don't panic

So as I said earlier today, Who's Yer Con, which was scheduled to happen mid-April, has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

I meant to write up this little primer a couple of weeks ago but never finished (and it got a bit long-winded as well). With things getting real spicy I figured that it's time to get some things clear about what's going on and what you can do to ride this whole thing out with your shirt, your health, and your life intact.

Comparisons between SARS-CoV-2 and the seasonal flu continue even today, but comparing total case load and total deaths can be deceiving, especially in the early stages of an exponential curve. **Panic does no one any good, but neither does complacency.** Even with an "only" 2% fatality rate (1 in 50 infected die...should I note that these are TERRIBLE odds in a world with modern medicine?), what sets COVID-19 apart from other familiar respiratory illnesses is the large fraction of cases that become severe, and the fact that it's spreading through an immunologically naïve population at lightning speeds only compounds the challenges humanity must face in the months to come.

**"So what do I do?"**

• *Take precautions to prevent infection and infecting others.* These precautions have been shared time and time again, so I don't think it bears repeating.

• *Square away some supplies.* In a perfect world, there wouldn't be panicky, stupid people with zero common sense filling their vehicles with a 20-year supply of toilet paper while stripping store shelves clean. Even without the variable of stupid people, a pandemic as severe as COVID-19 has the potential of disrupting supply chains and infastructure, and the announcement of quarantine measures and lockdowns inevitably lead to an uptick of more panic-buying.

**== Prepping for the Viralpocalypse for civilized gentlefolk of sensible and pragmatic disposition ==**

The goal of this guide is to provide a guideline with an emphasis on a low budget and provisions that have a use regardless of how the situation plays out.

Just looking at purely Walmart products at a budget of $30, the following can be purchased in order to sustain an individual for 2 weeks, do not spoil and are cookable with nothing but water and a pot:

1 20 lbs bag of rice
4 16 oz bag of your choice of dried legume
1 canister of chicken or beef boullion
7 cans of tuna
Brown sugar
Cinnamon

Rice and beans are non-perishable, provide ample calories and are a complete pro

Rice & beans works as a base to provide the necessary calories while granting you some degree of the nutrients you need to stay healthy. This diet will absolutely be sufficient to keep you alive and in decent shape for several weeks.

That said, rice & beans is an utterly bland diet, but that doesn't matter if you are worried about having food to eat, which is all that matters when prepping on a budget. Which is why cans of tuna is present on the list, to provide extra protein per day, and it pairs well with a meal of rice & beans.

Chicken or beef boullion cubes can be boiled with the rice to add flavor or drunk by themselves as a hot drink.

Brown sugar and cinnamon can turn the rice into a dessert, when boiled into a pudding.

A large bag of oatmeal can grant the same benefit as the rice pudding while breaking up the monotony of constant rice.

Besides foodstuff, other things that should be picked up:

Tampons/Sanitary pads
Toilet paper
Prescription-free medication:
 ⁃ Acetaminophen
 ⁃ Ibuprofen
 ⁃ Sterile saline nose spray
 ⁃ Aspirin
 ⁃ Pepto-bismol
Your prescriptions
2 bars or 1/2 gallon of hand soap
Bath soap
Paper towels
Spray bottle
Bleach

In addition to the above, purchase anything that you may need that you can't find in a grocery store or supermarket. If a scenario like Italy happens here in the United States, you will not be able to visit any shops or businesses outside of groceries, and they will impose limits on how many people may enter.

**:: A Note on the Toilet Paper Meme**
The average person only needs 1-2 rolls a week. You don't need 1024 rolls to ride the pandemic out.

**What about disinfectant, hand sanitizer, gloves, surgical masks and respirators? Why didn't you list those?**
If you wanted to grab any of those items, you're about 3 weeks too late. Sorry, buddy.