10 habits that put you at risk of catching coronavirus and infecting others

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

Please don't do this.

1. Smoking

The link between this habit and the risk of getting sick is suspected but not well understood. However, there is data that allow us to make a prediction: if you smoke, COVID-19 will be more acute.

Scientists have analyzed more than a thousand cases of infection at the height of the epidemic in China. It turned out that among seriously ill patients (those who needed intensive therapy or died), one in four was a smoker. Among the lungs, only one in ten.

J. Taylor Hays MD, director of the Rochester Nicotine Addiction Center

Inhalation of tobacco smoke appears to be associated with more severe respiratory infections.

In general, smokers are more likely to be admitted to intensive care.

2. Don't think about hygiene

WHO insists on the need to wash hands or treat them with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. And even puts this recommendation at the top of the list of preventive measures against COVID-19.

The reason is simple. The SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 coronavirus, although transmitted mainly by airborne droplets, easily settles on the surface. And it can live on them up to 3-4 days.

If you touch an infected handrail on public transport, a doorknob in a store, or a button in an elevator, the virus migrates to your palms and fingers. And from there it can easily enter the body through the mucous membranes. For example, when you scratch your eyes with an unwashed hand or wipe your nose.

Forgetting hygiene is deadly today.

Therefore, try to disinfect your hands as often as possible, especially when you are out of the house.

3. Touching the face

Correct bangs, smooth eyebrows, scratch your nose, put your palm under your cheek. These often unconscious movements also help the coronavirus get into the body. Thinking and habitually reaching out to your face, you can touch the mucous membranes with dirty hands. And get infected.

4. Nail biting

In this case, you will probably touch the mucous membrane. This means you increase the risk of infection. So quit urgently.

5. Go to work with a cold

Such a disregard for health (both one's own and those of others) can turn into serious troubles.

If you catch a cold, stay at home. And watch closely for symptoms. We're not hinting at anything, but fever, dry cough and weakness are reasons to call your GP or the coronavirus hotline 8-8800-2000-112.

6. Constantly monitor news and use social networks

Our brains are designed in such a way that we react most sharply to bad news. Psychologists call this thinking error the negative bias effect.

The problem is that it is easy to drown in information about the economic crisis and the victims of the coronavirus. The result is stress that becomes chronic. And this is a direct road to a decrease in immunity. The more you stress, the easier it is for all sorts of inflammatory diseases to take over your body.

7. Do not get out of the smartphone

The trouble is that the coronavirus is happy to settle on the body and screen of the gadget. Having been on the street and on public transport, the smartphone simply cannot stay clean.

And then you put it on your face. Or, after thoroughly washing your hands and being confident in your own safety, you jump into bed with your smartphone to sit on social networks before going to bed. Touch the dirty screen with your fingers and rub the sticking eyes with them …

In general, with the habit of taking out a smartphone on the street every now and then, it's time to tie it up. But the habit of disinfecting the device as often as hands, on the contrary, is worth getting.

8. Get close to people

Hugs and kisses at a meeting have long been a trend, but now they are rapidly going out of fashion. As well as the crowds at the checkout or the six-person rides in a cramped elevator.

The main route of transmission of coronavirus is airborne, that is, with the smallest droplets of saliva and mucus secreted from the mouth and nose of the sick person. Therefore, WHO recommends keeping a distance of at least one meter from people who are coughing or sneezing.

Lifehacker, in turn, recalls that in some cases, COVID-19 is almost asymptomatic. This means that any person can be a carrier of the infection - even someone who does not cough and looks generally healthy.

In general, get in the habit of keeping your distance, even when it comes to close friends. It can save your life now.

9. Little sleep

Lack of sleep affects your immune system, as does stress. People who do not get enough sleep are more likely to develop respiratory viral infections, which include COVID-19. And they recover more slowly.

Therefore, the habit of watching TV shows late into the night and generally sleeping less than 8 hours is a surefire way to lose in the fight against coronavirus.

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How much sleep do you need to get enough sleep

10. Wander through the shops

Two factors play a role here. First, the more people around you, the higher the risk that one of them will be a carrier of the infection and be able to transmit it to you.

Second: clothes, shoes, other goods can be the very surfaces on which the virus lurks. Therefore, it is also advisable to say goodbye to the habit of unrestrained shopping. Hopefully for a while. If it's hard to do without shopping, go online.

Coronavirus. Number of infected:

243 093 598

in the world

8 131 164

in Russia See mapRead also?

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