Coronavirus
The financial media can't stop talking about the Coronvirus. It's the culprit of last week's horrendous stock losses - so they say. Our official health "authorities" don't talk about it that much, although it seems things are heating up in the last few days. Other non-official, but authoritative sources have emerged and been more vocal.
Since I’m not an expert in this area, I can't offer any authoritative advice except this: Take this seriously and do your homework re any precautions and preparations you think prudent. Those who dismiss this don’t have enough evidence to do so. Conversely, that doesn’t mean those calling for dire scenarios have any more or better evidence on which they base their predictions.
However, I will comment on the term “Pandemic.” I suggest you look it up and perhaps contrast it with the term “epidemic.” Here’s one comparison we found:
A disease that quickly and severely affects a large number of people and then subsides is an epidemic: throughout the Middle Ages, successive epidemics of the plague killed millions. Epidemic is alsoused as an adjective: she studied the causes of epidemic cholera. A disease that is continually present in an area and affects a relatively small number of people is endemic: malaria is endemic in (or to) hot, moist climates. A pandemic is a widespread epidemic that may affect entire continents or even the world: the pandemic of 1918 ushered in a period of frequent epidemics of gradually diminishing severity. Thus, from an epidemiologist's point of view, the Black Death in Europe and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are pandemics rather than epidemics.
Note that the term “pandemic” describes the extent of the spread of a disease, not its severity. So if the authorities deem to call this a pandemic (as many other sources have already so stated), that doesn’t make the virus worse or more threatening. It is what it is. And what it is remains something uncertain to this point.
Again, I’m not an expert, but our family has taken some simple precautions that include stocking up on food in case supplies are curtailed. We’ve also stocked up on certain non-food items such as paper goods, including toilet paper. Perhaps you might think of what people do in anticipation of a snow storm or - more so - a hurricane. If you’ve had any experience with these, you’ve likely seen store shelves empty pretty quickly. And in the event of supply chain disruptions - which have already started in certain industries - restocking may take some time.
I’ve seen suggestions on stocking up on water supplies as well.
And if you rely on your car, don’t let your gas tank run down. I topped ours off on Thursday.
That’s it for suggested precautions and preparation. Do your own research and thinking and do what you think appropriate. Don’t rely on this post's examples and suggestions. Again, I’m no expert.
Since I’m not an expert in this area, I can't offer any authoritative advice except this: Take this seriously and do your homework re any precautions and preparations you think prudent. Those who dismiss this don’t have enough evidence to do so. Conversely, that doesn’t mean those calling for dire scenarios have any more or better evidence on which they base their predictions.
However, I will comment on the term “Pandemic.” I suggest you look it up and perhaps contrast it with the term “epidemic.” Here’s one comparison we found:
A disease that quickly and severely affects a large number of people and then subsides is an epidemic: throughout the Middle Ages, successive epidemics of the plague killed millions. Epidemic is alsoused as an adjective: she studied the causes of epidemic cholera. A disease that is continually present in an area and affects a relatively small number of people is endemic: malaria is endemic in (or to) hot, moist climates. A pandemic is a widespread epidemic that may affect entire continents or even the world: the pandemic of 1918 ushered in a period of frequent epidemics of gradually diminishing severity. Thus, from an epidemiologist's point of view, the Black Death in Europe and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are pandemics rather than epidemics.
Note that the term “pandemic” describes the extent of the spread of a disease, not its severity. So if the authorities deem to call this a pandemic (as many other sources have already so stated), that doesn’t make the virus worse or more threatening. It is what it is. And what it is remains something uncertain to this point.
Again, I’m not an expert, but our family has taken some simple precautions that include stocking up on food in case supplies are curtailed. We’ve also stocked up on certain non-food items such as paper goods, including toilet paper. Perhaps you might think of what people do in anticipation of a snow storm or - more so - a hurricane. If you’ve had any experience with these, you’ve likely seen store shelves empty pretty quickly. And in the event of supply chain disruptions - which have already started in certain industries - restocking may take some time.
I’ve seen suggestions on stocking up on water supplies as well.
And if you rely on your car, don’t let your gas tank run down. I topped ours off on Thursday.
That’s it for suggested precautions and preparation. Do your own research and thinking and do what you think appropriate. Don’t rely on this post's examples and suggestions. Again, I’m no expert.
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