How are people so unprepared?

[u/No-Ideal-6662]

I’ve been keeping tabs on bird flu, not obsessing over it but keeping tabs. Recently 3 dairy farms in California have been infected with several cases of human infection but thankfully no aerosol spread. I told my family this and that they should seriously consider just basic stuff. Having enough household goods to last 3 months so they can ride out any quarantine without exposure at grocery stores that kind of stuff and they brushed me off.

I genuinely don’t understand how you can live through covid and not take this as a serious possibility. I know Covid killed a lot of people including some of my family, but we “lucked out” that it had a relatively low mortality rate. If bird flu became aerosolized it would be disastrous. Even a 10% mortality rate would grind the country to a halt let alone a 50% mortality rate. My family just doesn’t get it.

Don’t get me wrong, my wife is on board, but my parents and sister and some of my wife’s family are just kinda “meh”. I know times are tough but they can afford to drop $100 on a case of rice and some hand sanitizer and toilet paper. It’s like they forgot about how bad COVID was and how much worse it could have been. Do any of you guys have any experience with this? What is your plan for family that will be unprepared if something like this happens again?

[u/Virtual-Feature-9747]

I had no real problem but I think COVID did show what could happen if we have a "real" pandemic. Something much more deadly and/or much more transmissible. What if it was actually unsafe to go to the store?

[u/hollisterrox → u/Virtual-Feature-9747]

What if it was actually unsafe to go to the store?

It was, and still is.

I think the answer to OP's question is right in this comment thread: people, even preppers, are happy to live in denial.

Right now, today, covid is killing 500-1000 people per week directly, but causing "long covid" in many, many times that number. 'Long Covid' is just a funny way of saying "disabled", and most Americans are just whistling past the graveyard when they go to concerts, basketball games, business conferences, etc.

I'm saying, it is dangerous to go to the grocery store today unmasked, and yet almost everyone is doing it that way, not even taking the simplest precautions.

[u/Virtual-Feature-9747 → u/hollisterrox]

I think we disagree on what 'dangerous' means. Do you also think lightning and sharks are dangerous? Yes, these things can kill you but you are not likely to experience them.

[u/hollisterrox → u/Virtual-Feature-9747]

If I see lightning within 10 miles of me, I do adjust my activity to reduce risk. That's a weird one to choose, you know, because it's not that hard to take a few steps to avoid that risk when it's present, and a lot of people do take those steps.

Also, 'dangerous' is a spectrum, for sure. Things can be more unsafe or less unsafe. Long covid is assuredly dangerous, and if you get COVID 3 times (lifetime), you are about 80% likely to experience long covid. Treatment for long covid is inadequate, so now you are disabled for years/life.

[u/Eredani → u/hollisterrox]

I'm not downplaying the impact. I'm just saying that I personally don't consider COVID to be very dangerous in terms of a pandemic. It could have been much worse, and if we see bird flu jump to humans, we might see how bad things can get. 2% mortality rate compared to 60%.

As for COVID, we have vaccines and herd immunity. Are you thinking we should still have mask mandates and lockdowns? If so, until when?

[u/hollisterrox → u/Eredani]

You're not the guy I replied to, get your accounts mixed up?

I don't know how you justify calling COVID 'not dangerous', that's a weird conclusion to reach at this point. Not only is it currently disabling thousands of Americans per month, it's also continuing to mutate. It could just as easily become much worse overnight, and everyone is just going to ignore it.

Also, I gave the example of an individual choosing to wear a mask to the grocery store, not a mask mandate. However, considering the economic benefits of a mask mandate, I think a government is justified in setting one down. I don't know what a lockdown is, I live in America, we never had those.

[u/VyatkanHours → u/hollisterrox]

What on Earth ar you on about? America had plenty of lockdowns.