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I'm really disappointed in our Center for Disease Control. They had one job. They failed. I'm equally disappointed in the FDA, but they've been a sock puppet for big pharma for so long that it's not surprising. Meanwhile, the Surgeon General (and Fauci) are stuck in the 400 BC dogma of the Hippocratic Oath. We continue to follow the mantra of clinical trials when the Chinese and Italians are actively treating cases with off label drugs, IV vitamin C, malaria drugs + zinc, and more. On 23Mar, the Surgeon General said, "it's not practical to think that we're going to treat our way out of this problem with new drugs ... we need to lower demand" for treatments with social distancing." As a former military officer, social distancing is the equivalent to retreating. It buys time to gather resources to attack. It buys time to develop new treatments. Social distancing is a tactic; it's not a solution.

You tested Wedneday at 1700 and got results Sunday at 0037... 79 hours later. She tested Friday at 0930 and still no results as I type this... 103 hours and counting. She checks her Vandy account every 4 hours. It makes me wonder how bad it really is in Tennessee when there's a 4-day backlog of test results. EDITED TO ADD... She's still weak and had a brief relapse this morning, but she's feeling better again now.

Thanks. I've texted her to set up the account. It's great to hear you are doing well!

Is anyone aware of any prepper websites that are discussing prepping for Covid 19? If so, let me know. Thanks! I went to Walmart (Charlotte Pike) when it opened this morning and topped off my stores of food. I had enough to last a month before this happened because that's my prepper policy, but it would have been some unappealing meals. Now I have enough to also eat reasonably tasty meals. Mostly I bought bacon, rice, frozen vegetables, cat food, and dog food. I went by the vitamin section and saw it fully stocked, except for being sold out of Vitamin C. The other antivirals and immune system boosters were still there, if you know what they are. Back in December when Life Extension had their year end sale, I bought over $1,000 in vitamins so I'm stocked in that, too. I would suggest that everyone take supplements to boost their immune system. It slows the aging process and reduces the frequency and severity of colds and common flu. One of my friends (female, age 61) also takes several vitamins. She was sick for about 12 hours last Thursday with what is most likely Covid 19. She's still weak with the occasional dry cough, but otherwise symptom free. Here's what we take. Bolded names are ones that I'd recommend first. Vitamin C, D3, selenium, Omega 3 oil, astazanthin, curcumin with piperine, tart cherry extract, olive leaf extract, echinacea, zinc, and Lauricidin.

I don't think this event can be compared to previous bear markets or even the 1929 crash. This is new territory. I went all cash in my individual account and my 401k last Monday. The Dow Jones closed around 19,000 Friday. I think the bottom will be closer to 10,000 than 19,000. If I miss a few thousand points on the way back up before I get back in, I'm okay with that. I fell relieved that I'm no longer losing $2,000 to $3,000 every day.

Wow! I had not thought of that. Cuomo would be WAY better as a candidate than Joe Biden! His television presence is lot better than Biden, Trump, Sanders, Fauci, or anyone else that I have heard recently on national media. I just looked. There's a #CuomoforPresident on twitter.

I've listened to Fauci several times now in press conferences and in news interviews. He needs to change his approach to interviews and require pre-delivered questions. His extemporaneous answers are sometimes not as clear as they should be. I also dislike his CYA responses about "unprecedented" blah blah blah. You're the CDC. You have one job. You blew it and now you're playing catch up as best you can. We get it. Just be up front with us. Even now, the CDC responses seem to be walking the line with the reality of this situation.

Sorry to hear this. I hope she's fine today. It's probably just the flu, but you should take comfort in the reports that Covid 19 appears to cause only mild problems for those under age 20 and almost no problems for under age 10.

Oh, and I also take vitamin D3. Hopefully, she will get test results back today or not later than Monday.

Slightly off topic from sound systems, I'm planning to buy hearing aids. I have a hard time hearing in restaurants or noisy places. Some women are especially hard to hear. Men I can usually hear okay. What really bothers me are loud movies and loud music. It's like hitting me upside the head on certain notes. Right now, I'm looking at this model for $109 apiece. Hopefully, the noise cancelling feature will block those really loud sounds. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MLBW5VN/?coliid=I276Q7EGZLEYHC&colid=2DMNFV6R09JYZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

First, my friend was almost completely back to normal yesterday afternoon. We talked for 10 minutes and except for one small cough, she sounded fine and said she felt fine. She is 61 and takes even more supplements than I do. I used to get flu/colds 2-3 times every winter and they would last 1-2 weeks. Now, I get the flu once a year and it lasts for only 2-3 days. I'm 72. I take vitamin C, zinc, krill oil, astazanthin, PQQ, echinacea, tart cherry extract, and Lauricidin daily. I get most of these from Life Extension dot com, but zinc, C, and Omega 3 oil (krill oil is a type of omega 3 oil) are available at Walmart. Edited to say: Are sold at Walmart. I don't know if they are still in stock. I usually buy C and Krill Oil at Costco, but I'm not going there.

I just called my friend. Other than feeling achy and the occasional cough, she sounds back to normal. That's amazing considering that she was thinking about going to ER 24 hours ago. I think this speaks volumes for taking supplements to keep your immune system strong, which she and I do.

Update: She was swabbed at Vanderbilt Walk In Clinic in Belle Meade at 8:30 this morning and told results will be in 2-3 days. I strongly suspect she will test positive. On the same subject, she is MUCH better this morning. We both take supplements to boost immune system and she upped her dosage when she started to get symptoms.

She's better this morning and trying to get tested but getting a run around from walk in clinics and the hot lines. She's in line at Vandy Belle Meade Walk In right now. This is a total goat rope. Meanwhile, I'm showing no temp and no signs except for burning eyes. I'm disinfecting the house and moving to the basement level today to protect my wife. She was on hold on the hot line for FIVE HOURS! The system can't handle the volume.

Thanks, everyone.

We're both in excellent health, but I'm concerned about my wife who is in a high risk category... age and breathing issues.

My friend is a flight attendant who returned from a round trip from Amsterdam Sunday. Today, she started showing symptoms: cough, fever 100.3, and headache. She called her crewmates and some also have symptoms. She's been on hold for 2 hours at Vanderbilt as I type this. Any suggestions on how she can get tested ASAP? Her symptoms are mild so far, but I'm in self-quarantine until she gets results since we worked out together Monday and Tuesday.

Is water that comes straight out of a spring drinkable? I assume it was at one time, since it comes into an old timey cistern with steps leading down to it. I've never tried drinking it.

Fortunately, we have a spring on our property and 2 gallons of Chlorox, which at 8 drops per gallon of water, will give us an unlimited supply of drinking water. To my knowledge, rice is no longer available anywhere. I'd also like to stock up on dried beans, but it's too late.

Can someone recommend a good source/website to download survival books/guides, etc? I would like to get these and backup on an old tablet or flash drive. EDITED TO ADD. I'm particularly interested in perimeter home defense. My home is not defendable against even a small assault force. Frankly, no one I know live in a home that could be defended.

A website (link below) tracks testing by state. I checked all Southern states. There were only 5,000 test results total. About half of those were done in either Texas or Florida. For Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and so on, there have been roughly 400 test results per state. Tennessee has only 403 results as this is posted 10:43AM March 18. As tests become available, we're going to see more positives. I think this is a good thing, not that more people are affected, but that the masses become more aware of the risks involved in going out in public. https://covidtracking.com/data/

What's the turnaround time for test results?

I would have gone, provided that I could find a place to park. It cost us $25 the last time it was held here!

I don't think gold and silver will be worth much in a SHTF situation. 1) It's hard to tell if it's real or counterfeit. 2) It's not useful if it's not valued as much as the barter item in question. If we went into an indefinite lockdown and food distribution stopped, would you trade your only 10 lb bag of rice for a $1,500 gold coin? I wouldn't. I wouldn't even want people to know that I had a 10 lb bag of rice. If I thought we were coming out of this situation before my food ran out, I might trade a pound or two of rice for a $1,500 gold coin. Gold and to a lesser degree, silver, are primarily useful as a way to transport wealth when fleeing a dangerous region. With a pandemic, there won't be any safe regions in the US and even if there were, they wouldn't let outsiders in.

How bad will it get? Since we don't know, we need to prepare for both scenarios. I see some great items on your list, batteries, lighters, first aid stuff. One thing I have that I almost never see on prepper lists is several bicycles. Once the gas runs out, a bicycle is the most efficient non-motorized transportation ever built. I have six. I figure each one would be worth at least one gold coin... should I care about gold. My concern is that I've waited too late to stock up on desirable non-perishable foods. I only have barely enough to last a month.