Social Distancing and Hygienic Practices, with Family and Household Staff

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While everyone knows something or the other about the COVID-19 disease, not everyone understands how to prevent its spread and stay protected. It can be quite daunting, living with family, friends or household staff who are clueless as to how hazardous their day-to-day activities can be, where the spread of the virus is concerned.

Here are a few easy and effective hygienic practices you can enforce at home, to keep you and yours safe:

Wash Your Hands: At the top of my list, is making sure to wash your hands regularly. Regular hand washing remains the most effective way to kill the virus because it spreads when mucus or droplets containing the virus get into your body through your eyes, nose or throat. Most often, this happens when your hands make contact with the virus and then, your face. Touch is also one of the most common ways that the virus spreads from one person to the next.

Educate your family, loved ones and/or staff on the importance of washing their hands after touching surfaces or interacting with the outside world.

Touch Not: Generally, people (especially children), can be extremely touchy. The tendency to touch tables, railings, walls, switches, or door handles, and then touch ones face, is high. It will take time to lose this dangerous habit, but constant reminders and cautioning, will transform your lifestyle. Teach your family and loved ones, especially staff, who tend to be active around the home, to touch surfaces only when absolutely necessary!

Make Multiple Hand Sanitizers Available: Hand sanitizers are a lifesaver. They are anti-bacterial, and thus are known to kill bacteria, but alcohol based hand sanitizers have proven to be effective against viruses, too.

Alcohol attacks and destroys the protein envelope that surrounds some viruses, including coronaviruses. This protein is vital for a virus’s survival and multiplication. But a hand sanitiser needs to be at least 60% alcohol in order to kill most viruses.

Buy a large quantity of hand sanitizer, and have smaller sized refillable bottles at vantage points inside and outside your house, for compulsory use by your family and household staff.

Do note that Alcohol-based hand sanitizers should not be used in the kitchen or while cooking, as they are Class I Flammable Liquid substances, which means they have a flash point of less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hand sanitizer vapors are also flammable.

Avoid Contact: As much as possible, enforce limited contact with each other, at home. This can be almost impossible, seeing as you are confined to a space, but you’ve got this!

Disinfect Daily: Make sure to get all hands on deck for daily disinfecting. All railings, switches, handles, table tops, chairs, and other frequently touched surfaces must be wiped down with a disinfectant and clean cloth.

Involving everyone in the chore will give a sense of shared responsibility.

Schedule Your Vitamins: From natural vitamin sources, to vitamin supplements, it is important to have a daily dosage, with your family, to boost immunity.

Create a schedule for everyone and enjoy a variety of immunity boosters such as Spirulina; Ginger, Lemon, and Turmeric mix; Vegetables; Nuts; Vitamin C supplements, and Yoghurt.

Tag Your Stuff: In this season, family is not about sharing. Infact, make a point to differentiate your exclusive property. Sharing some items will render you increasingly prone to the virus. Do not share towels, brushes, clothes, phones, makeup, glasses, earplugs, etc.

Make your immediate company understand the extreme contagiousness of this pandemic.

Take Cover: Make sure to intimate your family and household staff on the importance of covering their mouths with a paper towel when they sneeze or cough, and then throwing the paper towel away. If a paper towel is unavailable, coughing or sneezing into the elbow is advised. In the event that your immediate company keeps sneezing or coughing, make sure to keep a distance of at least 1 metre (3 feet).

Stay Fit: Encourage your housemates and staff to stay fit. It could be any fitness routine from jogging to taking long walks.

It is important to keep fit because physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This reduces your chances of getting a cold, flu, or other illness.

Exercise also slows down the release of stress hormones. Some stress increases the chance of illness. Lower stress hormones may protect against illness.

Discourage Smoking and Alcoholism: These two habits leave the body prone to infections and sickness. Smoking cigarettes also endangers the lungs, liver and kidney, which are major organs that perpetuate a healthy balanced system.

Constructively Correct: Even with the best intentions, mistakes will be made while trying to adjust to this new hygiene. Make sure to stand in as a life coach, encouraging, constructively correcting and advising your housemates, every step of the way!

Share Information: The COVID-19 is mutating and studies are still being conducted on this virus. Make sure to share important information and updates on how to fight this pandemic, with your immediate company and loved ones.

Be Safe! Stay safe!