by Daisy Luther
Every year, I go back a couple of days after Christmas for a retrospective of the year we’re putting behind us. Most years, there are a variety of articles that have caught the attention of our readers, but this year, every single one was related to how the Covid pandemic would affect us here in the United States.
The interesting thing is that the stories aren’t really about the virus itself (which some folks believe is the plague while others believe it doesn’t even exist.) It’s about the lockdowns, what we need to be prepared for surviving government mandates, and the effect this has on all of us.
Because regardless of what you think of the Covid, nearly everyone is affected by the government’s response to it. Perhaps you’ve lost your job or business, or you know someone who has. Maybe you can’t find the supplies you want, or you can no longer afford to stock up. Maybe you’re trying to figure out how to be ready for the next round of mandates – because we know they’re coming.
Never have I written such a grim look back that was so laser-focused on one overriding topic.
These were the ten most-viewed articles on The Organic Prepper in 2020.
#10) How (and When) to Prepare for the NEXT Lockdown
Published on May 2, just as we were beginning to see a little more freedom to come and go as we pleased, I wrote about the fact that another lockdown was entirely likely and that the time to begin preparing for it was immediately.
I wrote:
If it turns out to be seasonal, the second wave would be most likely to begin in October. And now, health specialists know what to look for so it’s likely the re-emergence will be identified fairly quickly and lockdowns could occur by November.
Whenever a surge occurs, whether it’s next month or next fall, expect another round of lockdowns.
Incidentally, I wrote an article about the second round of lockdowns on November 13th.
#9) UPDATED LIST: How to Build a 30-Day Emergency Food Supply…Fast
I updated this article repeatedly throughout the year because company after company faced backlogs of orders without enough inventory to fill them. My favorite company, Legacy, dramatically increased production to fulfill orders and still customers had to wait for months in many cases to get their supplies.
This was one of the most popular articles of the year as people who felt they were not quite ready for a longer-term emergency stocked up.
Many of the products listed in the article are currently available at the time of this round-up.
#8) Last-Minute Coronavirus Quarantine Supplies: What to Buy (and Where to Get It) When the Stuff You Want Is Sold Out
Many people had begun to see the writing on the wall in early March, even those who were not preppers. On March 8th, I wrote an article for those who were having difficulty finding the supplies that were on all the standard checklists.
Don’t despair if you can’t the last-minute emergency supplies you wanted. It just means you’re going to have to be flexible and creative. And don’t let people who accuse you of panic-buying or being “selfish” get you down. Sure, you waited later than is ideal but you are doing the best you can, and I commend you for doing so. Ignore the jerks – most of us are really glad you’re here and you’re trying.
The best thing about this is that it turned a lot of folks into preppers who had never even considered it before.
#7) 9 Things to Buy Every Time You Go to the Store
By June 28th, after the first round of restrictions had been lifted, people who were never-before preppers were still paying attention and seeing that the stores in many parts of the country had never fully restocked. I recommended the 9 things I pick up every time I go to the store as a simple way to get ready for the next round.
#6) The Coronavirus Outbreak Could Affect the Availability (and Cost) of THESE Essential Products from China
Back in February, Zero Hedge reports that the virus that was then centered in mainland China had “all the hallmarks of a true Black Swan event.” And they called it. With hundreds of millions of Chinese people locked down like something out of a dystopian novel, this was bound to affect both our supply chain and our economy. Locked down people weren’t out there producing the cheap goods Americans have come to rely upon, and shipping ground to a halt.
It took 2020 to visibly demonstrate to us how little we actually produce here in the US, and how reliant we are on China for consumer goods, medical supplies, and even food.
This article has a massive list of the essentials that my analysis showed might become difficult to acquire. And as it stands, many stores are still hiding the empty spots that used to be filled with these goods.
That list is useful today in that we can use it to predict the products that could soon increase in price, be in short supply, or even be completely unavailable. You can use this list to foresee the things that could become a problem. Some things you could stock up on – like medications – but others are items you won’t know you need until you actually need them – like parts to repair your furnace.
Fears of this escalated even more when China said they might withhold medical exports no-they-were-just-kidding if the United States continued to blame them for giving the whole world the coronavirus.
#5) How to Prepare for a Coronavirus Quarantine
The fifth most popular article of the year was published on February 29th, and it was about how to prepare for a quarantine should the virus really escape China and make its way to the United States.
This article was written with a real quarantine in mind and not the lockdown measures that were later instituted by the United States government. It provided guidance for people who might end up unable to leave their homes for more supplies for a month or longer.
Some folks who were at very high risk for the virus did make the personal decision to quarantine themselves and have since shared stories of staying home and living from their supplies for months. Most people practiced more of a form of social distancing instead and limited their interactions or trips to the store, but they still left to purchase supplies. It should be reiterated this is not the same thing as a quarantine. With a quarantine, you don’t go in and out. You go in, and you stay in until it’s over.
#4) The Lockdown of America Begins
On March 21, the official lockdown of the United States began in California and over the next week spread across most of the nation. By April 4th, 90% of Americans were living under some form of restriction. As predicted, this wasn’t something that happened all at the same time on a federal level, but on a rolling basis, state by state.
#3) What I Bought to Prep for a Wuhan Coronavirus Lockdown
When the pandemic began, unbeknownst to us here in the US, I had been in Europe. In January, I returned to North America for the funeral of a beloved family member on a round trip ticket, planning to return to visit Croatia.
However, while I was in Canada, things with the virus began to pick up speed. I popped down to visit my daughter in the United States at the end of that month and quickly came to believe this was the real deal. I postponed my return to Europe and went out to purchase food and supplies for a potential quarantine.
This article is a list of what I quickly bought so that we could hunker down for a few months if the need arose. I started from square one and put our entire stockpile together in just a few shopping trips in early February. While it isn’t necessarily the items I would have bought if I’d had unlimited money, space, and time to prepare, it saw us through the lockdown and we still have some supplies left from these trips.
#2.) How Long Will the American Covid-19 Lockdown Last? Here’s What the Patterns Suggest
The thing that you may have noticed throughout this roundup is that nearly all of the predictions I made weren’t of the crystal ball variety. They were based on patterns. How did it happen in other countries? How many days did it take? What did their charts look like in comparison to our charts?
This article is no different but met quite the outcry when I said not only could we be looking at somewhere around 77 days of restrictions, but also that this could be a stop and start process.
We have not seen the worst of this situation yet. People should be prepared for anything from more stringent lockdowns, supply chain interruptions, and potentially even civil unrest in some areas as the situation drags on.
I know these dates and numbers are probably not what you want to hear. It’s only been ten days and for many, it’s practically unimaginable to live like this for 2 more months, stretching into June. The effect on the economy alone is mind-blowing, not to mention the feelings of uncertainty, unrest, and even fear that many people are experiencing.
But if you’re anything like me, you’d rather go into this unknown territory facing reality instead of waiting and wondering.
The response in the comments on both my website and other websites where this was published was that this timeline was nonsense and that there was no way it would take this long, nor would this be something that could literally go on for years.
Yet here we are.
#1) When Will the US Lockdown Over Covid-19? How Long Will Quarantines Last? Here’s What the Patterns Show Us
The most viewed article of the year, with over 400,000 visits, was this one.
On March 12, before the “let’s stay home for two weeks and flatten the curve announcement” was made, I analyzed the lockdowns of China and Italy based on what we were being told. I concluded we could be looking at a lockdown within a matter of days and recommended that readers make their preparations and get to wherever they intended to spend their lockdown.
…If massive lockdowns are occurring on about day 22-23 in other countries, that means we may have 7-8 days before we see major lockdowns and quarantines here. That would put us at March 19th or 20th. We may see some early lockdowns of cities or regions where the virus is rapidly spreading like Seattle and New York City. The lockdowns in other countries expanded in about a week to encompass greater geographic areas and larger numbers of people. This would put us at approximately March 26-27th.…
…I would expect a quarantine or lockdown in the US to last for up to 2-3 months. There are lots of variables, of course, but this would be a good general guide for getting supplies.
On March 21, the lockdown of America began.
2020 in summary
There are many theories about the covid pandemic including…
- There’s no such thing as Covid-19
- The virus is a bioweapon
- We should have done X and everything would be fine
I believe there is a virus. I had it, it was confirmed with a serology test, and I was sick for 17 days.
That being said, I don’t believe the mandates and measures taken by the United States have been in our best interests. I believe it’s a real health crisis that has the potential to overload hospitals, but I also believe that it didn’t justify the destruction of our economy and our personal finances.
We should have the basic human rights and responsibilities of making our own health choices. We should be provided with accurate information, not propaganda to support the whim of whoever currently wants to mandate our medical decisions.
We have had a real crisis in our country – and in the world – and it was made a thousand times worse by those in power who live by the credo of Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff.
“You never want to let a serious crisis go to waste.”
World leaders have taken that to heart, and nations around the globe will never be the same. We’ll be told it is all for our own good, and they’re just keeping us safe.
We will look back at 2020 in the same way we look back at Sept. 11, 2001, as a turning point where great freedom was lost. There will be the world before Covid, and the world after Covid.
A cage, no matter how “safe” it is, will always be a cage.