For those that didn't read my previous post The #toiletpapercrisis -Australian Edition . I suggest you read that first. So much has changed in 24 hours. This is no longer just a Twitter meme.

So I have taken this up from when I finished reading the local newspaper, ate my burger, caught the train and bus home to my sanctuary by the beach.

Saturday 14 March

By the time I got home the newspaper headlines were already old news. 

• New Zealand was imposing travel restrictions
• Second Member of Australian Parliament tested for Coronavirus

The days event prompted me to finish my post that I started 10 days earlier.

Tried to speak to wife in Brasil but no internet connection. I was drained and tired so went to bed. 

My wife has been in Brasil with family since January and we were planning for me to go over soon for a few weeks and we would travel back together. That was the plan two days ago.

As of last night I was no longer prepared to travel anywhere, incase I got trapped on the other side of the world for an indefinite period. I wanted my wife to get on a plane ASAP while she still could. 

Sunday 15 March

When I wake, I do my meditation, then start my breakfast rituals. Eventually I fire up the laptop. First notification to hit my screen was.

• Spain going into lockdown

Some one had sent me by sms a simple preventative measure you can take to stop getting colds and flu. It may have been something that your grandmother or great grandmother had told you about. It is an ancient remedy. I have left it as I received it.

My only intention is to pass on information that could help you.  In this case it is a simple procedure that kills this virus that continues to infect thousands of people in a large number of countries.

 

Zhong Nanshan (a Chinese pulmonologist who discovered the SARS coronavirus in 2003) suggested simple ways to prevent Wuhan pneumonia:

It is recommended to rinse your throat by gargling with salt water before going to a hospital or other public places (and do the same after returning home).  The method is as follows:

a) a bite of salt water diluted in a glass;

b) lift your head back;  letting the salt water bathe the area of ​​your throat

c) open your mouth slightly and gargle with salt water

d) spit out the salt water after a few seconds

e) repeat the process 3 to 5 times

 

Because viruses or bacteria lurk in the pharynx through the nasal passage, diluted salt water can kill them on the spot, thus achieving the purpose of preventing infection.  During the SARS, I promoted and supervised this method among my students.  As a result, none of our students in our class had a cold, cough and fever.

 

This method is simple, effective, easy to do.  But it requires it to be constant.

 

Zhong Nanshan

January 29, 2020

This something that my wife and I have been doing long before Cvirus became a thing. The key is to kill it before it becomes an infection. Plus you take other practical measures to avoid the source as much as you can.

I spend the rest of the morning talking to my mother and brother in New Zealand.

My wife rings me from Brasil. A couple weeks ago Brasilians couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. They had bigger things to worry about than catching the Flu. After all they had Dengue Fever to deal with. Two days ago we were discussing my coming to Brasil.

My wife has been staying with her brother, who owns a Fish Farm. A place where people come to fish and they cook and eat their catch. They have home made accomodation for the visitors to stay in. I was fascinated by the whole concept, totally foreign to some one from New Zealand where 95% of the country is within 44 kilometres of the coast. If you want to go fishing, you go to the beach or some river. You tend to take that for granted when living in  Godzone 

He is preparing for the inevitable two week lock down, by stocking up on supplies. 

• Brazilian Prime Minister tests negative. 
• First confirmed case in Latin America (Brasil-Wednesday).

When I was in Brasil in 2014 for the World Cup. Brasil lost heavily to Germany. I was surprised how calmly they handled it for a country that is so passionate about football. If it been New Zealand that had lost the Rugby World Cup by such a humiliating score. The whole nation would have gone in to mourning. Australia's response to Cvirus was to create a #toiletpapercrisis. 

So I am not surprised that their response has been more co-operative. They are used to dealing with shit. This is country with immense natural resources but still had to change their currency every decade or so.

Australia on the other hand is ill prepared for whats coming. Twenty eight years recession free means if you are under 50 years of age, you have not experienced a recession in your life time. Most children in western society don't cut the apron strings until they are in their twenties. So they would have been sheltered from life's realities by their parents.

Sorry there has been little toilet humour in this edition. You will need to read the first edition for that.

I need to go to the beach and centre myself again.

Keep yourself and family safe.

Urgent Update March 15

"who gives a crap" is not a twitter meme but a real Australian company that sells the real thing and donates 50% of their profits to help builds toilets. No trees were hurt or killed in the making of the toilet paper.

A big thank you to Dragonate for bringing this to my attention.