Possibilities
Retired
Today, we've seen a doubling of the Influenza A H1N1 outbreak in th US (896 cases on 5/7 versus 1639 on 5/8).
Given the economic impact of replicating Mexico's week long social distancing program, I seriously doubt the president will permit it to occur. The weekend is upon us, and the CDC will no doubt see some lagging of statistical data over the next few days. The numbers could very large in the next few weeks given this exponential rate of growth.
I want to praise the members and moderators of this forum, but I have a small suggestion. I have noticed that we have consolidated several pieces of medical and practical information within forums. Given the possible magnitude of the infection, perhaps we could create one general pdf file which would be downloadable. In it we could list practical advice for 30 days of survival and treating the illness. Within the booklet we could also list the possible strategies which could be utilized to deal with longer term problems should the virus cause large scale disruptions in power, communications, the availability of water and its purification, alternative energy ideas, alternative treatment for the flu besides Tamiflu and Relenza given the possibility of resistance.
It's now early May. If the virus truly becomes a world wide pandemic in the fall, we might see significant disruptions, not only due to its virulence, but more pragmatically due to the large scale illness of our workers.
In the US many companies have adopted a Just In Time strategy for warehousing materials and supplies. Utility companies on average stockpile 27 days worth of coal in order to keep their costs down. Imagine the nation-wide disruptions should the workers who mine coal be unable to deliver coal to the power company. Now multiply that disruption across multiple industries. We live in a short term supply world today. Even if the flu is mild, if it causes disruptions due to social distancing and or due to enormous amounts of absenteeism, the consequences could be far reaching.
I applaud the work that has been done to date. It's been a privilege to be part of the brainstorming and interplay of ideas here. I think that the next logical step would be a summation of ideas in order to assist the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time. I've assembled my own documents from a variety of sources, and I've often thought how useful it would be to have one source for my wife and family members to read. The government's pandemic plan from FEMA simply doesn't go far enough though it's an excellent start.
I imagine a disruption far beyond the 2-4 weeks without electricity, grocery stores, running water, and drug stores. Far too many people would panic and simply be unable to get along.
Given the economic impact of replicating Mexico's week long social distancing program, I seriously doubt the president will permit it to occur. The weekend is upon us, and the CDC will no doubt see some lagging of statistical data over the next few days. The numbers could very large in the next few weeks given this exponential rate of growth.
I want to praise the members and moderators of this forum, but I have a small suggestion. I have noticed that we have consolidated several pieces of medical and practical information within forums. Given the possible magnitude of the infection, perhaps we could create one general pdf file which would be downloadable. In it we could list practical advice for 30 days of survival and treating the illness. Within the booklet we could also list the possible strategies which could be utilized to deal with longer term problems should the virus cause large scale disruptions in power, communications, the availability of water and its purification, alternative energy ideas, alternative treatment for the flu besides Tamiflu and Relenza given the possibility of resistance.
It's now early May. If the virus truly becomes a world wide pandemic in the fall, we might see significant disruptions, not only due to its virulence, but more pragmatically due to the large scale illness of our workers.
In the US many companies have adopted a Just In Time strategy for warehousing materials and supplies. Utility companies on average stockpile 27 days worth of coal in order to keep their costs down. Imagine the nation-wide disruptions should the workers who mine coal be unable to deliver coal to the power company. Now multiply that disruption across multiple industries. We live in a short term supply world today. Even if the flu is mild, if it causes disruptions due to social distancing and or due to enormous amounts of absenteeism, the consequences could be far reaching.
I applaud the work that has been done to date. It's been a privilege to be part of the brainstorming and interplay of ideas here. I think that the next logical step would be a summation of ideas in order to assist the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time. I've assembled my own documents from a variety of sources, and I've often thought how useful it would be to have one source for my wife and family members to read. The government's pandemic plan from FEMA simply doesn't go far enough though it's an excellent start.
I imagine a disruption far beyond the 2-4 weeks without electricity, grocery stores, running water, and drug stores. Far too many people would panic and simply be unable to get along.
