When everyone is panicking, people are pushing or fighting each other at the pharmacy or at grocery stores spreading the chaos! When the buses and other transportation means have stopped running, you see the misinformation is being spread faster than the deadly virus that’s causing the chaos. Pandemics could be pitiless more than you can imagine.
In 20th century alone during the three flu outbreaks more the 80 million people were killed. What can we do to stay alive if a pandemic happens is the question that everyone asks today? How can we survive a dangerous outbreak of disease spreading rapidly over large areas?
Being a doom’s day prepper has its perks after all, as Benjamin Franklin once said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” Covid-19 isn’t the only terrible outbreak that comes in our way, in just a last fifty years we’ve seen HIV, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, middle east respiratory syndrome, Ebola and the zika virus etc. There is always a fear of a hostile nation or a group could even bioengineer a killer pathogen, pretty scary, right? It’s a sobering fact that scientific advances in jean editing and jean sequencing have made such a horror possible.
Bioterrorism has the capacity to kill almost 30 million people a year, according to bill & Melinda gates foundation. As a society, we are totally unprepared but as an individual, you have to be prepared to save ourselves and our loved ones. Because of bad sanitation, long-distance travelling and the difficulties of controlling mosquitoes the diseases are spreading farther and faster than ever before. According to Oxford’s global priorities project a possibility of pandemics is one of the worst threats currently facing humanity.
So now that you understand how dangerous any pandemic in future god forbid can be after what we are facing in the shape of Covid-19, what can you do to coup with one.
- Well the first thing you need to have reasonable stock of water and food. It’s a good idea to have at least two weeks’ worth. Food that don’t need to be cooked or refrigerated. You also need to learn how to grow vegetables inside in your home. As for water storage you need to have four litters per person per day, some for drinking and some for hygiene and sanitary uses.
- Buy a fine amount of supply of the prescribed medicines that you take. Some pandemics can last for a year time if you don’t have your medicines on you that can hurt even more than the outbreak.
- Prepare for heat and cold make sure you don’t rely on the modern comforts like Furnaces and air conditioners, get good quality blind to keep the sun out and reduce heat buildup. Make sure you have more blankets and warm clothes for cold weather.
- You should always have a box face masks at your home in a reasonable number. If you want a supercool mask get the N95 respirator as it keeps 95% of particle out. A standard face mask is helpful too while it doesn’t block tiny particles it does reduce your exposure to the disease spreading water droplets from cough and sneezes.
- You should have all the equipment and supplies you need for the good hygiene including soap sanitizers and bandages. Use a wash cloth while in shower will help you save a lot of water.
- In worst case scenario you should be prepared for a chaos.
Contrary to the popular opinion it isn’t the virus itself that the greatest danger but the panicked behavior of other people, Civil unrest can be dangerous too. You may have to face a home invasion someone who can try to take your emergency food and water. So the best is to stay inside as much as possible and secure your home with heavy locks.
Note:
After a pandemic, your world will certainly be different. You may have lost your colleagues, friends or even family many of the things will require a rebuild. You need to be more self-sufficient in that time. You may have to face transport trouble for that you should buy a bicycle well before time. All these advice may lead you to have good chance of surviving pandemics.
The writer is special correspondent and columnist at The Dayspring. He can be reached at [email protected]