I’m so scared of Coronavirus I’ve spent hundreds on emergency food & water – and even made a DIY quarantine
MASK? Check. Full white suit? Check. Radio and batteries? Check. Enough food for weeks of isolation? Check. Dad-of-two Ruairidh McLeod, from Fife, Scotland, runs through his list of supplies on a daily basis, having spent almost £400 building up a giant stockpile of food, water and emergency items for ‘coronavirus doomsday’. From dozens of cans […]
MASK? Check. Full white suit? Check. Radio and batteries? Check. Enough food for weeks of isolation? Check.
Dad-of-two Ruairidh McLeod, from Fife, Scotland, runs through his list of supplies on a daily basis, having spent almost £400 building up a giant stockpile of food, water and emergency items for ‘coronavirus doomsday’.
From dozens of cans of food and a fire extinguisher, to duct tape to help construct a makeshift quarantine room and even masks and goggles, Ruairidh, 40, has ensured his family are ready for the worst.
Coronavirus – also known as ‘snake flu’ was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan less than two months ago and so far more than 1,300 people have died from it.
A total of nine patients in England have tested positive so far and more than 1,300 people have died from it around the world.
Read our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updates
While there are yet to be any reported cases in Scotland, Ruairidh believes the killer virus is spiralling out of control and admits he’s concerned it could even get as bad as the 1918 influenza pandemic, which caused 50 to 100 million deaths.
“I don’t want to be alarmist, but it’s really, really bad. If I was religious I would pray right now,” he tells the Sun Online.
In fact, Ruairidh fears it could eventually reach the point where he’s forced to pull his nine-year-old son and daughter, six, out of school so they can lock themselves away and avoid being contaminated.
While he’s hesitant to take such drastic measures yet, he’s made sure he’s prepared for four to eight weeks of isolation – despite his friends and wife Sue believing he’s just being paranoid.
‘We need to shut the country down and stay indoors’
Ruairidh first started stockpiling the items after coming across a YouTube video warning of the speedy spread of the virus.
“It’s like I had a sort of gut feeling that this was going to be unprecedented,” he says. “No-one seemed to realise.
“My wife has come on board now… but at first she didn’t get it at all.
“She said, ‘what are you doing? Don’t spend too much money’. I said, at the end of the day – and I’d say this to anyone – if you can afford to do it, you might as well.”
“Basically as soon as I got paid this month I went out and started buying as much as I could afford,” he says.
Ruairidh – who openly admits his stockpiling has become somewhat of an obsession – believes the only real way that the virus will be truly contained now is if every country affected shuts down and people stay indoors.
If I was religious I would pray right now
'Doomsday' prepper Ruairidh Mcleod
“It seems to me that the only way you can hope to contain it is if people do – this sounds crazy – but places need to just shut down and everyone needs to stay in their houses,” he explains.
Among Ruairidh’s extensive list of supplies is a note to get an overdraft of £300, should he need emergency cash, plus chemical gloves, plastic sheeting to set up his own personal quarantined room inside, cable ties and a fire blanket.
“The food that I’ve bought is non-perishable. It’s canned food, pasta, rice, noodles. I’ve even got powdered milk,” he says.
“If s*** does hit the fan and I have to go out, I’ve got masks and suits to protect myself.”
‘I’d use dust sheets to quarantine my own family’
Ruaridh has even thought about what he’d do if one of his kids or his wife caught the bug.
“I have got duct tape and need to get dust sheets in case in need to quarantine someone in the house,” he says.
“I think this must be the worst [outbreak] we’ve ever faced in this lifetime,” he says. “China’s now locked down millions and millions of people… more than even live in the UK. They’re not going to do stuff like that unless it’s really, really serious.
“Because I’ve got two young kids, I feel it’s my duty to try my best to look after them.”
While Ruairidh has tried to warn his family and friends of how dangerous the virus is, he says many of them simply don’t believe there’s any need to go to the lengths he is.
“If we were all in China, we’d all be s***ting our pants, but it seems a bit far away,” he admits.
“I had this feeling that it was going to get worse and now all the top medical professionals – Neil Ferguson [infectious disease expert from Imperial College London] for example – are saying stuff like it can’t be contained and will go right round the world. That scares me and I believe it could happen.
‘This is scary – the NHS can’t cope’
“I am seeing Chinese reports that I can’t verify, because I can’t speak the language, but allegedly they’re burning [all these bodies]… crematoriums have been going 24/7 in Wuhan for a while now.
“The amount of people that could potentially die from this is scary.
“The NHS is already underfunded and, depending where you are in the country, quite at capacity.
What to do if you're worried you've got coronavirus
BRITISH health chiefs have raised the coronavirus risk to the public from low to moderate.
Health professionals are working to contact anyone who has been in close contact with people who have coronavirus.
The majority of those who have been infected with the virus so far have either visited China or been in close contact with someone who has.
But if you are concerned, knowing the signs is one of the best ways to protect yourself from 2019-nCoV.
Symptoms usually include:
- a cough
- a high temperature
- difficulty breathing
In most cases, you won’t know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus.
But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract, it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease or people with weakened immune systems.
It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.
The best way to prevent catching any form of coronavirus is to practice good hygiene.
If you have cold-like symptoms, you can help protect others by staying home when you are sick and avoiding contact with others.
You should also cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough and sneeze then throw it away and wash your hands.
Cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces which you may have touched is also important.
If you have returned from Wuhan in the last 14 days:
- Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with other flu viruses
- Call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the city
- your recent travel to the city
If you are in Northern Ireland, call your GP.
Please follow this advice even if you do not have symptoms of the virus.
Meanwhile, leading symptom-checking provider to the NHS Doctorlink has been updated to help identify patients’ risk of having coronavirus.
Source: NHS
“In my local hospital for example, if there was 100 patients in a couple of days that needed ICU treatment and things like oxygen, I don’t think they’d cope with that.
“So imagine if that was thousands.”
Several countries have now banned or limited flights from mainland China, but Britain is instead closely monitoring all passengers when they arrive in the UK – having accepted a final evacuation flight from Wuhan on Sunday.
Ruairidh however believes it’s not enough.
“They need to stop all flights from China at the moment. It just seems sensible to do that,” he insists.
Ruairidh is still working in his day job as a fabricator for the time being, while he’s also still sending his kids to school.
He says, until there are cases reported near him, there’s not much else he can do other than encouraging his kids to keep washing their hands regularly.
Asked when he’d take the decision to shut them all indoors, he says: “I don’t really know… I’m trying to keep on top of it all the time, so when I get up in the morning I’ll check for all the latest news.
“The kids understand what I’m doing, but I’ve not tried to scare them.”
He adds: “I’ve got a lot of ibuprofen, paracetamol, and salts for upset stomachs.
“I don’t think I have enough water to last a month yet, should we need that, I think I only have about 30 litres. So I plan on buying a bit more of that.
“I even bought a radio and batteries just in case it gets really, really bad.”
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Ruairidh’s ultimate fear is that it could get so bad that it sparks a mass panic and riots on the streets, as people clamour to buy supplies. He’s urging everyone – particularly in remote areas – to stockpile what they can to ensure they’re prepared.