Brad Enslen

I just ordered standard surgical masks, the pleated kind, from Amazon at an outrageous price. I’m quite aware that these are considered worthless against the coronavirus however, should the coronavirus hit locally they still serve 2 purposes:

• If the virus becomes local and I do have to venture out, to get food, visit a pharmacy or a doctor, I won’t have other people freaking out because I don’t have a mask on.
• The mask will help remind me not to touch my face or mouth while out.

Frankly, I waited too long to order these. Should have done a week and a half ago, but at that time I was still trying to order N95 masks as prices on those were rising hourly. Indeed I tried twice to order N95’s only to have both orders canceled by the vendors.

Now prices are rising on the ineffective masks.

So at the risk of being called a fool, I ordered these, but that “Be Prepared” part of my old Boy Scout training tells me to get them now. Most probably, I won’t need them for the coronavirus at all and I’m real good with that. If so they can sit on a shelf until I have a DIY project that is dusty. BTW, I hate these things, they always fog my glasses.

Read: The Wuhan Coronavirus Survival Manual: How to Prepare for Pandemics and Quarantines (nCoV-2019, Covid-19 Edition) by Cat Ellis.

This is a well written book with a lot of useful information. It is not a book that was slapped together from sensationalist sources. The parts on preparedness are practical, insightful and helpful. I found the book direct, to the point and a fast read.

In Part 1, which is about what we know about the coronavirus, the author avoids sensationalism and conspiracy theories and sticks to scientific data and what has been reported by trusted, mainstream and government sources. This consists of such things as how contagious the virus is (very), incubation period, unknowns and other data as of early February 2020.

Part 2, deals with, if the coronavirus pandemic spread into the general population, planning and preparing for self-isolation for 14 to 29 days. While that may sound like the stuff of science fiction, this is exactly what is happening today in Wuhan and other cities in China and now in South Korea. This section has good lists of food, and other items that should be stockpiled, plus instructions on sanitation, quarantine etc. Again, the advice from the author is good solid and comprehensive.

Part 3, is short but gives some good advice on deciding when it is time to self-isolate. This is about not acting out of panic, but looking for local warning signs and judging from that. Useful.

All this may sound farfetched like a movie script, except that today 2/21/2020 the CDC started warning US hospitals to start planing for an outbreak of coronavirus pandemic

Knowledge is power.

The Wuhan Coronavirus Survival Manual: How to Prepare for Pandemics and Quarantines (nCoV-2019, Covid-19 Edition) by Cat Ellis is available from Amazon for Kindle or in paperback. You can either look it up yourself and order it from wherever you choose or use the Amazon link here (Sponsored)

Read: The Case of the Missing Finger by Cheri Baker

I found this book to be a real page turner. It’s well written, and I liked the main character “Ellie Tappet”. Her efforts to solve the mystery of the missing finger while a passenger aboard a cruise ship made me want to keep turning those pages. The first night I started reading I intended to just read the first couple of pages but spent a lot longer at it and eventually found myself on chapter six and far past my usual bedtime.

If you like cozies you will like this one. Check out the link to the author’s page on the book for more info.