I have seen no panic buying here. The Guardia Civil are using drones to make sure people are not congregating in the streets.

Sue if you can get rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and glycerine, you can make a hand sanitizing gel at home. There are several recipes online, alcohol seems to be the main ingredient.

Gin or vodka will work.

Actually they will not. Please do not spread wrong information.

"But if soap and water aren’t available, hand sanitizer is the next best option — namely if it contains at least 60 percent alcohol, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says."

There are very few spirits meant for drinking that will reach the 60% mark - if you happen to get your hands on some Everclear however, you can dilute that down to 65-70% ABV and use it.

Neither gin nor vodka would work, they don't have a high enough proof, you need at least 60%, preferably more.

The British term for rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) is surgical spirit, usually available from pharmacies; currently... sold out. Actually it's pretty much sold out across Europe but it's worse in the UK because we don't make it here. You might find some Ethanol - it has a slightly lower alcohol level than isopropyl but it would do, you'd just need a bit more of it.

To everyone: It is understandable - and well meaning - if you want to help others with advice. We do not want to curb this, unless, obviously, it gets to direct medical advice. No one but licensed doctors may dispense medical advice of any kind. If someone has symptoms or is worried about risk and needs advice, there is only one thing to say and that is to direct them to their official national or regional disease control resources for when and how to contact a medical professional. You can of course help them locate that site, if you know where they are from.

Non-medical advice, especially when it comes to how to stay safe, for example, regarding personal hygiene and social contact, is always welcome.

Even for non-medical "stay safe" advice, however, we require that you check your facts, make sure they do come from a reputable source, and, if possible, cite your source. Again, the best source is the player's national and regional disease control (since measures vary). The CDC is a reliable source as well if you need to look up scientific information such as the current state of knowledge regarding disinfectants - it however cannot know the current state of isolation rules in other places.

Care should also be taken with advice regarding personal situations such as how to deal with financial worries. Most countries are implementing measures to help people preserve their financial independence, so the player should look for those that apply to them.

What we can always use more of and you're free to go all out and personal on, is advice on how to avoid cabin fever and keep yourself busy and occupied.

Sorry but that was a meant as a joke. I will remember not to do that again.

Update from Belgium
- every business whose personnel can work from home, must see to it that most personnel does work from home. There are some exceptions for the jobs that can't be at home, for instance a janitor in a bank or insurance company. So as a bank employee, I'll work at home for some weeks.
- every non-essential shop has to close down until April 5, or switch to internet sales and home delivery only. Essential shops are those that sell food (including pet food) or newspapers, pharmacists, post offices or petrol stations. Barbers can still open, but for one customer at a time and on appointment only.
- in supermarkets a limited number of customers can enter at the same time, and everone should complete one's shop visit within half an hour. I personally don't see how one could manage this in the hypermarkets, though.
- public transport is provided, but passengers will have to keep a respectable distance
- all large meetings are prohibited
- the government encourages to go out for a walk or a bike trip, but only alone or in limited company.
- at least one of the three largest internet providers has opened up unlimited internet and extra TV channels for the members.

horadada, if it was a joke, it wasn't a good one - I've seen that particular piece of "advice" circulated in earnest multiple times already (and in fact, at least one vodka company actively worked on debunking it).

Vodka does actually work against some types of infectious agents (many bacteria and fungi can't tolerate ABV levels above 20), but unfortunately not against most viruses.

OK I get Wesley. I am not a child to be chastised.

I am in Alexandria, and one of our local grocery stores (Harris Teeter) had been quite thoroughly cleaned out. No fresh produce or meat to be found, nor most other things. My husband was able to get only a couple of cans of diced tomatoes, a bag of self-rising flour (which I hardly ever use), a package of Portuguese sausages, a bottle of shampoo and a six-pack of beer. Everything else on the list I gave him had disappeared.

I'm happy to hear from people in Europe that live in rural areas. All the news we get here in the US is about the major cities, so it's nice to get real news from elsewhere.

To those of you in the US who are struggling to find needed items, you might try some alternative places to large grocery stores. For food items, smaller stores (like Dollar General) and dollar stores (like Dollar Tree or 99 Cent stores) may have more stock available. For cleaning supplies, try hardware stores and office supply stores. (This is only a guess. I've personally not been to a store in the last 7 days.)

Where I live in Tennessee seems a bit behind the curve. Schools have closed, but most of the restaurants are still offering dine-in service and very few shops have closed. There seem to be fewer people going out, but not by a large margin.

I ran across this great article about what we need to do and why:


https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56

- I'm sorry, I can't seem to get that to create a link, you'll have to copy and paste.

Here even the dollar stores are being cleaned out. People are just over buying and causing shortage. I'm waiting a little bit before I try to buy toilet paper, but we will need milk. Since I have asthma, I'm going to try and get it through a delivery service.

I am working this week, but am supposed to be off the next two then back on for one. But I'm thinking of playing the asthma card and opting to stay home for the duration. I'm starting to take this even more seriously and even though I'm healthy, my asthma is what caused my stroke ultimately...

Just an fyi...office supply stores are likely out of TP, paper towels, and hand sanitizer. Mine won't get any in for another couple of weeks.



I was at the Costco in Manassas yesterday, and their ground beef section was wiped out, their chicken breasts were minimal, and their 4 pack cheese pizzas were out. The Harris Teeter I go to in Bristow has been quite busy with all this. Speaking of HT, they changed their hours to 7am to 8pm for now.

If you're in Europe and already up, tune in to your local radio station right now (one that carries oldies might be the best choice). A Dutch radio presenter has suggested that all stations nationwide play "You'll Never Walk Alone" at 8:45 am this morning and the idea actually spread well beyond the Dutch borders (including the UK - 7:45 UK time; BBC1 and BBC2 will carry it).

Tune in and join a European moment of togetherness! (As a backup if your station does not carry it, you can preload it on Youtube - it's the Gerry and the Pacemakers version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5_LQArLa0

Thank you Wes. I read this just in time to catch it 'live' on Radio 2 - it was on all their radio channels. Well done to the presenter who came up with the idea - the BBC did credit him before and after playing the song.

The song has very strong associations with where I live, even though I'm not a football fan.

I live in Sydney and work for a Dutch company. Today we shut down our Sydney office (offices in Netherlands, Germany, Spain, US had shut down much earlier) for the foreseeable future. Everyone will work from home. I went into the city today to collect some files and it was empty (almost like the days between Christmas and New Year when everything shuts down). My husband's office switched to mandatory work from home at the beginning of this week. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like people are taking this as seriously as Europe. With offices shutting down, Bondi beach was full of people working with laptops at the beach yesterday!

Panic buying started here weeks ago. We have avoided it so far. Luckily fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and fish are well stocked at our local supermarkets. It's staples like rice, pasta, and ofcourse TP that have run out and had restrictions placed.

Large gatherings have now been cancelled. Churches have suspended mass till further notice. Schools are still open. A lot of offices do not have the IT capability for the entire company to switch to remote working, so they have started off in batches.

FYI. Saw on BBC news this morning that a gin manufacturer in England is going to make sanitizer. Said he only needs to source 2 more ingredients and it will be an easy switch over.

Several producers of alcoholic drinks worldwide have switched over at least part of their production. Textile manufacturers are switching to masks and hospital garments. It's win/win - it increases the supply of vital articles and lets them keep their output and revenue high.

This island has a glut of lobsters! Normally most of the catch of lobsters and crabs is exported to Italy, France and Spain but this cannot happen so they are in danger of the industry being decimated. The fishermen are offering to deliver, they are desperate. Mind you, they are never cheap. Also it is very soon Jersey Royal potato season, what a delicious meal that would be - actually what they served to the Queen when she visited, local lobster and new potatoes.

My next door neighbour was to do my shopping for me for the duration but the whole family go into isolation later today, the daughter is arriving back from her university in the UK so the whole family are locked for minimum 14 days. I am ok until next week then need milk and bread plus fresh food.

Do you have a veggie box system in the Channel Islands? I use a local supplier here - farms in Leics and Northants - and they also supply milk and eggs. It's a limited, seasonal, range of veg and it is a bit more pricey than the supermarket but of course it is all fresh. I would suggest making your own bread but at the moment there's no flour!

Thanks for the European togetherness moment, Wes. I think I got some dust in my eye when that was on. I will always be a European, I learned that when I lived outside Europe, so thanks for the song and please pass the tissues... only make sure you're wearing gloves, don't come too close, and don't breathe near me!

Well today was my last day of work and I'm off for two weeks. So much in the world has changed in the last week that I almost cried when I left work not knowing what the world will look like two weeks from today.

My daughter's teacher made a video chat page and I almost cried watching the teacher's video to her students.

Our company have now upped the ante and the majority of our 4000+ strong workforce has been laid off until the crisis is over. I'm one of the lucky ones and have been kept on on a partial basis set at 30% for the moment. I now need to take two permits with me if I need to call by the office - an affidavit signed by me, and an authorisation signed by my boss.

The police have been patrolling the streets and issuing fines of 135€ for people out and about without the correct paperwork.

There's an 8pm daily call for people to open their windows, step onto their balconies or stand in their gardens and give a round of applause to emergency care staff and front liners for their efforts on behalf of the nation.

Certain products (rice, pasta, flour) are still flying off the shelves.

The local dogs are being walked to exhaustion as people fed up of being cooped up at home take their daily exercise (it's allowed) more frequently. This may turn against us as the rules might be tightened to forbid it. The rather vague "exercise not too far from home" has been tightened to a "no further than 2km from your home" limit, which makes sense.

The hum of lawnmowers has been the earworm of the week, I think every garden in the neighbourhood is in ship shape and looking spick and span like never before.

The expectation is for the confinement period to be lengthened to 6 weeks rather than the initial two, and there are calls for a curfew to be put in place as well.

I am now going to take advantage of the quiet and head out for an early morning quick walk before too many people are out. The rest of the family might be awake by the time I get back.

I am also in France, in the east on the border with Switzerland. Watching the evolution of the virus, one thing stands out for me. In France, we currently have fewer cases than in Germany (could be lower testing levels), but what is striking is that Germany has a small fraction of the death rate and the number of seriously ill. Does anyone know why this might be? Is it diet or lifestyle? Is the medical system so much better?