emptying the shelves of, you can buy chlorine bleach instead. Mix it with clean water at a rate of ¼ cup bleach to 1 gallon water. That will give you a strong enough solution to use as a disinfectant. Put it in spray bottles, so that it is easy to use.

You’ll also need hand sanitizer; another thing that’s sold out in most places. So, once again, you can make your own. Use 1 cup of 70% rubbing alcohol, ½ cup of aloe vera gel and about 15 drops of tea tree oil, mixing them all together thoroughly. This works as well as the commercial hand sanitizer you can buy. Have everyone in your family carry it with them, to disinfect their hands, when there isn’t a sink nearby.

It’s all just one more part of taking care of yourself and surviving; just like keeping your powder dry and your survival gear close at hand.

p.s. I don’t normally tout products, but if you need a water filter that will filter out the Coronavirus, I’d recommend the Sawyer water purifier system. But don’t buy the “mini” or “micro” versions, they’re rated for 0.1 microns. Instead, go for the larger filter, which as far as I know is only sold as part of the “Bucket Adapter System.” This filter is rated at 0.02 microns, small enough to catch any virus.

Dr. Rich

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