Been waiting for this thread. Before the hangnail crowd gets here, would appreciate those planning on sheltering in place, etc. just what is their tipping point.
We have the one case in a major city now. Will it be the first case in your state, your city, your block?
Serious question looking for serious replys.
Thanks for your post...I’ve been following this case in Dallas today....it is of no comfort to me they have a patient who brought it in after flying from an invested area over there.
Quite different then bringing an infected person here, which is bad enough, but this man has been in contact with other people “after” he landed and was walking around for some time before showing symptoms.
The tipping point for me is when medical staff start falling ill in multiple locations (lets just say ten locations). When the staff suffer the burden increases and the not so highly trained start stepping up and the tail spin begins. If medical staff start becoming ill in a few states and travel has not been locked down; I am going to utilize my ability to work from home 100% and monitor the best I can.
A side note. This is a VERY bad time for a confirmed ebola patient on U.S. soil. Think about it for a minute, if ebola reaches north in this country with winter coming supplies are going to run short quick as I would expect some sort of lock down. Famine. Many (and I do mean many) are NOT ready to hunker down for eight months until they can grow a crop; even if they could.
Don’t live anywhere you can’t reasonably “shelter in place” at. Once SHTF, getting out may prove nigh unto impossible. Remember Hurricane Katrina: 5 days’ notice of a cat 5 hurricane on a direct course, and yet freeways became impassible. Remember cars have range limits: if everyone’s driving away, there won’t be any gas anywhere; when you run out, you’d better be where you want to be - and be assured a whole lotta other people will be there too. If you’re going to bug out, you have to do it before anyone else does - which leaves you, most likely, looking stupid when nothing happens.
Frankly, with Ebola, I’m not sure where my tipping point is. I work a “telecommutable” job: go to the office daily, but there’s no reason why I can’t switch to home should things start turning ugly in Atlanta. Methinks there will be plenty of advance notice that it arrived here; key is ensuring I’ve enough supplies for months of hunkering-in. If you/yours don’t actually contract it, normalcy bias will play a huge role: people will feel fine and go about their business, even as reports of nearby outbreaks proliferate. If you don’t have it, and nobody close to you has it, you’ll figure you’re fine.
Ebola isn’t like flu, where everyone gets it well before symptoms arise and most people survive unscathed (fatalities may be high but tend to be outliers of old/ill/infirm/infants). It’s more like a fire: burning slowly, taking out most of what it touches, but if you can stay just out of reach you’re OK.
First case in state and I go into prepping overdrive.
First case in city and I discuss telecommuting options with business.
First case in block ... ya know, I just don’t come in contact with anyone near me anyway.
The problem I guess isn’t so much worried about actually contracting it, the concern is when a few major high-density populations start burning out. Sort of a slow-motion nuclear weapon: high fatality rate, limited range of actual death/damage, but extensive ripple effects from fear & disruption. Odds of contracting Ebola are low so long as you minimize human skin-to-skin contact, but I’ve seen how rumors can suck supply lines dry within hours (at least 3 runs on gas within the last decade here around Atlanta) and shut down normal socioeconomic activity for days, leading dangerously close to classic “9 meals away from revolution”.
When it hits St. Louis which is about 75 miles away, or anywhere else in the state. That will be a deciding point, but maybe just reduced exposure. Maybe we will stay home for the most part, but still go out a couple of times per month for restocking.
Fresh milk can be obtained by going through a drive through convenience store, wear gloves, mask, on safety glasses. Spray the container with bleach when you get it home several times before bringing it into the house.
My main problem is my daughter works in St. Louis and I babysit with my grand daughter. She’ll have to decide what she will do. If she’s going to work, then maybe I’ll just have her leave her daughter at my house.
If the hospitals in St. Louis are over run, then there will be no trips of anykind anywhere.
If it was just me and my husband. I’d say for sure just stay home, but it’s not, so it’s hard to say for sure.