6 Ways To Prevent Catching COVID-19 Coronavirus

Practice social distancing

You’ve probably heard the term “social distancing” repeatedly. But what does that actually mean when it comes to staying safe?

Generally speaking, you should stay at least six feet away from other people. You should do this with all people, but take special care to avoid those who seem sick.

While it should go without saying, avoid social gatherings so you can avoid running into others. If you absolutely need to leave the house, just grab your food or medicine and come back!

Wash your hands often

For maximum safety, you need to wash your hands more often. This includes washing up after you’ve been outside and washing if you have been coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.

Take your time while washing your hands. The CDC recommends a minimum of 20 seconds when you are washing your hands.

Carry hand sanitizer and use it when soap and water aren’t available. For best results, though, your sanitizer should be at least 60% alcohol. Remember, hand sanitizer is particularly important if you cannot work from home and must regularly visit your workplace.

Cover every cough and sneeze

While there’s no good time for a global pandemic, COVID-19 is going down during spring. That means that many who suffer from allergies are going to be coughing and sneezing during this time.

You can’t control the need to sneeze or cough, but you can control how you do it. Make sure you are covering every cough and sneeze with a tissue or the inside of your elbow (so that you are not spreading germs around with your hands). And if you use a tissue, make sure to throw it away instead of trying to re-use it.

After you finish coughing or sneezing, you need to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer right away.

Don’t touch your face

This bit of advice will hit some people particularly hard: you need to avoid touching your face.

One of the easiest ways the virus spreads is when people touch their mouth, nose, or eyes with unwashed hands. Doing so could unknowingly help spread the infection throughout your body.

Clean and disinfect home surfaces

Even if you’re being really careful about the coughing and sneezing, some of the surfaces of your home may be infected. For maximum safety, you need to clean and disinfect those surfaces.

Try to focus on areas that you touch very often. This typically includes keyboards, doorknobs, phones, toilets, and sinks.

Sure, it’s dirty and annoying work, especially when you do it each day. But doing so is one of the best ways to protect yourself.

Wear a cloth face cover when you go outside

The CDC wants to remind people that even if you are not exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19, you could still spread it to others. Therefore, they ask for people to wear a cloth face cover when you go outside.

Please note, the CDC writes, “cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.”

The CDC also asks you not to buy medical masks meant for healthcare workers, because many areas are experiencing a shortage. The masks need to be reserved for healthcare workers who need them the most.

If you need a cloth face mask and cannot find one, you can use a scarf or bandana as an alternative.

Cloth face covers cannot prevent you from getting sick, but can help prevent you from spreading the disease to others. Everyone needs to do their part.

“The cloth face cover is not a substitute for social distancing,” the CDC writes, and recommends continuing to keep six feet of distance between you and others when you go outside for necessities.