We are currently living in the time of a terrifying pandemic which we know as coronavirus, or COVID-19. While a vaccine has yet to emerge, we luckily have some full-proof hygiene practices at hand (no pun intended). Keeping up with these tried and tested sanitary methods will ensure that our chances of contracting the coronavirus are kept to a minimum.
Let’s start with the most important and effective hygiene practice: washing hands.
Keeping Viruses Away With The Proper Personal Hygiene Practices
Wash Your Hands Frequently
Our hands are the areas of our bodies that are most likely to become coated in the coronavirus particles. As we interact with the world around us primarily through these body parts, there is a good chance that they could encounter the virus.
It is then extremely important that you wash your hands with soap or hand sanitizer frequently throughout the day, especially when returning from a public space. Make sure to wash your hands with soap and water vigorously for a minimum of twenty seconds.
While soap and water are the most effective means for hand washing, if you do not have access to soap, go for a hand sanitizer which has an alcohol content of at least 60%. Lather your hands with sanitizer thoroughly until the substance has dried into your skin.
Wash Your Hands Frequently
Avoid Touching Your Face
Prior to washing your hands, it is essential that you do not touch your face, especially the mouth, nose and eyes. These parts of our face are especially susceptible to infection, as they are the primary openings into the body.
Make sure to follow the above-mentioned hand washing instructions before touching your face after returning home from the public.
Drink Plenty of Water
The way that coronavirus particles infect the body is through the lungs. This means that inhaling a virus particle will quickly lead to infection once the virus enters the bloodstream. One way to avoid this from happening is to drink plenty of water, at least once every fifteen minutes.
By swallowing water frequently, even if coronavirus particles enter your mouth, they will be quickly washed down into your esophagus, rather than being inhaled into the lungs. Your stomach will then effectively eradicate any trace of the virus with its acids.
Wearing Face Masks and Gloves
You have probably seen plenty of people out and about wearing a variety of masks on their faces and surgical gloves on their hands. These are two of the most important types of equipment needed to stave off infection while in public.
The proper surgical masks will ensure that coronavirus particles are better filtered out of your breathing air. Surgical gloves will create a barrier between the skin on your hands and the particles themselves. Just make sure to safely dispose of your gloves and masks after each public outing, as they can collect all manner of bacteria and pollution beyond coronavirus particles.
You should keep a good stock of both masks and gloves at all times. However, the best protection measure to take is keeping a safe distance from everyone around you.
Don’t Get too Close to Other People
Social distancing is one of the best ways to stay as safe as possible during this pandemic. While any amount of hygienic practices will combine to protect you, simply maintaining a distance of one meter (or three feet) from those around you is the safest practice.
If an infected person happened to cough or sneeze around you, the droplets which spray out of their body can easily land on you if you are too close to them. Such droplets will contain coronavirus particles, which could then be inhaled into the body.
