There’s considerable disinformation and confusion about the extent of the virus. Some of it is deliberate propaganda. Some of it is exaggeration. Nevertheless, the virus is spreading and the infected and death toll is rising.

I just checked on Amazon and face masks are sold out. Take a look in your local pharmacy at the shelves to get an idea how your neighborhood is reacting. I just went downstairs to our in-house cache and retrieved several masks that were part of my preparation.

Besides masks one of the basics of prevention sounds simple but is actually very important: wash your hands. Avoid contact with others as much as possible.

If there is a full blown pandemic (the definition is in the slideshow below) the best course of action is to hunker down and avoid all outside contact for a month. Are you prepared for that? I just ordered another bucket of Mountain House Meals as I’ve used some for camping (a way to rotate supply), although we have plenty on hand, more is never a bad idea. With sufficient food, and as long as your water supply is good, you could ride it out. On the very first page of The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide, Task #1 is to buy at least 2 cases of water per person in your household for emergencies. That’s a six day supply. But that’s for when your water supply is interrupted or contaminated. In a dire emergency you have a supply of water in your home you might not have thought of and I cover that further in the book.

Most people don’t understand the exact definition of a Pandemic and I also cover that and it’s in the slideshow.

The bottom line is this should be a wake up call to a lot of Americans. 60% of household are not prepared to even a base level for emergencies. Do you have a first aid kit? The 2 cases of water per? An emergency radio? A survival manual that lets you know what to do in an emergency?

Here is key information on preparing for and surviving a pandemic: