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by bilbo0s 2295 days ago
>Advising people to stockpile food this early is sure to make the situation even worse.

Completely agree. Telling everyone to go out and stockpile food is just the sort of dangerous, panic inducing rhetoric we don't need right now. Follow recommendations of professionals. No large gatherings, etc. But there is no need to panic. And certainly no need to tell people to behave in a manner consistent with panicked people.
2 comments
Seenso 2295 days ago
> Telling everyone to go out and stockpile food is just the sort of dangerous, panic inducing rhetoric we don't need right now.

I don't think so. The problem is you don't want people to freak out and overdo it now, and you don't want them to freak out and overdo it in the future if some drastic measures are needed.

I think it would be totally prudent to give people specific sensible things they can do to prepare for the worst case. E.g.

1. Keep an extra week's worth of household consumables and whatever food they typically eat on hand.

Don't go splurge on 100 lbs of rice and pinto beans and two years worth of toilet paper. This isn't going to be a like nuclear war: public utilities will remain online, the water supply will be safe, food will be available in stores. The only possible issue with these products is that people may not be able to go out and buy them as frequently as they're used to.

2. Keep an extra month's worth of prescription medications, for similar reasons.

3. Buy a couple of small bottles of hand sanitizer (like travel size), for use on the go, which will last XX weeks for a typical person. But no big deal if you can't find any since washing your hands works well.

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tomp 2294 days ago
> No large gatherings, etc. But there is no need to panic. And certainly no need to tell people to behave in a manner consistent with panicked people.

It's a prisoner's dilemma. It's in the interest of the country for the officials to say "don't panic" even if/when the reasonable response it to panic. In an individual interest is to panic before the government says, "panic".

The alternative is, obviously, that cases keep rising until a newspaper leaks on a Sunday night that your government will imminently start restraining you. Is it then time to panic?

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