Coronavirus: What you should prepare in case you need to self-isolate
The Government recently asked New Zealanders to prepare for this situation. But how do you prepare for staying at home for a two-week period? Kiwis have been told not to bulk buy, and some won’t be able to afford to buy two weeks’ worth of supplies at once, but gradually adding extra items to your grocery list can build up your stock. According to New Zealand Civil Defence, during a pandemic or a prolonged emergency you will need a two-week stock of food and water.
Here is a list of food items that can easily be stored for two weeks:
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Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Canned juice, milk, and soup.
High-energy foods such as peanut butter, jam, salt-free crackers and energy bars.
Trail mix (pre-packaged or homemade).
Comfort foods such as hard sweets, sweetened cereals, snack bars, and biscuits.
Instant coffee, tea bags.
Compressed food bars. They store well, are lightweight, taste good, and are nutritious.
Dried foods. They can be nutritious and satisfying, but may contain a lot of salt, which promotes thirst. If salt is a problem, used dried fruit, like raisins.
Freeze-dried foods. They are tasty and lightweight.
Whole-grain cereals (oatmeal, whole-wheat, multi-grain).
Instant meals. Cups of noodles or cups of soup are a good addition.
Snack-sized canned goods, which generally have pull-top lids or twist-open keys.
Pre-packaged beverages. Those in foil packets and foil-lined boxes are sealed and will keep for a long time if the seal is not broken.
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Other items that you may need to consider depending on your personal circumstances are:
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Medications – you should check with your chemist about storage requirements for any medications your taking. Pain relievers and contact lenses and solutions are other medical supplies you may need.
Items for young children, including nappies, bottles, dummies, powdered milk and formula.
Detergent, feminine supplies, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, comb and brush, lip balm, sunscreen, heavy-duty plastic garbage bags and ties, medium-sized plastic bucket with tight lid, disinfectant, household chlorine bleach.
Sanitation and hygiene items: toilet paper, towelettes, soap, hand sanitiser liquid.
First aid kit for common injuries.
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Look after your mental health as well
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Two weeks of staying home can seem like a long time for people and looking after your mental health is also important.
Civil Defence suggests making sure you also think about ways you can entertain yourself with books and other forms of entertainment and ways to occupy your children.
You can find more information on preparing for self-quarantine here from Civil Defence here.
If you are returning to New Zealand from overseas or don’t have a stock at home and have suddenly been required to self-quarantine you can order any item you need online. Family or friends can also drop supplies at your door.
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Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
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49.5% Yes
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48.6% No
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1.9% Other - I'll share below
Here's Thursday's thinker!
I am lighter than air, but a hundred people cannot lift me. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
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Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Why make picking up reserved library books harder? What do you think? Challenge: Write the last stanza for the first poem attached below.
Once books are reserved in Auckland Libraries books, when they are available no longer go alphabetically by customer but instead go into a Holds pickup shelf number based presumably somehow on when each book needs to be picked up by.
I had two books reserved that arrived on two different days in the Blockhouse Bay Library and hence each book has a different shelf number. Hard to find unless you knew the shelf number in the notification email. Even if you knew the shelf number I found myself three books by the same author on the two shelf numbers.
More recently yesterday a book I reserved was on a different shelf number than was specified in my notification email (see image below).
Sadly it is clear from library staff that a numerical system for reserves is here to stay.
I suggest that so that all books for each person has the same shelf number, the shelf number becomes the last digit of a person's library card (0-9).
Within each shelf number a book is found under the day the reserve arrives in the library (01 to 31, hopefully the same date the email is sent).
Since a customer appears to have 10 days to pick up a book, ten days of the month would appear to be required at any time (for each digit 0-9).
Once there are 10 days used the next day's reserves could go back at the beginning of the shelf number after any remaining books not collected (hopefully none) are removed (along with the old day number and the new day number (01 to 31) inserted) after the last day available and future days' books remaining moved forward to make room.
Each day number (01-31) would appear once for each shelf number (0-9) before the first book on that day- perhaps cover an old withdrawn book with paper with each day number on the spine?
When a reserved book arrives in the library the last digit of the library card could be placed on a piece of paper in the book to be removed when it is put on the shelf, to be recycled the next day.
What do you think?
See the image below and page 3 below for a letter appearing in the Western Leader on 9 September:
www.neighbourly.co.nz...
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