As the pandemic continues to grow, prevention is a key action many of us should consider. It's also one of the few things we can have any influence over regarding our own health, and the health of those around us.
Disclaimer: This is not medical, or health care advice, and shouldn't be taken as such. See a qualified health care provider if you are concerned about your health, or symptoms. If you/your loved ones have symptoms that become more severe, seek emergency medical assessment immediately from your local health clinic, urgent care centre, or hospital.
Key Ways to Prevent Contracting COVID-19
Change and improve your personal hygiene habits: Become more conscious and increase handwashing – when you come home from being outside; before and after preparing and eating food.
Stay home if you are sick: Don’t expose others to any kind of communicable diseases, including the common cold, different forms of influenza, and COVID-19.
Wash your hands thoroughly: Use warm water and soap and wash for 20 seconds, sing ‘Happy Birthday.’
Decrease touching your face, eyes, nose: Become a lot more conscious of this.
Change how you cough: Cough into your arm, and don’t use your hands. Immediately wash your hands if you do cough, or sneeze onto them.
Teach your kids/others to wash their hands properly, and not to touch their faces.
Use paper towels, or tissues to dry your hands, when touching surfaces, and dispose of these.
Individual towels: Each person has their own hand towels, face cloth, bath towel.
Disinfect surfaces with bleach: Use bleach wipes, or products, and increase the frequency of this, especially if someone in the household is sick with anything, including someone with suspected, or confirmed COVID-19.
Regularly disinfect high-risk objects: door knobs, smartphones, home and work phones; toilets; taps (bathroom and kitchen); increase awareness of the objects you touch – and then wipe them down.
Increase laundry frequency for washing towels, sheets, and anything that is touched. Consider using bleach.
Increase your personal distance from others: You may want to become more conscious about staying about 2 metres away from others, if possible.
Avoid medium to high-risk environments: Certain environments are higher-risk, its best to avoid them if possible, especially for those who have serious health conditions, and immune-suppression. See here for more information: https://advocacybc.blogspot.com/2020/02/coronavirus-covid-19-exposure-and.html.
Avoid crowded areas and events: Unfortunately, while we’re seeing an upswing, this is something people should consider.
Proactive self-isolation: If you have come from a high-risk country, or have been in contact with people with suspected, or confirmed COVID-19, consider proactively self-quarantining, and reducing contact with others, because although you may not have symptoms, or develop it, you could still be a carrier and can transmit the virus to others.
Wearing a mask: It’s not clear this prevents people from picking up this virus, but for those who are immune-suppressed, it may be something to consider because there are still a lot of other viruses around, and catching one of those could lower your immunity further.
Boost your immune system: Increase your immunity through improving the quality of foods and nutrition you take in. Increasing antioxidants, and micro-nutrients.
Improve sleep quality and quantity: Improve your sleep hygiene and habits, generally. Adults require 7-9 hours per night. This makes a HUGE difference in the strength of our immune system.
Exercise: This is one of the best things to strengthen your immune system. You don’t have to be a marathon runner, get out and walk every day, if possible. Take the stairs over the elevator. Look for ways to move your body more.
Monitor and Track symptoms: Get a thermometer to track your temperature. If you get a fever, carefully monitor this.
If you have symptoms: In BC you can call 811 and speak with a nurse to review symptoms, have assessments completed, and they will recommend whether you should seek medical attention in person.
Consider applying for Online Medical Care: If this is an option in your area, this may be a good way to avoid going into high-risk health care environments to be assessed, and/or having prescriptions given to you. Carefully consider the information, privacy and security issued related to the apps and programs used.
Use plastic gloves: When doing certain activities, such as caring for sick people in your household, you may want to use gloves, and dispose of them each time you use them.
If You Have COVID-19: How to Prevent Spread
Self-isolate/quarantine: Decrease the numbers of people you can potentially transmit the virus to.
Reduce contact with others: Stay home! Minimize and reduce contact with anyone in, or outside of the home.
Wear a N95 mask to prevent spread when out in public, or around others at home.
Ensure you have medical care to manage the symptoms that arise: You may want to consider online medical care if this is an option for you.
First Aid Kit for COVID-19/Other Health Issues
It’s a good idea to be proactive and here are a number of items you can have in your first aid kit that could come in handy if you get sick.
Thermometer: You want to monitor temperature to see if you/your loved ones have developed a fever. Disinfect this when used, especially if you are sharing this amongst family members. Probably best to have one for each person.
Over-the-counter (OTC) remedies for managing fever, cold/flu symptoms, such as cold and sinus medications.
Cough syrup and logenzes: This might help to decrease inflammation in your respiratory system if you develop a cough that disrupts your sleep, or other activities, or just to soothe your throat. If your cough becomes severe, or if you have shortness of breath/labored breathing, get assessed by a medical professional ASAP. COVID-19 can progress to pneumonia, which is a serious disease.
Liquids: Ensure you drink a lot of water, herbal teas, and consider things that help replace lost electrolytes, depending on your symptoms. Suggestions: drink green, or other herbal teas, drink lemon, ginger, honey and other things that increase antioxidants, and soothe the body.
Palatable foods: When most of us are sick we don’t have much appetite, but we do need to ensure we/our loved get some food into us. Soups; bland and less spicy foods; Vitamin-C rich foods; increased antioxidant-rich and probiotic foods, and other products keep the “machine” going, and improve your immune system to help you bounce back quicker.
Heating pad/heat bags: Chills and muscle aches can occur with COVID-19, and other health issues.
Menthol rubs: These often help our respiratory system and muscles when we’re feeling congestion and aches.
Purify the air of your home environment: You may want to get an air purifier, humidifiers or certain plants that improve air quality.
Cleanse your respiratory system: Using a humidifier, a hot shower, steam, or even boiling water and using things like Vicks menthol, or cleansing and anti-septic essential oils in the water can help cleanse.
Latex gloves: When/if you have to do self-care, such as cleansing infected areas (wounds, eye infections) you may want to use gloves, and/or disinfectant wipes. Re-infection is a risk.
Sauna/steam: If you are lucky enough to have a sauna in your home (community saunas, steam rooms, or hot tubs aren’t recommended right now), consider increasing your sauna use. This leads to many different types of benefits, including cleansing your respiratory system. See here for more information about the health benefits of sauna: https://mentalhealthbc.blogspot.com/2020/01/therapeutic-benefits-sauna-and-steam.html.
Special consideration for those with respiratory ailments, such as asthma: Receive medical advice as to whether you should use a corticosteroid puffer/medication. The research on patients with COVID-49 seems to indicate this may not be medically advisable.
Baking soda & turmeric: Rash is a little known/discussed symptom. Simple compresses of baking soda and water, or turmeric and water can decrease discomfort and pain. Seeking medical attention is advised if you're experiencing serious pain.
Essential oils: Certain oils and scents have anti-septic, cleansing qualities. These include birch, eucalyptus, tea tree, citrus, oregano, peppermint. These should be used with caution, as there really isn’t enough research to say they are evidence-based, but many cultures have used herbal remedies for centuries so they are worth considering.
Disinfectants: As noted above, you want to make sure you disinfect surfaces with bleach. Bleach wipes are handing to have in your kit.
Traditional medicine and treatments: Many cultures have their own ways of approaching disease and symptom management. Considering consulting with a traditional health care person, such as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), or Ayurvedic health practitioner if this is something you have found helpful, or is part of your culture.
Videos
Things to Know About Preventing Coronavirus. UC Davis Health.
Medcram: Coronavirus Epidemic
Update 17: Fighting Infections with Sleep (3 minutes in)
References
Swartzberg, J. (2015) 14 Ways to Improve Your Sleep: What can you do about those lost Zs if you do need more sleep? Here are
14 solid, proven, healthy ways to get better sleep. HuffPost. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/14-ways-to-improve-your-sleep_b_8692440.
Medical News Today. The best foods for boosting your
immune system. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322412#which-foods-boost-the-immune-system.
Center for Disease Control. Prevention and treatment. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html.
Government
of Canada. Coronavirus infection: Prevention and
risk. Retrieved from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus/prevention-risks.html.
Government of Canada. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ). Retrieved from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/frequently-asked-questions.html.
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