So now Ireland is starting up the "look at those silly people buying supplies ahead" article and I have news for whoever wrote this - if you think that 200 Euros (about 250 dollars) is "extreme" spending to top up some food, water and medications/supplies in the face of this, I think "you" are going to be facing some really tough times within the next couple of weeks.
Even if the only main thing that happens is that people panic and start buying everything and the supply chains have fallen apart, and even more so if there really are lockdowns, quarantines or just self-isolation.
Hand sanitiser, air filtering masks, rice, pasta, and cheese are among the necessities Irish people are bulk-buying in fear of the deadly coronavirus infecting Ireland.
www.independent.ie
'I bought a year's supply of rice' - meet the Irish people preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak
Brian and Emanuela Gough with some of their food stockpile as a precaution to the spread of the coronavirus. Pic Provision
Aoife Walsh
February 26 2020 12:17 PM
Hand sanitiser, air filtering masks, rice, pasta, and cheese are among the necessities Irish people are bulk-buying in fear of the deadly coronavirus infecting Ireland.
News of a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy earlier this week saw panic-stricken locals flock to the supermarkets, leaving shelves cleared of long-lasting necessities such as biscuits, pasta, and canned goods.
Here is a look at the total confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the world.
Fearful that a similar scene will play out here, tech worker, Roy Hennessy (38), has told of the drastic measures he has gone to in order to prepare for the possibility that the virus could make its way to Ireland.
Roy, who lives with his partner and two-year-old daughter in Dublin, said he has spent just under €200 on additional supplies that he hopes will carry his family though at least three months if an outbreak was to occur.
At the top of Roy’s shopping list is enough rice to last his family a year, pasta, meat, sauces, and cheese.
“I bought are 30 bags of rice, which is extremely cheap. But if you think about it that's €30 to buy 30 bags of rice. They're one kilogram each, and they're very cheap. That would survive us a year if necessary,” he told Independent.ie.
“I think it's most likely to last two or three months. But, just in case, other people are going to need it. I know my extended family aren't as organised as me so I'm going to have to give them the rice because they won't have prepared.
“I have huge bags of pasta, and these are extremely cheap. You've seen the bags in Tesco. Five kilograms of pasta for €2.65. I bought an awful lot of sauces for the rice which are about €1 each as well. It's not that expensive to prepare.
“That's the main thing you've got to remember, it's actually quite cheap. I've done it for I'd say under €200 in total for a three month shop,” he said.
“The rice will last for longer but I have enough to create dinners for three months, including meat, which is in the freezer, an awful lot of mince was bought over the last weekend.”
Roy said his preparations come after shops across Dublin were stripped bare after Storm Emma’s arrival in 2018.
“I think people will be expecting the government to provide for them, but they're not going to provide for them. You remember two years ago, almost exactly two years ago to the day when the snow storm came here.
“I couldn't find any food, I couldn't find any meat, I couldn't find anything to eat, and I got caught in that badly. And that went on for two or three days.
“This thing could go on for three months and I think, I think people should be prepared.”
Meanwhile, Cork couple Brian and Emanuela Gough have set up a Facebook group to help Irish people prepare for a potential coronavirus outbreak.
Emanuela is originally from Italy, where she worked as a nurse.
She said her parents are not living in northern Italy, but are still bracing themselves for the virus to possibly spread.
“My parents are in their seventies, and they live in different areas of Italy. Neither of them are in the affected zones, thank God.
“But, still the situation is not great. I was on the phone just last night with my mother and she said we didn't get any case yet but you can see that the situation is changing. She can't go to her GP because she can't get an appointment.
“My mother is sensible, but other people are just panicking, and stocking up on food, water and masks. I haven't got a mask so far. We will get some to wear if we are going to places that are overcrowded. So supermarkets, probably the doctor.
“The best precaution and the best prevention we can do is to stay at home as much as possible, and to block any possibility that the coronavirus can spread.
“I saw on the news a report that said it’s too early to start testing for the virus, but it’s actually too late, we need to start now.”
Brian, who works as a lorry driver, said the couple are doing their food shopping as soon as the supermarkets open in order to avoid mixing with potential carriers.
“To be honest with you, I get up at 6am every morning, so I like to lie in at the weekends, but we’ve been getting up early every weekend to go to the shops as soon as they open. We’re staying indoors as much as possible.
“We’re cautious of shaking hands with people. We’ve bought five big bottles of hand sanitiser and I have one with me in the car all the time,” he said.
While some may see their efforts as extreme, Shayne Phelan, survival expert with Eagle Ridge Survival group, said those who are stockpiling in fear of a coronavirus pandemic are doing so as their body is not ready for the “physical demands of survival”.
“I am not necessarily a prepper, I am a survivalist, but that being said there is a over spill with both.
“A lot of preppers are preparing for a number of potential disasters within civilisation and generally stockpile resources for what they feel is going to be the most likely event, whether that be a tsunami, a coronavirus pandemic or a solar flare,” he said.
“The weakness of prepping alone is that a lot of the preppers, but not all, have low level survival skills and maybe haven't prepared their body for the physical demands of survival, it really is too late to get fit when bell strikes.”
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health, has previously said that there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ireland, and preparations are in place to assess how the virus spreading overseas could impact the country.
“Ireland has been working on its preparedness for Covid-19 (Coronavirus) since January. We remain in a containment phase and, to date, there have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 here.
“However, clearly the international situation is evolving. We will work with counterparts at the ECDC and WHO over the coming days to fully assess and incorporate the implications of these developments into our approach in Ireland.
“Our public health advice currently remains unchanged - anyone who may have been in contact with a person who has COVID-19, or who has been to mainland China in the last 14 days, is advised to contact
HSE Live. If they are unwell with cough, especially with respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, high temperature, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fever) they should isolate themselves and phone their GP immediately.”
Online Editors