With an epidemic occurring worldwide, worsening as the months pass by, we need to take control of a lot of things for none can afford the impending third wave. If you are following the data, you must be aware that this will stick for longer than anticipated. India, with over 4 lakh daily cases of SARS-CoV-2, collapsing medical infrastructure, congested crematoriums, yet has a hope with a relatively lower positivity rate that she shall succeed in fighting Coronavirus.
Here are 7 basic lifestyles changes that everyone must to do to keep oneself safe and stop the spread:
1. Maintaining Best Personal Hygiene
Not Good. Not Better. In times when the virus is mutating continuously to empower itself, we can not settle for anything less. It is essential that we keep ourselves and our surroundings clean. Brush, bathe, wash, clean your room without missing a single day. A peaceful mind sprouts out of a clean space. Pandemic has made a part of us germophobic but it is because time demands it too. If anyone of your family members has to go out for work, you can’t afford to miss out on this. Take good care of hygiene. Sanitize. Sanitize again.
2. Washing and Sanitizing
Keep a handwash and a hand sanitizer spray handy. Keep your clothes, sheets, and food clean. In case you had come in contact with an outsider or have been, you would need to sanitize everything, even on a daily basis. You might be ordering your groceries and vegetables online, then you would need to wash your vegetables, sanitize the packets before you let them inside. Let all the dirt be cleaned before it enters your fridge. However, at large, you must avoid instances of yourself getting in touch with anybody, even cash. So, online payment should be preferred. If you’re apprehensive of picking even your daily newspaper, you might try the old and reliable television. Else, your smartphone is your best friend in these challenging times!
3. Wearing a Mask
Wearing a facemask is compulsory for the safety for your loved ones. Make one for yourself and for your loved ones. Watch a D.I.Y. or two and there you have your weapon ready! It can save lives. The ones who are fighting hard, regret not wearing any. In congested countries like India, transmission is unforeseeable and hard to trace. You might never know that you fought it off already! You must understand that virus manifests symptoms 4-5 days after instilling itself in your system. However, how bad you’ll be hit totally depends on how resistant you are. You might even have a chronic illness then you would need to be extra conscious as your immune system is already compromised. Do not forget to wear a mask when you step out (stepping out should only be a dire necessity). If you go to work, wear a double mask and wear one at home to curb the spread. Do a little extra when steeping out for getting tests done (see if they collect samples from home) or getting your jab.
4. Practicing fitness and eating right
It is now or never. Coronavirus has been around for over a year and it was easy on those who have good immunity and distressing for others because fighting it was not easy. It is a virus after all, you either push it with your body’s natural fighting abilities or let it take over you. Preparedness comes with a sustained healthy lifestyle that is built over time. Immunity isn’t achieved overnight, eating right and exercising or practicing yoga and meditation constitute a big chunk of your capacity. Now is the time to adopt healthy eating practices so that you limit the possibilities of developing any illnesses in the future: have your favorite juices, homemade foods, practice self-care and keep calm. Know yourself, understand your body deficiencies and work on them. Prepare yourself for the newer strains are totally unpredictable. The only thing we know about them is that they will be more vigorous than their predecessors. Make sure to keep checking your oxygen levels every day. There have been many cases were the new strain was not detected through RT-PCR tests. Avoid all those practices that might get you sick. For instance, eating ice-cream, drinking cold water, overeating, overusing air conditioners without grasping the weather and exhausting yourself unnecessarily, eating oily food etc. Remember, you not only need to take care of yourself but also of your loved ones.
5. To go out or not
All essential items can be bought from the store but it is avoidable with online shopping and online transaction. With the situation exacerbating day by day, stepping out is a tough decision. Whether you are too afraid to go outside or are desperate to finally enjoy a fancy outing, nothing matters more than life. Work, unfortunately, demands you to step out. Wear double masks at work, keep a sanitizer handy, don’t interact (try calling instead), wash your hands, have a handkerchief with you at all times, clean yourself when you come home and wash every item you used that day, wear a mask at home, check your oxygen levels regularly and eat all your supplements without a miss. Take notice of every change in the body that might potentially be one of the symptoms. Never neglect what your body tells you.
6. Stocking Essentials (not hoarding them)
We know how many different kinds of things we need to survive: disinfectant sprays and liquids, sanitizers, handwash, masks, handkerchiefs, source of clean water, medicines, etc. Make sure you have these things available at your home and workplace at all times. It is a proven fact that those who took care of them at the earliest won half the battle. Another requisite here is that you have a reliable source of news so that you don’t miss out on important information regarding government actions and the stock of certain products.
7. Being Aware
Notice every symptom. Study each one of them. Awareness is the key to sail through problems. Study the cases. Study the numbers. Study the cases in your local area. You would also need to have contacts you might need help from. See if there are enough facilities and if there aren’t (which is pretty much the case right now), stay vigilant of your health. Be assured that early detection can help eliminate the virus and millions of people are recovering in home isolation. Know where the test results are reliable. Be aware of your surroundings and more conscious of your own health. If you know someone who is sick, console them and also know their situation. We don’t have an accurate medicine to cure the virus yet but believe, that it can be cured at an early stage. Uncertainty is a major cause of fear. Fear of the unknown is dreaded. But knowledge helps. It is only when we know how to fight that we overcome anxiousness and fears, we begin to think positively and feel less overburdened. Talk it out with your family and friends. Spread the word, not the virus! Stay safe and get yourself vaccinated.
