Corona virus (covid-19) prepping

well the people of Austin TX are prepping for it by cancelling SxSW completely this year

Gail Jardin wrote:I'm not sure if this is the 'right' thread to share my thoughts. There is construction going on at my apartment complex this week. They contractors are using pressure sprayers for paint, and have no masks on. A couple of these poor guys would cough after a while of painting, it was really sad to see. I can only imagine how many other hard working Americans are out there having to do their daily job without adequate masks because of the mass buying of mask! I read somewhere that the virus can pass through the masks so it only works if the virus is on a larger droplet that can not pass through the filtering ability of the mask.

I can only speak as to what I saw working construction for almost fifteen years.  
Very few contractors (drywallers/tapers/painters) ever wore any kind of filter/mask while working.  I'd walk into a room that looked like fog (from either drywall particulate, or paint) and see the contractor working away.  Coughing, red eyes, etc.  It boggled my mind they didn't protect themselves.
Getting an employer to provide masks (in the construction business) from my own experience was difficult.  I remember working on the underground tunnels at BART (SFO's/the bay areas train/transit system) having to crawl through brake dust filled tunnels where I was covered in black brake dust soot by the end of my shift (I literally looked like I was in "black face" after crawling through the tunnels).  My employer, who normally took great care of me otherwise, told me it was my responsibility to provide a mask, and that they would not.  That was in my younger days before I knew better.....and unfortunately never wore a mask during those jobs.

Just recently I was working at a plant nursery, and I was given a hard time from management about asking for (and then demanding) a mask  while spraying some kind of antifreeze on the plants.  I read the MSDS on the label, and it specifically said to wear gloves and a mask, but they did not want to provide them to me.  I told them I wouldn't do it without a mask.  I was the only employee that wore one while spraying that crap.  Meh.

It cracks me up that I keep hearing people say the masks don't protect from the virus, yet every time I see an "official" near an infected person, they have a mask on, lol.

I didn't buy any masks for preparation, but I do wear an m99? (the kind that is rubber and fits around your face snugly and has two filters) for sifting wood chips.  So I do have one of those with some extra filters already.  Harbor freight still had them in stock today.  I just happened to be in there this morning, and saw a bunch on the shelf.

Joshua Bertram wrote:

Gail Jardin wrote:I'm not sure if this is the 'right' thread to share my thoughts. There is construction going on at my apartment complex this week. They contractors are using pressure sprayers for paint, and have no masks on. A couple of these poor guys would cough after a while of painting, it was really sad to see. I can only imagine how many other hard working Americans are out there having to do their daily job without adequate masks because of the mass buying of mask! I read somewhere that the virus can pass through the masks so it only works if the virus is on a larger droplet that can not pass through the filtering ability of the mask.

I can only speak as to what I saw working construction for almost fifteen years.  
Very few contractors (drywallers/tapers/painters) ever wore any kind of filter/mask while working.  I'd walk into a room that looked like fog (from either drywall particulate, or paint) and see the contractor working away.  Coughing, red eyes, etc.  It boggled my mind they didn't protect themselves.
Getting an employer to provide masks (in the construction business) from my own experience was difficult.  I remember working on the underground tunnels at BART (SFO's/the bay areas train/transit system) having to crawl through brake dust filled tunnels where I was covered in black brake dust soot by the end of my shift (I literally looked like I was in "black face" after crawling through the tunnels).  My employer, who normally took great care of me otherwise, told me it was my responsibility to provide a mask, and that they would not.  That was in my younger days before I knew better.....and unfortunately never wore a mask during those jobs.

Just recently I was working at a plant nursery, and I was given a hard time from management about asking for (and then demanding) a mask  while spraying some kind of antifreeze on the plants.  I read the MSDS on the label, and it specifically said to wear gloves and a mask, but they did not want to provide them to me.  I told them I wouldn't do it without a mask.  I was the only employee that wore one while spraying that crap.  Meh.

It cracks me up that I keep hearing people say the masks don't protect from the virus, yet every time I see an "official" near an infected person, they have a mask on, lol.

I didn't buy any masks for preparation, but I do wear an m99? (the kind that is rubber and fits around your face snugly and has two filters) for sifting wood chips.  So I do have one of those with some extra filters already.  Harbor freight still had them in stock today.  I just happened to be in there this morning, and saw a bunch on the shelf.

I appreciated reading your thorough response. I guess sometimes I just care too much and jump to conclusions. If not wearing masks when working is the norm than I suppose it's not from people hoarding them. If there were masks on the shelves of stores I would probably buy a box. Not for me to wear while healthy but to wear if I get sick so my family would be less exposed. I think the difference between the size of the virus and the filtration of N95 masks is .1 too .2 microns. N95 masks filter down to .3 micron but most viruses have a range of size from .15 too .5. I will admit I do not know where in that range coronavirus falls.  I'm pretty sure if someone has not added masks to their preps by now they will not find any. So the next question is what type of fabric to make a mask out of? Are these types of fabric available as plain fabric to sew masks out of them? If not what else is there that could be used as a filter of some sort? Like what is in the filter of your m99 respirator? Is that substrate easily available?  

Gail Jardin wrote: I think the difference between the size of the virus and the filtration of N95 masks is .1 too .2 microns. N95 masks filter down to .3 micron but most viruses have a range of size from .15 too .5. I will admit I do not know where in that range coronavirus falls.

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that most masks approved for protecting against viruses are designed with aspirated droplet size in mind as opposed to the size of many viruses.  As the photograph below shows, Mers Coronavirus (and likely SARS-CoV2) is approximately 60-80 nm in diameter (0.06-0.08 microns).  The pore size of 0.2 microns is commonly used to demonstrate in the laboratory that bacteria can NOT go through a pore of that size but a most viruses can.  Given that droplet sizes are in the 300 micron (edited correction of original post of 300 nm) range, I could see where masks with pore sizes of 10 microns and smaller might have some efficacy in blocking droplets and agents dissolved within.

photo credit:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/photos.html

Gail Jardin wrote:
I appreciated reading your thorough response. I guess sometimes I just care too much and jump to conclusions. If not wearing masks when working is the norm than I suppose it's not from people hoarding them. If there were masks on the shelves of stores I would probably buy a box. Not for me to wear while healthy but to wear if I get sick so my family would be less exposed. I think the difference between the size of the virus and the filtration of N95 masks is .1 too .2 microns. N95 masks filter down to .3 micron but most viruses have a range of size from .15 too .5. I will admit I do not know where in that range coronavirus falls.  I'm pretty sure if someone has not added masks to their preps by now they will not find any. So the next question is what type of fabric to make a mask out of? Are these types of fabric available as plain fabric to sew masks out of them? If not what else is there that could be used as a filter of some sort? Like what is in the filter of your m99 respirator? Is that substrate easily available?  

You may know that the N99/FFP3 masks - with an exhaust valve - offers better protection than the N95 respirator mask.  Specifically it can filtrate between 30-40 nm (nanoparticles).  Given that the coronavirus is between 60-80 nm then it is effective in preventing inhalation of this virus.

"FFP3 filter showed maximum penetration levels of ∼0.1% at the MPPS (30–40 nm) with varying penetration levels for high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and other filter media at a face velocity of 5.3 cm s−1."

https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/53/2/117/175361

I don't have a mask at home (other than a work-issue fit tested respirator). I'm following the advice to not panic buy masks.

I intend to make these if I need to:

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3050689/how-make-your-own-mask-hong-kong-scientists

They claim they are 80-90% as effective as a normal mask, which seems worthwhile to me!

I'm guilty of stocking up on some of my staple foods from Italy today.
pasta
tomato paste, the tasty one
more pasta from another shop
olive oil, nearly three months worth.  should have got more
pomace olive oil
tinned tomatoes, the good ones
tinned chickpeas for convenience
dry chickpeas
those dry beans i like
olives stuffed with garlic
anchovies
olives stuffed with anchovies
spice mix
risotto rice

you know, just the basics.  we extended our regular stock by an extra couple of months incase the supply chain gets disrupted.

I just came across this about making your own hand sanitizer.

Combine 1/4 cup Aloe Vera gel with 3/4 cup rubbing alcohol. Rub solution on hands for 20 seconds or until dry. Of course instead of rubbing alcohol you could use gin or vodka.

Anup Po wrote:I just came across this about making your own hand sanitizer.

Combine 1/4 cup Aloe Vera gel with 3/4 cup rubbing alcohol. Rub solution on hands for 20 seconds or until dry. Of course instead of rubbing alcohol you could use gin or vodka.

The amount of alcohol in gin or vodka isn't high enough to work according to several sources I've heard, including some vodka company whose name escapes me right now.  The "sweet spot" for the amount of alcohol is right around 70%, so if you want to make your own, my advice is to use 99% if possible and mix 3 parts alcohol to one part aloe like you said.  That will give the best percentage to kill germs.

Amazon has 99% alcohol.  I bought 12 bottles for around $20.  It could very well be sold out by now though, I bought it a few weeks ago.

First would be stay informed and inform your relatives: I just got this from my husband: His son in Fond du lac WI says there are 3 more cases there today, and one of them is where he works.
Be self reliant: No one is coming to save you: Wear nitrile gloves and a mask when going shopping. Nitrile gloves are more puncture resistant and cause no allergies as far as I know.
Gloves are still abundant. They offer protection in both directions: You to others and others to you masks: make your own: An elastic passed through a cloth sleeve and hooking around your ears is easy enough to make. Less porous is better, obviously, but even a little protection is better than none is the way I look at it.
At night, disinfect by dunking in rubbing alcohol, squeeze dry and hang for re-use tomorrow.
Don't travel any more than you have to. Most of you are probably doing that already. Depending on your circumstances, you may try do do only one trip/week: On day X, do your banking, grocery shopping, hardware stop shopping etc. Between the 2 freezers and the shelves, we have enough for a month, at least. I bank online, that leaves me with shopping out for hardware only.
Even if gas is getting cheaper, it is still a good idea to travel less and not get so exposed. Incidentally, if the oil markets tank, this might be an *encouragement* for fossil fuel investors to get out of oil and into renewables. We can encourage that trend.
If you feel a relationship with God, remember that he is omnipresent, so you really do not *need* to go to Church/ temple/ synagogue for a few weeks. Ask him for protection from right where you are.

I am today going to stock up on ginger root.  Juiced it is a good first line defense used early in viral illnesses.  Elderberry and Reishi already on hand.  Licorice tea also very useful.  I work at a hospital ER so contact is likely inevitable...mostly from coworkers unfortunately.  We suit up for potential cases but when one of our own starts spreading things around, it takes off.  

Yes.

But before I went on a panic buying spree, I asked myself "what would Bill Mollison do?" and decided on a quick "needs and resources analysis" with the underlying assumption that, at the very worst, we would be able (and safe) to do some limited shopping at least once every 4 weeks but, more likely, on a weekly basis.

I added to our existing stock of dry beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash, carrots, rice and other whole grains, canned tuna, sardines, crackers, pasta, canned (diced) tomatoes, some frozen veg and chicken. This is all in addition to an existing stock of herbs, spices, dried mushrooms, winter squash, canned preserves. Worst case scenario, water and electricity goes off and we're cooking it all on the grill.

Techniques I'm using:
1. Cold cellar
2. Dry goods storage
3. Canned foods
4. Sproutable items, esp: lentils and winter wheat (since the gardens won't be going strong for another couple of months)

Here is one of my several stashes:

forsythia, honeysuckle and skullcap are medicinal plants that can stop the corona virus

I normally keep a fairly full pantry - enough for three or four months, at least.  This is mostly because of growing up in the bush in Alaska, but the extra food has come in very handy during times of low income, and when I was sick or laid up with a bad back for a few weeks.  I had let the pantry get a bit low because of all the work being done on the house - less stuff to shift around.  But since news of this virus broke in January, I’ve been stocking back up, food for us and the dogs, cats, and chickens.  Got some fresh garden seeds, too, since all of my seeds were several years old.  I have a bad feeling about this one.  Seems like a perfect storm to collapse the world’s economy, supply lines, and so on.  We have lots of soap so I’m not stocking up on hand sanitizer except for a few wipes to use on the rare occasions when we need to go to town.  

Basically, fill your pantry with enough food for at least a couple of months (possible supply-line problems, remember), and stay away from other people as much as you can.  It probably would be best to get the virus now rather than later when the health-care system has collapsed.  But I am hoping to avoid getting it at all, if possible.  Oh, and take vitamin D!

I was in a very rural Walmart last night, all the paper goods and water, gone, nada, none, didn't even look for rubbing alcohol, Clorox or hand sanitizer.
but they probably have trucks on the way to fill the shelves, no good capitalist worth his or her salt is going to miss out on retail buying frenzy that's going on.

I am glad the new growing season in my garden has started! Of course I need to have some foods in storage (I still have to buy some more, but my freezer is fairly full now). But there will always be something green with vitamins growing nearby. At the moment it's lambs' lettuce and perennial kale. The rhubarb will have it's first harvestable stalks in a few weeks.

Kristen Inglese wrote:forsythia, honeysuckle and skullcap are medicinal plants that can stop the corona virus

Those are the ingredients in Shuang Huang Lian, and there seems to be a lot of controversy about any effectiveness.  It seems to be pretty much unattainable in China and Korea due to reports that it would stop coronavirus.  There seem to be just as many reports that it doesn't work.  That seems to be the case with most herbal/natural cures.  It's very hard to get any definitive answers.

I always have 6 months to a year's worth of staples like dried legumes, brown rice and whole wheat pasta stockpiled in my pantry, and that plus the berries and green stuff I grow myself could eke by on a spartan diet. I'm self-employed as a freelance writer and can shut myself in for the long haul if necessary. I've got about five months worth of cat food and might have to rely on Amazon to deliver some more if worst comes to worst.

There is an article about herbal medicine with respect to corona-virus:

https://www.stephenharrodbuhner.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/coronavirus.txt.pdf

The autor has published several books to the topic:  S.H.Buhner at Amazoon

As I don't have a big pantry I only stock up very moderately.

But I have decided one thing:
As long as the tomato pots and odd spaces in veggie beds are vacant (because it is still too cold for most of the seeds here) I will sow extra radishes.
Seeds are very cheap and I can give away radishes to my elderly neighbours or friends without gardening superpowers!

And of course I will force-feed my kids with them, haha (well, they like them actually).

I plan on doing one more shopping tour tomorrow morning, then get some beehive parts I need and then I don't plan to shop frequently in the next time.

Like some people on this forum, I have always kept a few months supply in my larder, be it rice, beans, pasta or home made canned goods, so I haven't done much extra shopping.  I have the good luck of living in France where most bathrooms in the land have a bidet and as someone mentioned earlier, TP is not a problem!

However, one thing I have bought a lot of is lemons.  The problem with lemons, here at any rate, is that they very quickly go mouldy and rotten, so I've been juicing them and putting them into ice cube trays and then filling some freezer bags.  I've got bags of the stuff and I have found that 3 ice cubes is sufficient to make a decent hot lemon drink.

I did stock up on cat and dog food though.

Edited for spelling mistakes

I wonder if it's possible to make a face mask from a vacuum cleaner hepafilter.
Isn't a hepafilter designed to filter bacteria?

Ruth Meyers wrote:I'm a contrarian.  I'd like to get exposed and get it over with.  Then I could be available to help with nursing as needed.

Nice. Nice to know you have an immune system and that by exposure you build antibodies. I do believe our best prep is to learn what boosts, tonifies (builds) immunity & what lifestyle choices drag us down into susceptibility. We do know statistically that China has 80,000+ confirmed cases of C-19 stricken & a full 60,000+ complete recoveries, so this isn't a death sentence to any but the most already compromised. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

So something I haven't seen addressed yet and something I've been thinking about is animal feed. It's still winter here. We are getting snow in a couple hours. I still have to feed. And while we are planning to butcher all the pigs, we still have pigs, and I buy food for them once a week. I suppose we will have to decide, stock up on more pig food, or be prepared to kill them all when we run out.

I was just debating today whether to get more dog food or not. I tend to have mouse issues so I guess the gamble is whether I can store it safely til I need it or not.
I also have made some garden decisions related to this- I didn't rip out a vine that has cucumber-like fruit that stay well on the vine (achocha) and instead of picking the green papayas I have (which I cook like a veg) and giving them away, like I usually do, I decided to leave both in the garden for now. They will keep for as long as I leave the plants there, so just in case I need green veg I have some. Also took out the summer stuff that could have been coaxed along for a bit longer and put in more kale, collards, and greens that we eat, along with green onions. I've also decided that if things start getting really hairy it will be the sign that now is the time to start raising rabbits, and I will go get another buck (my current buck was supposed to be a doe, one of 2 siblings, but I bought them too young to be able to tell for sure and he turned out to be a boy. So he is a garden helper, not a breeder).

I also took my dog in for his vaccines; he is getting older and we have a lot of street dogs that come spread their own germs through the gate. All I need is for him to get sick right now.

The only thing, other than that, that I really wish I had bought more of is hand cream, the heavy duty stuff. On the other hand, I have a load of conditioner left over from before I cut my hair off, and I suppose that will work well enough if it comes to it.

Tereza Okava wrote:I was just debating today whether to get more dog food or not. I tend to have mouse issues so I guess the gamble is whether I can store it safely til I need it or not.

I'm in the same boat.  My plan is to build a box out of scrap 2x4s and cover it in hardware cloth.  As long as it is big enough for 4 bags each of dog food and chicken food, I should have enough.  If I don't store it in a box with hardware cloth, the mice get into everything.

I am doing something similar on a very small scale:
Like in those "life hack" videos you see I am planting veggie scraps to harvest some greens in the future, e.g. the tops of small turnips (not sure about the name, I salvaged these from the scrap bin in the supermarket today), the bottom of a celery plant, the bottoms of spring onions.
And I am soaking peas for making pea sprouts. It is quite early in the year to actually plant and sow, but I have things going in the greenhouse like salads, mustard and broad beans and overwintered parsley in some pots.

Trace Oswald wrote:

Tereza Okava wrote:I was just debating today whether to get more dog food or not. I tend to have mouse issues so I guess the gamble is whether I can store it safely til I need it or not.

I'm in the same boat.  My plan is to build a box out of scrap 2x4s and cover it in hardware cloth.  As long as it is big enough for 4 bags each of dog food and chicken food, I should have enough.  If I don't store it in a box with hardware cloth, the mice get into everything.

We have mouse problems too and we use metal trash cans. Can fit 3 bags of dog food and 4 bags of pig food.