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 Ouze wrote:
You know, the funny thing is that if the coronavirus turns out to be a bust in terms of infection rate and so on (which I am sure we are all hoping for), cancelling big public events and more diligent public hygiene probably means less people getting the flu (and dying from it).

So, lemons out of lemonade!

As i mentioned that is already happening in japan and seems same thing(less flu cases than usual) has been noticed in finland.

So not all bad

The road death rate must be way down in Chinese cities, too.

I calculated at the start of the outbreak in Wuhan, the population was probably gaining because the road deaths saved were more than the virus deaths.

Apparently we're the experts...

https://newsthump.com/2020/03/04/nation-turns-to-warhammer-players-for-advice-on-how-to-stay-at-home-for-two-weeks/

tneva82 wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
You know, the funny thing is that if the coronavirus turns out to be a bust in terms of infection rate and so on (which I am sure we are all hoping for), cancelling big public events and more diligent public hygiene probably means less people getting the flu (and dying from it).

So, lemons out of lemonade!

As i mentioned that is already happening in japan and seems same thing(less flu cases than usual) has been noticed in finland.

So not all bad

If it gets more people to wash their hands - especially after going to the bathroom?

We'll all win!

Crispy78 wrote:
Apparently we're the experts...

https://newsthump.com/2020/03/04/nation-turns-to-warhammer-players-for-advice-on-how-to-stay-at-home-for-two-weeks/

£35? if only!

I keep hearing on the radio about people bulk buying tons of toilet paper. whats that all about? people are treating it like its an actual apocalypse or something, but even if it was, why toilet paper? people are weird.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

Crispy78 wrote:
Apparently we're the experts...

https://newsthump.com/2020/03/04/nation-turns-to-warhammer-players-for-advice-on-how-to-stay-at-home-for-two-weeks/

£35? if only!

I keep hearing on the radio about people bulk buying tons of toilet paper. whats that all about? people are treating it like its an actual apocalypse or something, but even if it was, why toilet paper? people are weird.

That's happening in Australia I believe. Something about somebody bought a huge amount of toilet paper and another customer thought what do they know that I don't ? Domino effect followed.

Apparently a local newspaper printed blank pages to be used as spare paper.

I can understand wanting all the TP if the virus causes death by diarrhoea. If you're on your way out like that, at least you can avoid a chapped ringpiece.

no its happening here too! people buying 50 rolls at a time.. crazy. like even if you were to hypothetically run out of toilet paper, so what? use a sponge on a stick like the romans did, or just get in the shower.. maybe I'm just a grim serviceman but that really doesnt both me in the grand scheme of things. I actually think toilet paper is pretty wasteful in this era of saving the planet.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

Crispy78 wrote:
Apparently we're the experts...

https://newsthump.com/2020/03/04/nation-turns-to-warhammer-players-for-advice-on-how-to-stay-at-home-for-two-weeks/

£35? if only!

I keep hearing on the radio about people bulk buying tons of toilet paper. whats that all about? people are treating it like its an actual apocalypse or something, but even if it was, why toilet paper? people are weird.

It's a response to toilet paper shortages in Hong Kong including an armed robbery of 600 TP rolls. Hoarding like TP is going to disappear is silly, especially when you can just buy a bidet. Keeping a 14+ day supply of basic necessities you need in case you are quarantined is more reasonable. Little things like getting a pack or two of canned vegetables instead of expecting to buy them fresh at the market. If you go through a 2L bottle of soda a week, buy a couple extra and replace them as you use them so you always have 2 in reserve.

Burning a significant chunk of your budget on things you might not need/use is detrimental since you might need that money for something else. Especially considering one of the primary methods people resupplied with in Wuhan was digitally transferring money to someone able to leave quarantine to do your shopping. A fat stack of pirate gold/silver won't help you if you need to transfer someone $20 to buy groceries.

I don't see why buying so much TP is shocking they sell a 30 pack at Walmart and a 45 pack at Sam's club.Is 600 rolls excessive sure, but TP being sold in bulk is common place.
It doesn't matter if I bring home 100 rolls. It's not like it wont get used, and makes an excellent stocking stuffer.

The most practical concern I have is with the supply chain.
Maybe businesses should put a limit on packages sold per customer. Maybe it's too late. People get desperate during a disaster, I had to drive over 100 miles just to find fuel and fuel cans after a hurricane one time. Never again.
The funny thing about the 14 day supply is that it's recommended by the CDC which is part of DHS which thinks that having a 14 day or more supply of food in your home is a sign of a domestic terrorist. Funny stuff.

In this case it really is mostly just a short term run on the current stocks and given even a week or two stocks might be back to normal.

Thing is humans do hoard stuff - heck most animals which have a concept of resources which can be moved will hoard things. Wolves will bury food; leopards will hide it in trees; squirrels will bury nuts etc....

Hoarding stuff is basically resource protection against an uncertain future. Humans are only different in so much as we've built many systems that allow us a continual rate of guaranteed supply through most of our lifespan provided the country remains stable.

So in developed, peaceful nations hoarding of resources is typically not seen as necessary outside of extreme situations. Plus most of them will be short term extreme situations by and large so even when we do; we don't have to hoard that much.

Seems rumour in australia started that toilet paper production in china went to zero and australia's tp comes from there. Ergo stock up since supposedly no more production for a while due to horrible corona virus.

Humans are not particularly logical creatures. Thankfully such panic hoarding hasn't started here but if cases starts to increase...Oh boy.

Worst part of the virus isn't virus itself nor the deaths but the ridiculous overreactions people do in panic.

It's also entirely possible the current run on TP could be because people expect other people to buy it all out in anticipation of a run, rather than actual panic about a production shortage.

For my part, I did go ahead and pick up an extra pack last time I went grocery shopping - along with enough dried rice and canned food to last 14 days of isolation or two years of randomly realizing I'm out of my regular bachelor chow.

Edit: However, at least locally, there is currently no shortage of any such supplies here.

Kilkrazy wrote:The road death rate must be way down in Chinese cities, too.

I calculated at the start of the outbreak in Wuhan, the population was probably gaining because the road deaths saved were more than the virus deaths.

It seems to be the inverse of what happened after 9/11. People started taking the car more often even for longer trips which led to more traffic accidents, injuries, and deaths.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/05/september-11-road-deaths

https://www.mpg.de/6347636/terrorism_traffic-accidents-USA

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3233376/

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I can understand wanting all the TP if the virus causes death by diarrhoea. If you're on your way out like that, at least you can avoid a chapped ringpiece.

It could be a great marketing piece for Japanese bidet toilet seats - 'If you're gonna die, at least make sure your nethers are in comfort."

I got back to Henley tonight and went to the local Waitrose for a bottle of wine.

The loo roll aisle was gutted. Almost nothing left except some kitchen towel.

I'm just amazed people would rather stock up bog roll than food.

In other virus related news, the UK had its first fatality at my local main hospital in Reading, and two infected people were diagnosed in Oxfordshire.

My wife was freaking out to know where they were. It could be down here in Henley, or in Chipping Norton 60 miles away for all I know.

The company I work for officially banned shaking hands as a business greeting, and cancelled an international meeting in Oxford the week after next.

My coworkers and I were lamenting not stocking our store with dust masks. We don't even have cases yet and people are asking for them. Could have made a decent sale.

Amusingly, my daughter and her housemates got paranoid about toliet paper a couple of weeks ago, and stocked up 288 rolls.

Holy jeez, I bet waitrose toilet rolls cost an absolute packet.. But I suppose if you live in henley you're likely to be able to afford it! Haha

But damn, thats close to me! I live between Oxford and Reading. Guess it's time to batten down the hatches!

The runs on toilet roll are pretty funny, because most people can just wash their arses if needs be, it is hardly essential!

I’ve yet to see any panic buying in my area. I’m actually proud of that.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Holy jeez, I bet waitrose toilet rolls cost an absolute packet.. But I suppose if you live in henley you're likely to be able to afford it! Haha

But damn, thats close to me! I live between Oxford and Reading. Guess it's time to batten down the hatches!

I buy most of my TP at Aldi or Lidl.

My wife has informed me that bog roll is more essential than food.

Fortunately I got a bag of 24 last weekend, so we are alright for a while.

I did my store up last year.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/771121.page#10340594

Preppers can now feel vindicated!

I was amused to read a comment from a Mumsnet post which said something like "I'm a prepper so I bought loads of TP."

No you're not. If you really were a prepper you wouldn't need to buy anything because the apocalypse you were supposedly preparing for has now arrived and you're ready.

Fortunately there is still gin.

You guys got me all scared, we're dangerously low on TP and were gonna head to Target to stock up tomorrow. Luckily it's not in my area yet so hopefully they'll have some left that isn't the scratchy store brand. We need Charmin for our tender bums.

They should change the name from covid19 to Y2K2

How is tp more important than food?! Haha. The vast majority of the world don't even use toilet paper!

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
The vast majority of the world don't even use toilet paper!

They certainly do use it around here.

No one seems to mention how many kids some of these TP super buyers have.
Imagine how much TP the Brady Bunch would have gone through.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
How is tp more important than food?! Haha. The vast majority of the world don't even use toilet paper!

For some reason l, no one seems to be going after the flushable wipes. Amateurs.

I also skipped right to the end game and bought a few big bags of dog food.



If food starts getting scarce...


We can fatten the dog up, nice and juicy.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
How is tp more important than food?! Haha. The vast majority of the world don't even use toilet paper!

Mostly because right now, at least in Australia, it was toilet paper that was rumoured to be going out of stock due to factory shut downs in China. At present the actual food distribution system in most countries isn't being hurt at the production end. It's only at the supply end that the roughly 2 week store supplies on shelf are being stripped in only some product lines and in some areas. Basically there's no predicted food shortage from this as yet. Indeed the only shortages that might happen are more at the individual level for those groups isolating themselves. Even with that we've got a very advanced home delivery system now from companies like Tescos. Systems that, in a panic, could be tapped into to improve hygiene security if required; thus providing a mobile and safe home food delivery system.


I think food would only become a risk if major portions of the farming and food production groups were to be shut down.