Published by Allen Brown
A year on in the global covid-19 pandemic, things are beginning to look up. Despite the virus running rampant in many developing countries, for a lot of the western world, vaccine rollout is happening successfully. It could be easy to become complacent, now that the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. It’s important to remember to stay vigilant and that our luck may change at any moment. This article aims to inform you of some necessary daily habits that you need to adopt to help prevent a covid-19 infection.
Clean The Soles Of Your Shoes
Having to soles of your shoes cleaned regularly may not seem like the most obvious or important habit to adopt to prevent covid-19 infection. However, because many people don’t think about it, it is actually what makes it important. This is especially true if you work in a hospital and have to deal with healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Having the soles of your shoes cleaned is a necessary step in HAI transmission prevention and is something that should become a daily habit. As covid-19 can survive on surfaces for many hours, you may find that you could transport infections to your home via your shoes. Don’t forget to clean the soles of your shoes before and after work to help prevent covid-19 infection.
Wash Your Hands Regularly
One of the most ubiquitous pieces of advice given out during the pandemic is to wash your hands regularly. There is a good reason for this, washing your hands with soap and hot water for 20 seconds will kill any covid-19 particles on your hands. Keeping your hands clean is incredibly important as transmission can easily occur by touching an infected surface and then your face. Similarly, if you happen to be infectious, but you wash your hands regularly then you will be less likely to pass it on. Washing your hands regularly will really help in preventing the spread and infection of covid-19.
Try To Stop Touching Your Face
This applies generally to personal hygiene but is especially important at the moment. Covid-19 can be transmitted through saliva and is often in viral build-ups in your nose. This also means that you can be infected by touching your nose or mouth if you happened to have touched a surface with covid-19 droplets on it. This is one of the hardest habits to adopt as many people touch their faces every few minutes. By wearing a mask in public spaces you can make this easier as it will be covering your nose and mouth. Try to stop touching your face as much as possible if you want to reduce the likelihood of a covid-19 infection
Disinfect All Surfaces That Are Public Contact Points
Disinfecting surfaces is especially important in a workplace where members of the public may come into. It is equally important in the home if you are allowed to have guests over under your current countries restriction policies. It can be difficult to feel like it is worth disinfecting a surface every hour at work but you must do so. Regularly disinfecting surfaces that come into contact with other people is a good habit to get into to help prevent covid-19 infections.
Wear A Mask In Public Spaces
At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of speculation about whether or not the virus was able to spread through the air. Initially, it was thought that it wasn’t, but after a few months, studies had shown that it was not only airborne but that actually this was the most common form of transmission. Wearing a mask in all indoor public spaces is the single most effective way of reducing covid-19 infection. Having a mask that covers your nose and mouth, not only protects you but also protects everyone else. It has been claimed that if everyone wore a mask at all times when outside of their homes, the rates of infection would drop off substantially. Make sure you wear a mask in all public spaces.
Covid-19 has ripped apart so many families and taken so many lives. It is a malicious virus that managed to sink its teeth into the whole world in a matter of months. The world isn’t out of the woods yet and may not be for some time. However, with vaccines available, there is an end in sight. Now, more than ever it is important to maintain good daily habits to help prevent the spread of covid-19 which will, in turn, save as many lives as possible.