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by whatshisface 2299 days ago
>Advising people to stockpile food this early is sure to make the situation even worse.

If the food stockpiling can be spread out so that a lot of it happens before the first local case is announced, then it will ease the burden on the system when the crisis arrives. Buying extra toilet paper at Costco does not stress the system if you do it months before there's a big problem, and it will ease the load during the crisis because you won't be buying toilet paper then. However stockpiling after the run has already begun might not be so useful...
1 comments
hef19898 2299 days ago
And supplies stop coming to region after the first case why again?
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bcrosby95 2299 days ago
It helps reduce the number of potential exposures. For those with a high risk factor, the CDC actually recommends stockpiling.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/hi...

FEMA also recommends you always have days or weeks of supplies stockpiled in case of unpredictable natural disasters. Everyone in my main circle of friends knows you should have a stockpile for this reason, and the lack of one is talked about more as an embarrassment. But online not having one seems more like a badge of honor. Its just weird to me.

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hef19898 2299 days ago
So we went from "everybody should stockpile" to " high risk people should stockpile" and "general FEMA and similar guidelines may have a reason". Which sounds a lot less dramatic already, doesn't it?
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lliamander 2299 days ago
If you get sick, the recommendation is to quarantine yourself. If you do not have a stockpile of food already, how will you be able to keep quarantine?
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hef19898 2299 days ago
By calling people in your social network, offline not online, to go grocery shopping for you? Just an idea that popped to my mind, I am sure there are other means. If just someone would have started, you know like company or so, a kind of service that would allow you to order food online and they deliver it to you...
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whatshisface 2299 days ago
Needing your friends to bring you food is exactly the kind of "stress on the system" that stockpiling can prevent.
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lliamander 2299 days ago
Yeah, so long as the people delivering the groceries are able to completely avoid contact with the infected, then that can work. However, having reasonable reserves at home and not needing others to delivery your groceries in the first place is going to be more effective.
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