RECIPES

Friday 28 February 2020

Preparing For COVID-19


It is time to be realistic.  For better or for worse COVID-19, the latest disease to strike the world, has generated near-mass panic and fear in people globally.

Even though there are still no confirmed cases of the virus within our country, there is still an impact being felt.  With the ban on entry into the country of people who have been in China, tourist numbers have been adversely affected and there have been job losses.  Universities are standing down staff as overseas students cannot enter the country.

Then there is the manufacturing side of things.  A lot of our goods are imported, and many of them come from China.  I made a routine visit to the Asian Supermarket this morning and noticed their stock was reduced by around a quarter (they usually have well-stocked shelves).  I then realised that, of course, there is no product arriving to replenish their sales.

Whether we agree with it or not, the possibility of being forced into lock-down is a very real possibility if the virus reaches our community.  So should we be taking precautions to be prepared for such an emergency?

Son and I have been discussing this and believe it would be prudent to make sure we at least have basic foodstuffs to see the three of us through several days.

We already have a good supply of canned food as New Zealand is prone to earthquakes and is home to twelve active volcanoes, meaning we need to be good citizens and BE PREPARED for any emergency that may occur.




For years now, I have labelled my cans with the month of purchase.  This enables rotation so that we don’t end up with a very old unusable can of food.  We only ever stock food that we normally use (even if it is not used that frequently, like evaporated milk), so rotation works well.




We try to have extra dry goods on hand as well, but our supply has dwindled.  This afternoon I am going to the supermarket specifically to restock this supply – I need rolled oats, Weetbix, rice, milk powder and salt.  We still have spare stores of flour, noodles and sugar, so they are not needed.

My list also has soap and disinfectant on it, both essential items for cleanliness and killing germs.  We always keep an unopened bottle of bleach in the laundry for use in disinfecting water if needed, and have means on hand for boiling water or cooking food in the event of a natural disaster.

I feel we are reasonably prepared, without becoming fanatical about it.

Hopefully there will be no forced quarantines, no community lock-downs, no panic buying at supermarkets, but it is probably prudent to be prepared.

Margaret.

21 comments:

  1. I was only reading an article last night, about preparing ourselves incase our community goes into a lock-down / quarantine for a couple of weeks. Stocking a few pantry extras like bags of rice, pasta etc... There have been a few cases here in Australia, but they've been managed and were discovered during early during the outbreak - nothing recently (thank goodness).

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    1. Having a few extras on hand never goes amiss. They can even be useful in the case of job redundancies when funds are not available to purchase groceries.

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  2. Probably a wise decision. We're always advised to keep enough food and water on hand because of the threat of earthquakes. We used to keep gallon jugs of clean water in the freezer until we needed the space for actual food. For most food items I tend to keep a good supply anyway so I'm not sure what more I can do ( except find room for those water jugs again).

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    1. Earthquakes are a very real threat here. I always think glass jars of pantry goods look so lovely sitting on their shelves, but are totally impractical here. I've proved plastic containers don't break when they all crash to the floor, so the food in them is still usable. Great idea with the water jugs.

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  3. We always keep a good stocked food cupboard, my mum did the same, so it's normal for me. BUT we have stocked up on toilet rolls, tissues and hand soap. the virus is creeping closer, and who knows what it will bring, but we could stay inside for weeks without needing anything.

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    1. Sometimes I wonder if younger people have any concept about keeping stores on hand. At the supermarket yesterday it was mostly older people buying soap, tissues etc.

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  4. Unfortunately just read you have your first case. With so many people flying every day, it doesn’t seem to take long to spread. Like you, here in the UK, we always have stocks of food, just in case. I am still stocking for when we physically leave EU end of December so have quite a bit of canned and packet food in now, which gets rotated.

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    1. I read an article which said your food supply upon leaving the EU could be disrupted on a similar scale to what happened during World War II. Much better to have some stores on hand.

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  5. Hello,

    I have heard on the news, everyone should be prepared with enough supplies, food and their medicines to last weeks of being house bound. I hope everyone does not panic, the stores will be running out. In case of emergencies, like a storm or power outage it is always good to be prepared. Take care and stay well. Enjoy your day, have a great weekend!

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    1. I hadn't considered medicines. None of us are reliant on anything important, but a lot of people would be.

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  6. My wife and I were discussing this very subject last night. We are in pretty good shape but need to enhance our supplies with a few items which we will do shortly.

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    1. Good idea David. Better safe than sorry, as they say.

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  7. You are very well prepared.
    We stocked up in 2012 at the beginning of Greece's economic crisis and for the millennium bug. Both times it wasn't necessary and I'm sure it won't be now but we always have a many kilos of flour, olive oil and wine on hand and usually loads of rice, macaroni and loo paper as we live up in the hills. I'm sure we could survive for a month or so

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    1. Sounds like you have it sorted. We think it is much better to be prepared and not need it, than to have it the other way round. I don't have the wine though - never planned that very well did I? LOL

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  8. Sadly I see NZ has its first case since you wrote this post. I hope that others weren't infected on the flight...flying is notorious for catching viruses! I really don't understand why countries (especially Islands) haven't closed flights before now. If everyone had implemented this from the start of the outbreak it may well have contained it before it spread.

    We have been stocking up on tins and other foods as well as water as well. Better to be prepared.

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    1. Yes we have. It was inevitable this would happen and we fully expect more cases in the future as not every traveler is into self-quarantine (we know of one man who recently returned from a country now banned, and he has been back at work).

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  9. Great idea to mark your canned goods! I usually shuffle around my canned food and put newest in the back. We are well prepared also...we have to be for blizzards in the winter. I should buy more canned fruit...as we buy a fair amount of fresh fruit every week. We have talked about it and if and when the situation is bad here my husband will stay home except for his weekly infusion and I will be the only one to go out.

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    1. Apparently canned fruit is excellent to have on hand as it can also supply vital liquids if needed.

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  10. Well, I have some supplies but could sure use some more. I always just go by the date on cans, but doing it in magic marker would be easier to read. (All our canned good has a 'use by date' on either the top or the bottom) One thing not mentioned is toilet paper! It is hard to know how to buy because Roger does not eat near like he used to...since his stroke I have to about make him eat vegetable and he always loved them before. Just so much has changed in that regard.

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    1. Oh yes, we have a good supply of toilet paper!! I ran out once after the factory staff went on strike, so have always kept a plentiful supply on hand. Very essential LOL.

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