*Pardon me because this blog has to be very long! This blog article is long and I have divided it into several parts.
As we face these pandemic crises and our healthcare centres begin to get jam packed with critical respiratory problems, I believe the most important thing now master ways to protect against CoVid-19. To find out what each and everyone of us can do to reduce the strain on our healthcare system. Most countries did not develop a health care system to cope with the massive influx of high attention patients. Therefore, I have researched and compiled 7 ways to protect against CoVid-19 as this will help ease the global health challenges we have. If you are not sure what CoVid-19 or coronavirus is, you can take a quick read at our short blog What is Covid-19?
The list beneath is not exhaustive. As the crisis goes on, new findings and new information will emerge. So stay with me and come back to our CoVid-19 page daily. I kept wash your hand to be number one, since you probably have heard this now a million times, let’s get it over with. As I wanted to write this blog, I was curious about ways that could make a sustainable difference because we all know that next year, a new influenza season would come. One very significant redline we see, like seasonal flu, is that the majority of those that die from or are seriously affected are those with compromised immune system. So here is the list of ways to protect yourself. fOr some its unavoidable. As you grow older, your immune system might weaken. But for many of us, seriously? We can do better. So in my CoVid-19 blog series, I will focus on how to boost your immune system.
7 ways to protect yourself and others from CoVid-19:
- Washing your hands frequently. Use alcohol-based sanitisers.
- Avoiding touching your face.
- Avoiding close contact (1 meter or 3 feet) with people who are unwell.
- Managing your high blood pressure.
- Managing your diabetes.
- Boosting your immune system.
- Avoiding others, especially older people if you have any symptoms.
Read details about the other ways in part 2 of this blog series >
Wash your hands: What about millions of children without clean water?
You have heard this a million times now and are already in doubt about if you actually do wash your hands well. In my daughters school, she was taught that she has to sing 2 verses of “happy birthday” completely to be sure she washed her hands properly. I understand that children need special and exciting ways to do this right but does that not sound like a method for privileged people? Because, what I see happen is that people put on the tap and wash their hands underneath as it flows almost like endlessly.
Yes, for many clean water is not an issue. For others, clean running water is a big issue. In Fact, access to clean water is number 1 killer worldwide in my Covid-19 blog called Global health challenges. Make hand washing stimulating and healthier by actually massaging your finders, palms, caresing the veins if you wish. Just don’t sing happy birthday because you are actually killing a microorganism, except it’s really your birthday. I had to show my daughter another way to wash her hands. Like I did as a child.
Growing up with limited access to running water
When I was growing up, we did not have running water in the bathrooms or kitchen. I had to go downstairs to fetch water from the drum which was pumped in from the large tank, which was filled in by a water truck twice a month. When we had a borehole, I would get a bucket of water from the borehole tap in our compound. Dare you let the water run and wash your hands underneath the flowing water! Still sounds like a luxury alternative as many have to walk kilometers to get just a gallon of clean water. So washing their hands often and long might not be very accessible. All the same, if you have access to the smallest amount of water, keep the hand washing in that same water longer than 20 seconds. You still end up neutralizing most of the germs.
Corona can’t drink.
Now, your other option is to use an alcohol-based hand cleanser. Seems like the virus dies after getting drunk! But remember that hand sanitizers are not as reliable as soap. Alcohol-based sanitizer is a good backup when soap and water are not accessible. Is there a downside about alcohol based solutions for regular hand cleansing? Alcohols like ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, alcohol denat, and methanol are used as ingredients to penetrate your skin, and as a preservative, which can cause dryness and irritation for some people. If the Alcohol used is fatty-alcohol like cetyl, stearyl, and cetearyl, then you might not need to worry much. If you are not sure, listen to your body talk.
Feel your hands and if they feel dry or seem irritated, make sure to get fatty cream to moisturise your hand after a full day of a dozen times hand washing episodes. Regularly and thoroughly cleaning your hands with soap and water is the best and maybe even cheaper option. Why? According to the New York times, ordinary soap diluted in water is sufficient to rupture and kill many types of bacteria and viruses, including the new CoVid-19 (coronavirus) that is currently circling the globe. Some soap molecules disrupt the chemical bonds that allow bacteria, viruses and germs to stick to surfaces, lifting them off the skin.
Now this is key: RINSE YOUR HAND! Don’t let your hand be a virus grave.
You do not want your hand to be a virus grave! When you rinse your hands, all the microorganisms that have been damaged, trapped and killed by soap molecules are washed away. So if you do not have excessive running water, split the water to have enough to rinse after excessive scrubbing and washing with soap.
Soap and water can change the game.
Washing with soap and water is one of the key public health practices that can significantly slow the rate of the CoVid-19 pandemic and limit the number of infections, preventing a disastrous overburdening of hospitals and clinics. It is up to you to choose if you want to be on the positive side of history now, because our children’s children would examine how we overcame this pandemic, just as we have looked back to understand how the spanish flu was eradicated.
More articles on wellbeing for entrepreneurs will be posted weekly. Due to the CoVid-19 crises, we would update our CoVid-19 page daily or even multiple times a day to give entrepreneurs, especially mumpreneurs the best possible support through this season. To stay updated about new releases and published content, subscribe to our wellbeing newsletter. For general Joadre updates, use our main newsletter. Follow on instagram to see how I am spending my time #homeoffice #social distancing #immune booster.
Thank you for reading till the end. If you have worries and need details about the ongoing Covid-19 crises and other global health challenges , be sure to write to your local health center or the provided email/telephone contact available in your region for this issue.
Stay safe & share to keep the awareness alive!
Joana