First off, if you’ve been here for any length of time, you know I am NOT an alarmist. I want you to read this article in that vein. I am NOT trying to scare people. Instead, I want people to be informed and make appropriate decisions. Don’t worry about this virus. Learn what you need to know about the Wuhan coronavirus and prepare accordingly.
What we know so far. . .
A novel (new) coronavirus (cold virus – yes, you read that right cold virus) appeared in China sometime around mid-December.
It’s believed to have started in a food market of both live and butchered animals around that time. The first two cases were a man and his son who worked the market with him. At first, it was believed only to be transmitted from animals to humans – and that’s supposed to be “hard” to do in general. However, the wife of the man and mother of the son became infected, and she didn’t go to that market. That’s when officials realized this virus was now spread from person to person.
This virus comes from a virus family that ranges from pesky to DEADLY. 
So, like I said earlier, this virus is a coronavirus which is the family that the common cold comes from. I would venture to say that all of us have had a cold at one time or another. Generally, it’s a pain in the backside, but no more than that.
BUT…..
If you were aware of what was going on in the world in 2003, you probably have heard of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). The SARS virus belongs to the same family. It spread to more than 24 countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The number of confirmed SARS cases (according to the CDC’s website) was 9098. Of those confirmed cases 774 died.
Another virus in this same family is called MERS. MERS stands for Middle East Respiratory Virus. There’s been an ongoing outbreak of MERS since 2012. Since 2012, it’s infected 2494 people, and has a death toll of 858. That means that 1 out of every 3 people who got this version of the coronavirus died.
10 Chinese cities have been quarantined.
The reason I’m writing this article now is that in the last 2 days, China has quarantined 10 cities with a combined population of 33 million people.
What makes this even more amazing is that they did this during the Chinese New Year! I read that the Chinese government was hesitant to put the quarantine in place because they didn’t want to foster fear and they didn’t want to interrupt holiday festivities. The NY Times says that the Lunar New Year in China is the “world’s LARGEST migration of people.” The first quarantine two days ago went into effect at about 2 AM local time.
Imagine you’re visiting someone for Christmas (no less popular than Chinese New Year), and you wake up and find out that you’re under quarantine. When people went to bed there was no quarantine. When people woke up, they weren’t allowed to leave the city. More on that later. I also read that the Chinese people were estimating 3 BILLION with a B trips during their New Year Season.
New countries are on the list.
Countries that are reporting cases of the novel coronavirus are – China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, France, Nepal, Macao, South Korea and now…..the US.
Here on the homefront. . .
As of the writing of this article, the CDC is monitoring 63 people in 22 states. Eleven people have been cleared of the virus strain. We have two confirmed cases – one in Washington state and one in Chicago, IL. Oh joy, this is just 3 hours from us.
How Many Have Been Diagnosed?
So according to Bloomberg.com, 1322 people have been sickened. It has killed 41. So while we should be aware, it’s currently killing less than .5% of those who contract it. Also, ONLY 1322 people (as of the writing of this article) have been infected. The world population is currently sitting at about 7.53 Billion, so let’s keep this thing in perspective.
Incubation Period
What I’ve read about this coronavirus is that the incubation period is 14 days. So people will fall prey to the virus 14 days before they begin to show symptoms.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of this coronavirus can be similar to a cold or the flu. These can include runny nose, cough, fever, congestion, headache, and sore throat. Where it gets more dangerous is that this can develop into viral pneumonia. Most pneumonia is bacterial and can be treated by antibiotics. Since this is viral, however, it can’t be treated with antibiotics. There is no treatment – which is why this can be dangerous. A person’s body can be supported through the use of oxygen or other means of opening up the airways, but shortness of breath can be one of the symptoms if things worsen.
Why this COULD BE a big deal. 
Now all of this may or may not sound like a big deal to you. I get that either way – and respect that. But I want you to take a moment and think about your own home right now.
If you woke up tomorrow morning and found out you couldn’t leave your city, would you be able to subsist on what you have in your home for up to 2 months?
I mean you can’t leave your home. The water, food, medicines, first aid supplies, etc that you have now is all you get.
You might say, “Hey Karen, I’ll still be able to travel within my city so I can shop.” And while you would be right, I see two problems with that. (1) Do you really want to go out into the public that very well may be carrying the coronavirus? You would easily spread it to your family if you caught it. (2) EVERYONE who is unprepared will want to go out and get supplies and after the first 6 hours or so of the quarantine, there may be no food left.
How long will there be no food left? We couldn’t know.
What My Family Is Doing NOW
1.) N95 Masks
So yesterday, I ordered additional N95 Masks from Amazon. We already have 20 of these, but I felt with 7 of us living here, we might need more.
2.) Vitamin C
We have also purchased a ton of vitamin C – and probably not for the reason that you think. We’ve known a family who got whooping cough within the last two years. One of the things that the doctor said to the family is that “high doses” of vitamin C will soothe coughing. I went in search of a study that would show it. This study shows that IV vitamin C will help fight off viral infections. While I don’t have access to IV vitamin C, vitamin C powder is readily available for use.
This study shows that vitamin C in high doses of 6-8g/day can also prevent pneumonia. The reason that this is so important is that this virus kills by causing viral pneumonia. If we can prevent pneumonia with vitamin C, so much the better.
3.) Lysol Wipes
I have purchased Lysol Wipes. If the virus gets close, we will make it a habit of wiping down as many surfaces as we can often, but especially doorknobs, sink handles, toilet handles, cabinet handles, fridge door handles, and other frequently touched surfaces.
4.) Preparedness/Food Storage Menu
Yeah, you read that right. I have a food storage menu that I have created for our family. I did a menu for one week and replicated it 12 times so that I have 3 months of food storage on hand. Today, I went through my menu and took note of anything in particular that I was missing. I will be purchasing that on my next grocery run. Fortunately, I was mostly stocked with what we need. I do still need to go through my stored spices. These are harder to get to, but I want to make sure that I have a sufficient quantity of those as well.
5.) The Kids Don’t Know, But We’ve Talked
We haven’t yet discussed this with my children. I have a couple of children who would worry terribly if they knew about it NOW. We will tell them if it becomes a more earnest concern for us, but my husband and I have discussed it and the steps that I’ve taken so far to protect our family. Make sure you have this conversation with your spouse now. Hopefully, the two of you will be able to come to some sort of consensus on any additional courses of action that you feel you need to take.
What About You?
What is your opinion of this virus and what is going on in China? Have you already taken to get ready for a potential outbreak here in the States? If you have, what have you done? What do you plan on doing in the next week to get ready just in case? Please share your thoughts in the comments below so that we can all be better prepared.
