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A day to remember

I had just woken up and was sitting at my desk with a fresh coffee on a dank January morning in early 2020 when a I had a notification pop up in front of me from a fellow prepper titled "Mystery Asian Virus". I had a quick scan of the email and figured I would do some digging when I had a little more time, Little did I know at the time that this email would be my introduction to Covid-19, something that would impact not just my life but the lives of so many other people all around the globe.

We are now 10 months into the pandemic and life has changed for all of us weather we like it or not. I am lucky (or unlucky depending how you look at it) to have been a key worker throughout the lockdown so have seen most of the measures imposed by our government up close and personal. As things currently stand I think we have been very lucky this time. Things could of been a whole lot worse had the lethality of the virus been double or triple the current rates. How bad could it have been ?

The Toilet Paper Riots

As i'm sure a lot of you will have either witnessed first hand or on tv how fast the MOB mentality took over the country. People fighting over toilet paper and companies price gouging essential products.

One influencer would say the shops are running out of such and such item and the next thing you know people would be panic buying that item and causing it to disappear off the shelves.

This is not something you want to be doing in a pandemic, Running to the shops desperately trying to buy the last six pack of Andrex while the old lady from down the street claws at you throat.

This is why more and more people are seeing the importance of stockpiling essential items. I'm not saying filling up a doomsday bunker full of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of supplies as it's not going to be feasible for the majority of us.

You only need to start small and build it up over time. Learn how to rotate for perishable items so nothing goes to waste. Then depending on you resources available and effort you put into your preps you will be ready next time.

So What is Covid-19 ?

Covid Virus 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory and vascular illness. It is brought about by getting infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is a type of coronavirus.

Symptoms can include fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath or breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. The incubation period, which is the time between getting contaminated with the infection and demonstrating symptoms, can be one to two weeks. While the vast majority of people will have mild Symptoms, some people develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) possibly precipitated by cytokine storm, multi-organ failure, septic shock, and blood clots.

Longer-term harm to organs (specifically, the lungs and heart) has been seen in some patients, and there is concern about a significant number of people who have recovered from the worst phase of the disease but continue to experience a range of effects including severe fatigue, memory loss and other cognitive issues, low grade fever, muscle weakness, breathlessness, and other symptoms for months afterwards.

The origin of Covid-19

On 31 Dec 2019

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus was eventually identified.

This was the start of what would be known as the covid-19 pandemic. At this point authorities were unsure exactly what was going on.

5 January 2020

WHO published the first Disease Outbreak News on the new virus. This contained a risk assessment and advice, and reported on what China had told the organization about the status of patients and the public health response on the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.

12 January 2020

China publicly shared the genetic sequence of the virus COVID-19

13 January 2020

The first confirmed cases outside of china were announced as the virus started spreading around the globe.

If you are interested in seeing a full timeline of the spread of covid-19 please visit the link via the the button below.

WHO have a great interactive timeline that shows the spread and infection rate of covid-19

Visit Timeline

What are the main symptoms of Covid-19

a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

What to do if you have symptoms

If you have any of the main symptoms of coronavirus:

Get a test to check if you have coronavirus as soon as possible.
You and anyone you live with should stay at home and not have visitors until you get your test result – only leave your home to have a test.

Anyone in your support bubble should also stay at home if you have been in close contact with them since your symptoms started or during the 48 hours before they started.

How to defend against Covid-19

Currently the vaccine for covid-19 is in testing and now available for the wider public so we can only passively guard against infection.

Social Distancing

Keep a minimum 2 meter distance from people outside of your household wherever possible.

Cleaning

Keep surfaces clean and try to wash your hands whenever possible as the virus can survive on these serfaces for some time.

It is also advised to not touch your face without cleaning your hands.

Masks & Gloves

Barriers such as gloves and masks are only effective if changed often as these with carry the virus and spread it onto anything they come into contact with.

Covid-19 FAQ

1) Can I get a Boots Covid Test

Sources say boots are looking to offer 12 min swab testes at a cost of no less than £120.

2) What is the rule of 6 covid?

Whether indoors or outdoors people from different households must not meet in groups of larger than 6. This limit does not apply to meetings of a single household group or support bubble where it consists of more than 6 people. No-one should socialise in a group of greater than 6.

3) What is an extended household in Scotland?

An extended household is essentially a social bubble, and people who are in one can visit each other’s houses, eat meals together, and stay overnight, and do not have to social distance from one another.

Those who live alone or only live with children, and those who don’t live with their partner, are able to form an extended household with one other household.

The extended household situation can be ended at any time but if you have ever been a member of one you cannot then form a new extended household.

4) What is a covid secure workplace?

A secure workplace is one that is following the latest government guides on keeping it as risk free as possible. This involves applying risk assessments and following strict distancing and cleaning guidelines.

5) When do the new covid rules start?

It depends where you live, the current system came into action on October 14 but its best to keep up with current events via the .gov site or various news outlets.

6) How long are you contagious with covid 19?

Currently it looks to be ten days from the first onset of symptoms.

7) What country has the most covid deaths?

At the time of writing this article the US currently has the most REPORTED deaths although the accuracy of this relies on countries reporting them.

8) How long after exposure should you get tested?

If you think you have come into contact with anyone that currently has covid-19 you should self isolate if instructed to do so.

9) How many have died from covid?

Current reported figures stand at around 1.16 million worldwide.

https://www.surviveuk.com/survival-blog/a-uk-preppers-guide-to-covid-19/