How not to get infected with coronavirus

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The life hacker has collected only verified information. Perhaps you already know some of this.

The SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 coronavirus is still poorly understood - simply because humanity was confronted with it just a few months ago. There are many ambiguities and hypotheses around him. Therefore, we will only rely on the most authoritative sources.

According to the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 is spread in two ways:

• Airborne droplets. That is, through the air, with the smallest droplets of saliva from an infected person. This is how people get infected most often.
• Contact-household. When they first touch the surface on which the virus has settled, and then the eyes, nose or mouth. This method is not considered the main one, but it also cannot be discounted.

First, the virus attacks the mucous membranes of the nose (most often), mouth and eyes (more rarely). And then, having settled and multiplied there, it descends into the respiratory tract. If the immune system does not have time to react and produce enough antibodies, the coronavirus enters the lungs and causes life-threatening pneumonia.

Therefore, it is so important to properly defend against the virus.

1. Leave the house only when necessary and limit meetings with people

This is key advice. In the vast majority of cases, coronavirus is transmitted directly from person to person. Therefore, the less you meet people, the lower your risk of getting sick.

If contact cannot be avoided, communicate at a distance of at least 1 meter from each other. This distance is recommended by WHO. The CDC, on the other hand, is reinsuring and suggesting not to come closer than 1.8 meters (6 feet) to each other. However, there is a nuance: when sneezing and coughing, the coronavirus can spread over distances of up to 7-8 meters.

In general, the most correct course of action in a pandemic is to stay away from each other. And translate all the necessary meetings and conversations online.

If you cannot follow the regime of complete self-isolation, at least avoid crowded places where it is impossible to keep a safe distance.

2. Wear a mask in crowded places

WHO still recommends wearing a mask only to those who cough or sneeze, or are caring for a person with suspected COVID-19. But there are good reasons to believe that such advice is out of date.

For example, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminds that people often carry coronavirus without symptoms. This means that they can be contagious, even if they do not cough and do not have the slightest signs of SARS.

Therefore, the CDC advises wearing masks in any public place where distance is difficult. For example, in supermarkets, pharmacies, public transport.

Firstly, this is how you will take care of those around you: what if you are the same asymptomatic spread of the coronavirus? Secondly, the mask will increase your chances of not getting sick yourself if you come across someone who carries COVID-19 on their feet - with or without symptoms.

For the mask to really protect, follow the rules for its use:

• Change the mask to a new one as soon as it becomes damp from breathing (this usually takes 2-3 hours).
• Replace it immediately if it is damaged or dirty (you actively touched it with unwashed hands, were in it in a close, crowded room).
• Try not to touch the mask while it is on your face. If you have to do this, be sure to wash or disinfect your hands before and after touching.

By the way, the CDC notes that the mask can be made at home.

3. Wash your hands often

SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 settles on surfaces and Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents can live on them for 3-4 days. This means that he is able to be in your hands.

And if the risks of getting infected at home are small, then as soon as you leave the apartment and grab the doorknob at the entrance, press the elevator button, grab the handrail in public transport, they increase many times over. Therefore, it is imperative to wash your hands regularly. And according to certain rules.

SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2, like many other viruses, is a protein (RNA) molecule coated with a protective lipid (fat) layer. Actually, a thin layer of fat is the only thing that protects the coronavirus from destruction. Therefore, in order to get rid of the virus, it is necessary to destroy its protective layer. This can be done in two ways.

• Wash hands with soap and water … Soap breaks down grease and washes away damaged viruses along with dirt. For the procedure to be as effective as possible, soap your hands for at least 20 seconds.
• Use hand sanitizer gel … In order for the sanitizer to cope with the lipid layer, it must contain at least 60% alcohol. Cover your hands and fingers with antiseptic and rub your palms together until dry.

4. Don't touch your face with your hands

This is a bad habit that many do not notice. Meanwhile, studies show that people unknowingly touch their face with their hands on average 23 times per hour!

This behavior increases the risk of bringing coronavirus (as well as other viruses and bacteria) to mucous membranes. Therefore, try to control yourself and do everything to get rid of the bad habit. It will serve you well after the SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 story is complete.

5. Try to use your smartphone outside the home as little as possible

Having visited a pharmacy, store or public transport, the smartphone is unlikely to remain clean. And then, forgetting yourself, you apply it to your face. This could give the coronavirus a chance.

If you can't use your smartphone outside, get into the habit of disinfecting it right after you get home.

The same goes for other gadgets (headphones, tablets, laptops) that you use outside the home.

6. Buy online and order home delivery

Thus, you can order not only food and household chemicals from supermarkets, but also cooked meals, medicines, clothes and much more. Ask the courier to leave your order at the door and pick up the box when he leaves.

Remember to wash or disinfect your hands after unpacking and before eating.

7. Shop right

If you do have to go to the supermarket or pharmacy, experts from Johns Hopkins Medical University recommend that you follow the safety rules.

• Go shopping alone. And even more so, do not take children with you: babies love to touch objects, and then pull their hands to their face and mouth.
• Buy food for several days at once.
• Don't forget about distance: keep at least 1–2 meters away from other buyers.
• Before grasping the handle of the basket or cart, clean it with an alcohol-based disinfectant or hand sanitizer. Or grab the handles through a napkin. Or buy latex gloves from the drug store and wear them before going out to the store.
• After unpacking groceries at home and throwing away the packaging, be sure to wash your hands.

How to go grocery shopping during a pandemic

8. Regularly disinfect surfaces susceptible to coronavirus

Doorknobs and handles of bags, keys, switches - in general, everything that you or someone else touched with dirty hands.

Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest using:

• Household disinfectants. Look for ready-made sprays and gels with the corresponding label on the packaging in the department of household chemicals.
• Mix 4 tablespoons of household bleach with a liter of water. Such a solution must be left on the surface for at least a minute.
• Solutions with an alcohol content of at least 70%.

If the surface is very dirty, first wipe it with a sponge and soap.

What things in the house need to be disinfected first

nine. Maintain immunity

Unfortunately, there are no magic pills that protect against coronavirus. As there are no pills or other means that would help increase immunity.

All we can do is to normalize the immune system. The simplest and even boring methods do the best with this.

Sleep at least 8 hours a day, eat well, drink about 2 liters of fluid a day. Well, try to be as physically active as possible in self-isolation.

Coronavirus. Number of infected:

243 050 862

in the world

8 131 164

in Russia See mapRead also?

• How will the coronavirus pandemic develop and how will it end
• 8 ways to boost immunity This is the only thing that works
• Is it possible to get infected with coronavirus a second time
• 10 habits that put you at risk of catching coronavirus and infecting others
• How the symptoms of coronavirus change day by day