Wondering how to protect yourself from COVID-19? Here are some cleaning and hygiene tips that you need to know!
There is still so much that we don’t know about the COVID-19 virus, however, we do know that it is contracted via direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person and touching surfaces that are contaminated with the virus. Furthermore, the virus can survive on different surfaces for a few hours or even a few days.
With that said, the good news is that you can kill the virus with disinfectants such as bleach and alcohol-based sprays and wipes. Furthermore, maintaining certain hygiene and cleaning standards will also help you protect yourself and your family from the coronavirus.
So, here are some personal hygiene and cleaning tips that will help you protect yourself and your family from the COVD-19 pandemic:
Personal Hygiene
Here are some hygiene measures that you need to take to stay safe during this pandemic:
- Don’t touch your face, particularly your nose, eyes, and mouth, with unclean hands.
- Make sure to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your elbow when sneezing or coughing. Don’t sneeze or cough into your hands. Additionally, make sure to discard the used tissue right away.
- Maintain social distancing practices. Stay at least3 feet away from people when out in public.
- Make sure to wash your hands with soapy water for at least 20 seconds as often as you can. Especially wash them after you sneeze, cough, use the restroom, after coming home, before heading out, before eating food, handling your lenses, applying makeup, etc.
- Always carry a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol in your bag and rub it thoroughly on every inch of your hands for about 20 seconds or until your hands feel dry.
Cleaning Around Your House
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, you must keep your house clean and disinfect it regularly. This is especially true for all high-touch surfaces such as door handles, chairs, tables, light switches, faucets, handrails, toilets, mobile phones, keyboards, computers, etc.
Make sure to follow proper cleaning protocols such as wearing gloves and washing your hands before and after cleaning. You can clean various surfaces with soapy water and disinfect them with a diluted bleach solution or a disinfectant with 70% alcohol content.
If you are using disinfectant wipes and sprays, make sure that you don’t clean them off the surface right away as they need to sit on the surface for a few minutes to be effective. Always read the instructions written on the product label before you use it to clean and disinfect.
Cleaning Your Clothes
Make sure to take off your clothes as soon as you step inside your home and launder them with regular detergent. Just use the warmest appropriate water setting and make sure to dry the laundered items thoroughly. Wash your hands with soapy water right afterward.
Handling and Preparing Food
When it comes to handling outside food and food packaging, follow these steps:
- Remove the unnecessary packaging and throw it in your lidded waste bin.
- Remove the food from take-out containers, put it on a clean plate, and throw away the container.
- Clean food packaging such as cans with disinfectant wipes before storing them.
- Make sure to wash unpackaged produce such as vegetables and fruits thoroughly before storing and eating them.
- Wash your hands afterward.
Before preparing food:
- Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly.
- For uncooked fish and meat, use separate chopping boards.
- Cook the food thoroughly and don’t eat it raw.
- Use clean utensils to cook and serve the food.
- Wash your hands before eating the prepared food.
