Reply #27: erm, this IS a real concern, one that they are not remotely prepared for [View All]

[HuffleClaw]

about their only plan is containment, which would be futile. and a vaccine? they'd need months to even make one, let alone mass-produce it. and ya just know who'd get first dibs on it. the flu kills loads of people every year, or flu-related secondary infections, in particular pneumonia. if people started dying at any noticable rate from some new 'flu' things would get out of hand pretty quick. people would pack up their cars and head out of cities, looking for a 'save haven', some of 'em spreading the infection as they go. they would TRY to isolate areas of infection, likely with some form of quarantine, but people will slip through. schools would have to close, as would malls, theatres, sports venues, etc... i've read up on the flu of 1917-19 and all sorts of measures helped to deal with the problem, but still, millions died.
a typical city hospital isn't prepared for a hundreds/thousands of flu-infected people desperate for treatment. there are sooooo many problems associated with a pandemic that they are pretty much insurmountable. for instance, grocery stores have on hand, maybe a weeks worth of food for x number of people at any given time. they get delivery's constantly. the food delivery system would be disrupted dramatically. who's going to want to deliver a truckload of spam and eggs to a quarantined city? and who's going to want to enter a grocery store full of possibly infected people? the authorities don't have the resources to cope with these things. look at how many out of state police and first responders had to go to the gulf coast for the hurricane. those out of state folks are going to have their hands full in their OWN states if this comes to pass. so... ...then you have to call out the national guard right? military and civilians just don't mix well, under the best of circumstances. the problems are endless. the folks who know about this stuff have been ringing the alarm bells about influenza for a LOOOONG time and have been routinely ignored. we are WAY overdue. way overdue.