Making home Corona virus proof.

How to coronavirus-proof your home

modified from an article by Scottie Andrew,  CNN 

It that Life under coronavirus means staying at home as much as possible is recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, making trips  to the grocery store or pharmacy are necessary at some point.

Because recommendations for Covid-19 may change monitoring one’s local health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for updates is important.

General plan:

• Designate one person to be the household errand-runner to limit outside exposures
• Set up a disinfecting station in an area outside the home or in a room with low foot traffic where one can disinfect packaged food

While being outside the home:

• Avoiding coming within less than six feet of others
• Wiping handles on carts or baskets while shopping
• Wearing mask at all times especially near other individuals
• It is not necessary to wear gloves. However, washing hands frequently while being out and avoiding touching one’s face are important

When get back home

• Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds
• Disinfect takeout boxes and packaged foods at your disinfecting station
• Thoroughly wash produce before putting it in your kitchen

Disinfecting

• Disinfect everything touched — doorknobs, light switches, keys, phone, keyboards, remotes, etc.
• Using EPA-approved disinfectants (these include Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and certain Lysol sprays) and leaving surfaces wet for 3-5 minutes

Delivery

• Asking workers to drop deliveries off on the doorstep or an at a designated area
• If they need you to come to the door, keeping six feet of distance
• Paying and tipping online when possible
• After picking up mail from the mailbox, wash your hands
• Keep the mail and boxes for 1-2 days before opening. If this is not possible wash your hands after handling them

Laundry 

• Washing clothes, towels and linens regularly on the warmest setting
• Disinfecting laundry hamper, too, or placing a removable liner inside it
• Not shaking dirty laundry to avoid dispersing the virus in the air

Guests

• Not allow guests over when social distancing is required
• When housing a family member or friend, avoiding shared living spaces as much as possible
• When they need to enter shared living spaces, keeping six feet of distance

If someone in the home gets sick

• First, consulting your doctor
• Isolating them in another room and asking them to use a separate restroom
• Disinfecting frequently touched surfaces every day
• Avoiding sharing items with them
• Wearing gloves when washing their laundry
• Continuing to wash hands frequently
• Asking them to wear a face mask if they have one

Supplies need 

• EPA-approved disinfectants
• If one does not have disinfectants, making a bleach solution by mix four teaspoons bleach per quart of water; or using a 70% alcohol solution
• Laundry detergent
• Trash bags
• Prescription medicines (these can mail order)
• Canned foods — fruits, veggies, beans
• Dry goods — breads, pastas, nut butters
• Frozen foods — meats, veggies, fruits

Pets

• Supervising pet in the backyard
• Keeping distance from other humans when playing or walking with pets
• Asking someone in the household to take care of them while being sick
• If one must care for the pets while being sick, washing one’s hands frequently

Sources of the information in the article were:

• Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore City Health Commissioner and an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University in Washington. 
• Dr. Koushik Kasanagottu, an internal medicine resident physician at John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and who is among the thousands of health care professionals treating patients with coronavirus.
• Dr. Richard Kuhn, a virologist, director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease and editor-in-chief of the journal “Virology.”
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Protection from COVID-19