With the outbreak of coronavirus hitting many countries around the world with increasing diagnosis being found that is seemingly continuing to grow what should you do to prepare? All over social media there has been videos and reports of chaos in local shopping centres as people scramble to buy up toilet paper, hand sanitiser, cleaning equipment and long-life foods, should you be joining them in prepping for a potential two-week quarantine? How will you power your home and appliances in the event of a power cut with no one allowed in to locate and fix any problem you may have. Is purchasing a generator to power your home and appliances a safe option in order to prepare for Coronavirus?
What Is Coronavirus?
COVID-19 is the disease spread by the coronavirus that continues to spread around the world. With 110,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus it is spreading throughout the world causing restrictions on travel with potential carriers of the disease being advised to quarantine themselves for two weeks. The virus only seems to dramatically affect the elderly and people with underlining pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and lung disease. While symptoms are similar to flu the advice is to quarantine yourself for two weeks, if the symptoms get worse such as you are having respiratory issues, then seek medical attention. To help prevent the spread of the virus keep up with good hygiene which is normal practice anyway. Wash your hands like you have just chopped a chilly and then need to take your contact lenses out. If you cough cover your mouth and nose and then wash your hands.
What Is Currently Happening?
While you may see on social media many people running for the shelves and grabbing as much stock as they can carry you should try to avoid this act as it will only hinder the rest of the community. You should be prepared for some disruption within your general shop as these videos only feed into people taking these drastic actions and increased panic buying.
Consider How You Currently Live
What do you do in your general day to day life? Most people will do a shop once a week and buy enough food to last the next seven days until they do their shop again. Continue in your normal practise but maybe look to collect a few more tinned goods and long-life food in case you need to be quarantined for two weeks or be prepared that when the next shop comes around, they won't have all the stock you want. Look at what you already have at home, most people already have cupboards full of long-life food like tinned beans and pasta so may already be better prepared than you initially thought.
Power Outages
In case of any incident that could lead to a power outage you should be prepared for this. Whether its the outbreak of the coronavirus or another situation, what would you do in the event of a prolonged power outage? How would you run your fridge and freezer to prevent what food you already have to spoil? It's always handy and practical to have a generator stowed away for just the occasion, fail to prepare, prepare to fail. A small generator to power some lights and keep your home appliances running is always a good idea. It provides you with a backup when you need it most. Learn more here.
Generator is a redundant source of power that can be great in an emergency. Not only is it good for the doom's day preparation but also if you plan on having an outside BBQ or party and want to run lights through the night without having meters of cable stretched across your lawn.
Final Considerations
The coronavirus or COVID-19 is something that could be potentially dangerous to some of the population but is isn't something that should be causing world-wide panic. If you are suffering from flu like symptoms and are elderly or have an underlining heath problem, contact your local medical services and seek advice. Otherwise your biggest worry is am I capable of being at home for two weeks. Try not to panic as this will only exacerbate the problem. Having a standby generator is always a good option, regardless of the current virus panic. Not only will it see you through this epidemic if there is a power outage, later on it may prove invaluable, especially if there is a storm that knocks out your power in the winter. Whilst we don't want to panic you, you should be prepared to live for 2 weeks in your home. If you have to and think about what you may need in case, you are quarantined the likelihood is you are already prepared.
