COVID-19 Keep Calm and Trust the Science
We all need to stay calm and trust in the science:
COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness and spreads via airborne droplets from an infected person’s coughs or sneezes. In addition, hand contact of contaminated surfaces can transfer to a person’s eyes, nose and mouth which can cause infection. New research suggests the coronavirus can last between 3 hours – 3 days on surfaces, depending on the material (subtrate) and ambient conditions.
Those in the high-risk category:
- Elderly (+65 years)
- Young children
- Those with lowered immunity
- Those already ill.
Are at a higher risk of obtaining severe infections. The majority of healthy individuals will have mild symptoms and should not be concerned about illness, but rather the spread of illness.
The wisest policy at the moment is to “flatten the curves” and lengthen the doubling times as much as possible by suppressing social interactions. The virus does not move on its own. It is transmitted by humans and survives a few days on contaminated surfaces. To flatten the curves, all nations must engage immediately in social distancing as well as in extensive testing and comprehensive isolation of patients with COVID-19 symptoms and people who had been in contact with such patients.
Trusting the science means following the recommended protocols!
How to deal with chances of spreading the disease:
- Keeping personal good hygiene
- Maintaining social distance
- Cleaning and sanitising of high contact areas
What does good personal hygiene mean?:
- Wash and sanitise your hands :
- After touching your nose, mouth, eyes
- High-contact areas
- Bins
- Toilet
- We also need to understand that a hand sanitiser is only useful if you cannot wash your hands. The use of hand soap is always a better option when combating COVID-19 or any other preading of diseases.
- Cough & sneeze into a tissue or bend of your elbow or shoulder
- •Minimise human contact and keep a good (social) distance
How to wash your hands:
- Clear off any excess dirt by first rinsing under water
- Use a liquid hand soap and thoroughly wash your entire hand and forearm
- Rinse under warm water
- Dry your hands with paper towel
- Dispose of paper towel in a pedal bin
- Apply an alcohol-based hand sanitiser
How to clean and disinfect high contact areas:
- Spray on a multi-purpose cleaner
- Wipe with a clean cloth
- Spray on a surface sanitiser
- Leave on for 3 – 5 minutes
- Wipe off with paper towel
What are high contact or high traffic areas?
Cleaning and sanitising is important to remove any germs and the material they live on from a contact surface. When we refer to matrial or substrate we are talking about mucus and saliva. By removeing the material, it means that the virus cannot survive. Research shows COVID-19 can survive for 3hrs – 3days .
High-contact areas in public:
- Handles & Doors (Entrance doors / vehicle handles/ Toilets)
- Pens/ Counters / Keyboards
- Restuarant menu folders
- Staircase rail handle / Elevator buttons
- Public area cleaning cloths
Hotel Rooms & at Home:
- Entrance door handle
- TV Remote control
- Toilet flusher handle or button
- Tumbler drinking glass
- Mini safe number panel
- Bedding
Kitchen / Restaurant
- All handles
- Tables
- Equipment / Prep Knives
- Dishing spoons
- Counter tops
We can all learn a lot about preventing the spread of COVID-19 from basic food safety principles.
- Washing your hands when you need to! Especially before and after touching your face.
- Following good clean as you go!
- Minimising the use of gloves.
Remember, that gloves are an extention of your hand, they are not magical barriers that stop the spread. There is good research that shows that wearing gloves gives a false sense of cleanliness and can encourage contamination rather than prevent it.]
