As this pandemic persists, it’s important to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep ourselves, our loved ones, and everyone we come in contact with safe by following extra precautionary measures. At this point in time, every little bit of effort counts, no matter how minute it may seem; keep the risk for contracting COVID-19 at the minimum with these simple yet effective hygiene habits to practice at home!
CLEANSE YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY WHEN RETURNING HOME
For those that absolutely must leave the house, please make sure to sanitize yourself immediately upon returning home–not just for you, but for the sake of everyone in your household! Settling into your couch, lying down on your bed, or hanging around your family members without cleansing yourself may seem like a natural course of action after a rough day, but it’s a big no-no! While it’s unclear how long the virus may survive on fabrics, there may be metal or plastic elements on them that may allow it to linger on you for several hours (and even days). A good practice would be to shower once you arrive home, keeping your possibly infected garments in a separate laundry bag, and changing into a fresh set of clothes before interacting with anyone or anything at home–especially for those coming from crowded or populous areas!
Those that would like to provide themselves an extra layer of protection, as well as making it easier to physically remove and separate from your regular clothes, you may find washable PPEs here! These are great ways to give yourself an additional physical barrier against bacteria for those leaving the house, as well as those that would like to cover their clothes when cleaning indoors!
MAKE A HABIT OF PRACTICING GOOD PERSONAL HYGIENE
While it might be natural for us to cough into our hands and forget about it, gruesome times like these require us to be extra, extra vigilant. Be sure to wash your hands after coughing, sneezing, using the restroom, before preparing and eating food, before applying makeup, et cetera–basically, before doing anything that may involve contact with another individual, or contact with your face.
You may have heard this before, but a good gauge of how long you’ll need to wash your hands using hand soap would be to sing the full happy birthday song twice; this gives you around 20-30 seconds to wash every inch of your hands thoroughly!
REGULARLY DISINFECT YOUR HIGH-TOUCH SURFACES
Though every home is different, common high-touch surfaces include: door handles, tables, chairs, handrails, kitchen and bathroom surfaces, taps, toilets, light switches, mobile phones, computers, tablets, keyboards, remote controls, game controllers, and favourite toys. Give these surfaces a good wipe down using disinfectant solution regularly to keep germ transfer at a minimum.
However, keep in mind that many disinfectant products, such as wipes and sprays, need to stay wet on a surface for several minutes in order to be effective. It’s important not to wipe cleaning solutions off as soon as you’ve applied it to a surface to make sure they’re doing their job correctly. If there are instructions available on your products, do make sure to read the directions to make sure you’re using the products as recommended and to avoid damaging sensitive items such as mobile phones and other electronic devices. Because these are delicate pieces of equipment, it might be good to consider placing wipeable covers for electronics to avoid damage.
WASH YOUR LAUNDRY AND SHEETS REGULARLY
Along with showering and removing your clothing when you get home, it’s important to follow this up by washing your clothes and bed sheets more often. Aside from this, you may also follow these additional tips to ensure the highest possible virus-quelling efficiency: 1) Don’t shake dirty laundry to minimize the possibility of dispersing the virus through the air, 2) Launder items with soap or detergent, using the warmest appropriate water setting and dry items completely—both steps help to kill the virus, 3) Wash your hands with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand rub, immediately after handling dirty laundry, and 4) Wash or disinfect your laundry bag and hamper as well or consider storing laundry in disposable bags.
EXERCISE CAUTION WITH DELIVERIES
When having both food and items delivered to your homes, it’s good to be a tad bit paranoid. You don’t know where these have been or who has been touching them, after all! After receiving your parcels, make sure to follow these steps when applicable: 1) wipe down containers, cans, and the like with disinfectant solution before handling further, 2) dispose of unnecessary packaging properly into a bin (preferably with a lid to avoid further contact), 3) transfer food to clean plates or containers, and 4) wash any produce, such as fruits and vegetables, thoroughly under running water.
Again, wash your hands with soap immediately after handling!
STAY EXTRA PROTECTED WITH A WEARABLE DISINFECTION CARD
For whatever reason it may be, like going to the grocery store, picking up a delivery outside, or going to work, it wouldn’t hurt to exercise a little more caution by picking up one of these disinfection cards. These cards emit safe levels of active ingredient chlorine dioxide (ClO2) into the air, which protects within the card’s vicinity by absorbing and targeting the cells of viruses and bacteria for up to 30 days! These can be worn around the neck, clipped onto your clothing, or hung on your walls–whatever you feel works best for you! For a more detailed view of how these cards work, please visit their individual product pages.
“Cleaning and Hygiene Tips to Help Keep the COVID-19 Virus out of Your Home.” UNICEF, www.unicef.org/coronavirus/cleaning-and-hygiene-tips-help-keep-coronavirus-covid-19-out-your-home.
Julia Benito
Julia is Calyxta’s resident crazy plant lady with an unstoppable caffeine addiction and an ever-increasing love for glitter eye shadow. When she’s not staring out the window mulling over the correctness of her grammar, she can be found drawing on eyeliner, watching anime, reading books, or petting strangers’ dogs.
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