How to Stay Healthy
How to stay healthy and safe right now
Chances are, you're not spending 24/7 in your home during the lockdown. Leaving the house to run errands and get fresh air are important activities to stay healthy and sane. But they also bring you within the orbit of people outside your household and the germs that are still out there, endangering lives and livelihoods.
Wearing homemade face masks and social distancing inside stores are two precautions, but there are others to adopt, too. Since the highly contagious new strain of the pandemic can be passed along on by those who appear asymptomatic, it's crucial to stay alert.
Here are smart, sound tips to follow when you do need to leave the house to run critical errands. And here's the current understanding of the pandemic when it comes to food delivery and mail, such as Amazon packages.
Wear a face mask in public places
The CDC reversed its position on who should and shouldn't wear face masks in public. Prior to its latest announcement, the CDC and other health experts maintained that there was no need for the general public to wear a face covering when they left the house.
However, the rapid spread of COVID-19 has caused the US authority on infectious disease to change course. The institute now recommends that people who reside in areas with high transmission rates, and those who are going to places where they can't maintain social distancing (that is, six feet of space between you another person who isn't a household member), drape their nose and mouth with cloth or another type of breathable fabric, including face masks you make at home or buy.
The CDC considers this a voluntary health measure, and a recommendation, though some counties and cities are making the order mandatory -- typically when you gather somewhere around other people, like in a store, and not while you're alone in your car, or taking a walk where keeping six feet from others is easy to do. At the very least, it's a good idea to keep a face covering on hand if for no other reason than to avoid a strangers' side eye or lecture at the store.
Social distancing can mean anything from hunkering down at home and refraining from seeing outside friends and family in person to keeping a boundary between you and others when you do go out. The practice of keeping 6 feet away from those outside your home group extends to waiting in line at the grocery store, going on walks (you can momentarily walk in the bike lane if you're careful about looking out for street traffic) and picking up food to go.
If you need to keep more distance between you and someone else while on a walk or when reaching for an item at the store, take a step back and wait or politely ask the person to give you more clearance ("Oh, I'm trying to keep my distance from everyone.")
Watch where you put your phone
While we've gotten the go ahead to use disinfecting wipes on phones, another smart idea is to avoid placing your device on iffy surfaces to begin with. Do you really need to put your phone down, or can you just stash it in a coat pocket or purse? The less you can expose your phone to shared surfaces, the less you need to worry about them in the first place.
If you do put your phone down on a shared surface, say if you're paying for takeout, lay down a napkin and set your phone on that. It'll save you having to disinfect your device quite so often.
Don't sort through produce with your bare hands
At a time when face masks are increasingly common in stores and shoppers will give you the side eye for rummaging through lemons, here's a little advice: Don't poke the bear.
When sorting through food, use a glove or stick your hand inside a fresh, store-supplied bag. Then you can use the outside like a glove to pick up and inspect the garlic and bananas you want, so as not to touch every item with your bare hands. It'll make others feel more comfortable and is just as likely to inspire them to follow suit.
Wash your hands every time you get 'home' – seriously
Along with social distancing, washing your hands thoroughly is one of your best defenses. Give your hands a thorough scrub each time you get back. 20 seconds is the going recommendation, which may seem like ages, but if you wash slowly, it's easy to do.
I count five long seconds (one-one-thousand) of soaping each hand, in between the fingers and up to the wrists, then count another five seconds for washing each hand thoroughly to get the soap (and any dead germs) off. I often wash the soap dispenser pump and faucet handles, too.
That helps me feel safe enough to adjust my contacts, blow my nose and pick that nagging something or other out of my teeth in the comfort of my own space.
Don't neglect your car and home
After getting back from running errands, it doesn't hurt to wipe down your car and surfaces in your home, especially if you share it with others. Person-to-person contact is the most common vector, but viruses and bacteria do spread through objects and other forms of indirect physical contact. Here's our guide for sanitizing your home and car.
Stop handling cash
While it's believed that the highest risk of acquiring germs comes from person-to-person transmission, we do know that shared surfaces can harbor the virus. Play it safe by setting the cash aside for now and relying more on contactless payments.
A large number of payment terminals accept Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and credit cards with the contactless logo on them. And remember, if a digital signature is required, you can use your knuckle instead of your index finger. For a physical signature, start packing your own pen.