A 2 weeks supply of food sounds like far too short a supply. The first case of ‘atypical pneumonia’ was noticed in Wuhan in late Dec. It is now late Feb. They have by now organized themselves in Wuhan to the point where all of the ill people are getting sent to ‘local’ (temporary) ‘hospitals’ and the ‘local hospitals’ are triaging and sending seriously ill people onto actual hospitals with the capacity to care for people who are seriously ill (like requiring oxygen). But this level of organization is a fairly recent situation. Even 2 weeks ago, sick people were literally walking to hospitals, because ambulances were swamped; they were being turned away from hospitals for lack of beds and supplies, and medical personnel to look after them; they were sitting in hospital waiting rooms for hours being cross exposed to other sick people, etc. So, even with massive efforts on the part of the government, it took about 2 months for them to get their act together in a real hot spot of infection. If you are unfortunate enough to end up in a similar type ‘hot spot’ to Wuhan, (but still live in a first world country) it probably won’t take longer than 2 months for the government to get its act together, but I wouldn’t assume they will do much better than that… so, if you are planning on buying a little insurance, I’d suggest that a 2 month supply of food, etc, is about minimum of what you would need to get through a (1st world) worst case scenario, rather than 2 weeks.
And a 3 months supply would probably be a better choice than a 2 month supply. It’s not like Wuhan is virus free or anything close to it, today, 2 months in…
A 3 month’s supply of food sounds crazy, and, true, you probably won’t need it. But, it’s almost cost free to supply yourself with it. No one at all is suggesting power outages. So, you can probably just stock up on food and supplies you normally use anyway, at least for frozen, canned, and non-perishable type things. That obviously won’t do for stuff like milk and fresh fruits and salad stuff, so you’ll have to make some substitutions there, but for most other stuff you should be OK if you just buy extras of things you normally buy anyway. The only cost is the inconvenience of buying it all at once, and finding a convenient place to stack it down until you need it.
I have read many reports from people in Wuhan and there is food in the grocery stores. Actually it seems like no currently effected area has a permanent food shortage—there is a run on the stores and then they are full after a restock. However, shopping requires you to leave your house so you will want to minimize it. I think people are over-focusing on food shopping because it feels actionable. You are right that there is almost no downside
If one becomes ill, he needs foods which he could eat without cooking and which are very nutritious. For around one month. One can’t eat raw rice, but dry bananas are great.
A 2 weeks supply of food sounds like far too short a supply. The first case of ‘atypical pneumonia’ was noticed in Wuhan in late Dec. It is now late Feb. They have by now organized themselves in Wuhan to the point where all of the ill people are getting sent to ‘local’ (temporary) ‘hospitals’ and the ‘local hospitals’ are triaging and sending seriously ill people onto actual hospitals with the capacity to care for people who are seriously ill (like requiring oxygen). But this level of organization is a fairly recent situation. Even 2 weeks ago, sick people were literally walking to hospitals, because ambulances were swamped; they were being turned away from hospitals for lack of beds and supplies, and medical personnel to look after them; they were sitting in hospital waiting rooms for hours being cross exposed to other sick people, etc. So, even with massive efforts on the part of the government, it took about 2 months for them to get their act together in a real hot spot of infection. If you are unfortunate enough to end up in a similar type ‘hot spot’ to Wuhan, (but still live in a first world country) it probably won’t take longer than 2 months for the government to get its act together, but I wouldn’t assume they will do much better than that… so, if you are planning on buying a little insurance, I’d suggest that a 2 month supply of food, etc, is about minimum of what you would need to get through a (1st world) worst case scenario, rather than 2 weeks.
And a 3 months supply would probably be a better choice than a 2 month supply. It’s not like Wuhan is virus free or anything close to it, today, 2 months in…
A 3 month’s supply of food sounds crazy, and, true, you probably won’t need it. But, it’s almost cost free to supply yourself with it. No one at all is suggesting power outages. So, you can probably just stock up on food and supplies you normally use anyway, at least for frozen, canned, and non-perishable type things. That obviously won’t do for stuff like milk and fresh fruits and salad stuff, so you’ll have to make some substitutions there, but for most other stuff you should be OK if you just buy extras of things you normally buy anyway. The only cost is the inconvenience of buying it all at once, and finding a convenient place to stack it down until you need it.
I have read many reports from people in Wuhan and there is food in the grocery stores. Actually it seems like no currently effected area has a permanent food shortage—there is a run on the stores and then they are full after a restock. However, shopping requires you to leave your house so you will want to minimize it. I think people are over-focusing on food shopping because it feels actionable. You are right that there is almost no downside
If one becomes ill, he needs foods which he could eat without cooking and which are very nutritious. For around one month. One can’t eat raw rice, but dry bananas are great.