Are you doing anything to prepare for a second wave?

[Emlou07]

Historically we are going to get one. Seeing pictures of places rammed is scary.

So if so, what are you doing to prepare? If only to make another potential lockdown a bit easier.

I've been picking up a couple of extra tins a week and some UHT milk. I've also put some bits aside for the kids to keep them entertained.

I will stock up on dog food again, and on wild bird food.
We will need to be sourcing some firewood for next winter.

My food, cleaning stuff, medicines and toiletries stores are always extensive, pandemic or no, thanks to a mother who lived through rationing, and a plan for the worst, hope for the best outlook.

I will continue to stay at home, apart from dog walking and an occasional outing for meds and food, masked and gloved. (Health condition).
I realise I am fortunate to have that choice.

Like MrsExpo, I'm not convinced we're out of the woods yet.

This is how it starts. People who hadn’t they of it will read your thread and think ‘ooh maybe I’ll buy a few more items.’ Multiply that by whatever and stocks get low. If you want to buy extra why do you need to come on here and stoke people up?

No, the scientists are saying it is too soon to ease lockdown

Scientists will always disagree. You are quite wrong to say THE SCIENTISTS, as if it’s all scientists.

@YinMnBlue

It's almost funny the way those of us who believe the science are accused of scaremongering while the ignorance is bliss people seem to think they occupy the higher ground

Almost, but not quite. 😏

Apparently it was the "just an extra tin of chopped tomatoes" shoppers thst caused all the problems last time, so no, I'm not doing that.

I am trying to lose weight and get fitter and encouraging my family to do the same.

I appreciate that prepping and panicking are not the same but if everyone, each time they shop adds "just a couple more tins, maybe a bag of pasta and UHT milk" buying even a bit more than usual (x by lots of customers) will disrupt stock levels and supply. And then it becomes almost self fulfilling.
I thought WHO had reported last week that there was evidence s second spike was unlikely.

(To get fitter, not to lose weight)

We always have a good stock of food in the house. Have done for years. Things like rice, pasta, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, different types of lentils and beans. We have 2 freezers full of milk, bread, frozen veg, home made soup, meals I have cooked etc. Plus we always have flour and yeast as we often make our own bread.

We also always have a stock of washing liquid, washing up liquid, shampoo, soap etc. Always at least 10 loo rolls.

When lock down happened we didn't have to buy anything for weeks. We didn't want to go to shops. Okay we had to have frozen veg and fruit rather than fresh but that was no real hardship.

Personally I don't understand why more people don't have more of a stock of food, So many people only have a couple of days worth or even a week or two. I realise not everyone has room but there are places to put things - top of cupboards or wardrobes, under the bed etc. My sister buys loo rolls in bulk from Costco and keeps so many out and puts the rest in the loft.

And trying to improve blood pressure and eating for heart health, as more evidence comes out about this being a blood disease. Disclaimer- just a few articles I've read, this isn't proven!

Shouldn't this thread be in the Coronavirus category OP? Easier to avoid all this hypothetical nonsense with no evidence of it's all in one place. In fact there is more evidence to say there won't be a second national wave from other countries that have eased lockdown ahead of us.

@Crosswordocelot

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/28/coronavirus-infection-rate-too-high-second-wave

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/31/second-wave-coronavirus-uk-winter-peak-covid/

And the supply chain can absorb small % increases in buying volumes over coming months much better than it can handle a sudden panic spike in some random winter month.

@AlternativePerspective

And people thinking there won't be a second wave live in cloud cuckoo land. Wishful thinking isn't reality. To avoid a second wave people have to act sensibly. Yesterday showed that they don't. on MN some people won’t be happy until they and their families are all dead so they can say “told ya so.”

People on MN are practically slavering at the idea of a second wave hence why so many are encouraging people not to participate in track and trace. The more of this tripe I see the more it becomes obvious that they actually want a second wave.

The issue here was deliveries. There weren’t food shortages. The vulnerable have now been added to priority booking slots, many of the supermarkets have added their services to Deliveroo and such like.

And really, talking up what other people are doing doesn’t mean anything if you’re still being sensible. I mean, if others were jumping off a cliff would you go after them? No?

Even if there were a spike there won’t be another lockdown. We’ve got to the point where the consequences of lockdown are greater than the consequences of the pandemic.

People are going to have to live with this if it sticks around,. Statistically your chance of dying is negligible, and people with underlying health conditions have to live with the same risks from other illnesses all the time. But those with underlying health conditions can, if they want to, take their own precautions without being told what they can and can’t do, or following the herd because someone said they should.

I was about to say something, but @AlternativePerspective has said it for me.

We're making sure we have roughly one month worth of essential supplies like tinned soup, frozen veggie bags, loo rolls, etc.
And I've increased our weekly "organic farm" order so we can get a fair amount of fresh meat, bread, milk, fruits and vegs without needing to leave the house.
We're OK with medicines, I think, so not buying more of these for now. We've also got plenty of school stationery for the kids. And we now have min/max freezer thermometers to make sure the food in there remains safe.
Not sure about kids clothes/shoes. I think we're OK for clothes, and I guess we'll wait and see re: buying new shoes (mail order some wellies? Shouldn't matter too much if the size is not perfect)
Oh, and perhaps buy an oxymeter? (to tell apart "mild" symptoms from "call 999" symptoms)

Finally: enjoying the local nature reserve while it's still allowed.

Rationale:

• shopping for 4 people is hell with all the queues, especially to find out shelves are half empty!
• we had to isolate for 2 weeks 3 effing times, almost back-to-back, during lockdown, due to various household members developing more or less serious symptoms at different times. Almost ran out of essentials as a result. Never again!

(this also applies even if there is no second wave, just lots of track and trace...)

A bit bemused why some people are getting so ANGRY at preppers. If I'm buying stuff now, I won't be emptying your supermarket shelves and clogging up your supermarket aisles in a month or two? Also, we're keeping the economy running, am I right?
I sense a bit of envy (yes, we have enough money and enough space. We worked hard for that. Is that a crime?), and a bit of "projecting" (I'm not panicking, quite the opposite, but perhaps YOU are?)

This isn't goady, I'm genuinely interested - do people who don't think we need to prepare have enough to see them through two weeks if they are suddenly contacted to self isolate, or became ill themselves?

If not, what would you do?

Personally I think it's a bit short sighted/dangerous to rely on being able to get a quick delivery in those circumstances, or even rely on some stock being available if large numbers of people are advised to self isolate. Especially given what has happened in the past. (Also where I live slots are like gold dust even for shielders)

If this happened, would you not have to leave the house or ask a friend or family to shop for you and deliver it to you or risk running out - see to me either of those things seem more "irresponsible" for want of a better word, than being prepared for that situation?

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm genuinely curious what people would do.

If there is a second wave to be has the UK will certainly get a big one thanks to BoJo the racist clown and his comically inept government. But the experts are making noises suggesting basic social distancing may well, eventually, do the job of knocking it on the head without any big second waves to speak of. Let’s hope so.

I have been buying a little extra in terms of UHT milk, tinned foods, porridge oats, cat food, tea etc in case we had to isolate for 14 days and couldn't get out. I am more prepared with things like soap and paracetamol! I haven't got boxes of the stuff but have a few extras in case they become scarce again.

And you lose any fucking moral high ground you're trying to claim with this tasteless and very unpleasant comment

"on MN some people won’t be happy until they and their families are all dead so they can say “told ya so.”

I'm quite happy, in fact reassured, to hold different views to someone who has a mind that actually thinks like that!

I am making sure that I have enough food to last 2 weeks for us all and tbh I've always done that as I do shift work so it's never the same day I get to do the shopping, DH doesn't drive so is easier for me to do it. The only other thing I'm doing is topping up the kids arts and crafts bits as they have pretty much used them all up.

I neither prepped nor panic bought last time and managed to get through it without either starving or having to wipe my arse on a leaf, so I imagine it’ll be fine next time too.
Not that I think there will be a next time... the government have been pretty clear that there won’t be another full lockdown. They can’t afford it.

Surely it is sensible to always have some sort of stock of food and other items?

Anything could happen that stops you being able to shop. If you can't get an online delivery and your car breaks down, you are ill, you have a young child ill that can't be left, you get snowed in, you get flooded.

We live at the top of a hill and no where near a river. We thought we could not possibly be flooded. Earlier this year our back garden was under water and the roads were undriveable meaning we could not get into town to any shops. It was water pouring off the fields because of all the endless rain we had

I’m not at home right now so my mum is in charge of all provisions, but I guess I’d make sure I had enough to quarantine for two weeks if told to by track and trace.

For me it’s actually more about preparing to work from home until Christmas- at the start of all this we all thought it would be for just a couple of months maximum. So I’m sorting out a proper desk chair, monitor, keyboard etc. and may get a standing desk to avoid back problems.

We’re also thinking about becoming digital nomads for the year (once allowed to move around) - spending a month each in different parts of the country working from home. We normally have the kind of high intensity professional jobs where you’d never be able to work from home. This plan isn’t so much to do with a second wave but more about social distancing requirements meaning offices can’t reopen properly, which would obviously be in place for longer after a second wave.

If you have the funds and the storage space, it makes sense to always have a small stock of non-perishable food and other necessities in case you can't get to the shops and can't get a delivery, which could be for all sorts of reasons. Flu, broken leg, family emergency, cut off by floods or snow, wifi fails. This isn't panic buying, it's common sense, especially if you live alone or with young children.

My parents always worked on the principle that as they opened a new jar of coffee or started a bag of frozen peas etc they added that item to the shopping list so everything got replaced in a timely way. I do the same. I also take advantage of special offers for things I don't need immediately but will use at some point if I can store them and it's a good price.

One thing we nearly did run out of this time: batteries for the kitchen scales. I'd never had to replace them before and they chose the early part of lockdown to run down, just when I was doing more baking and it wasn't easy to get things. Not the end of the world, obviously, but that's gone on my checklist.

I wondered if things had improved delivery wise with Ocado.

I bought from them a few times and wanted to see if deliveries are available now.

Nope - it won't even let me log in. I need to be a priority customer apparently.

Thinking I can rely on deliveries if I need to seems a bit optimistic so I think keeping a bit of a store cupboard or having some meals in the freezer just seems like common sense to me rather than being some sort of panic merchant.

I started reading this thread wondering why people were so convinced there would be a second wave/second lockdown and I see many people have said it’s not happening in other countries.

Besides which, how do you get two weeks’ worth of food in for a family of six?! We don’t have the freezer space to store endless bottles of milk and loaves of bread, so I guess we’ll just have to take our chances.

But the kind of talk of being able to increase your local butcher/farm deliveries shows just who the people are who are doing all this extra buying. They’re the people who are wealthy and who can afford to do it.

At one point I thought of the pandemic as a good way to shop for fresh produce from butchers, fishmongers etc, have always liked the idea of buying my own fresh meat, fish and so on from actual suppliers.

But looking at all the online butchers and fishmongers etc it is very clear that you have to be relatively well off to be able to afford to shop there. Their prices are extortionate, and you have to buy in fairly large quantities to justify buying from them.

most people can’t actually afford to shop like that.