The Newsletter presents suggestions how laryngectomees can cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Laryngectomee Newsletter is presented by Itzhak Brook MD. Dr Brook is a physician and a laryngectomee. He is the author of "The Laryngectomee Guide for COVID-19 Pandemic", " The Laryngectomee Guide", " The Laryngectomee Guide Expanded Edition", and " My Voice, a Physician’s Personal Experience with Throat Cancer ".

Dr. Brook is also the creator of the blog " My Voice ". The blog contains information about head and neck cancer, and manuscripts and videos about Dr. Brook's experience as a patient with throat cancer.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

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

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