15 Things to Stop Doing Now, Say COVID Experts

By Ghuman

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live our lives. As the virus continues to spread, it is important to take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and our loved ones. In this article, we will discuss 15 things that experts say we should stop doing now in order to reduce the risk of contracting and spreading the virus. From avoiding large gatherings to wearing masks in public, these tips will help keep you and your family safe. So, let’s get started!

15 Things to Stop Doing Now, Say COVID Experts

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, experts are urging people to take extra precautions to protect themselves and others. Here are 15 things that experts say you should stop doing now to help reduce the risk of infection.

  • Stop going to large gatherings, such as concerts, sporting events, and parties.
  • Stop shaking hands or hugging people outside of your immediate family.
  • Stop touching your face, especially after touching surfaces that may be contaminated.
  • Stop sharing food, drinks, or utensils with others.
  • Stop using public transportation, if possible.
  • Stop going to crowded places, such as malls, movie theaters, and amusement parks.
  • Stop going to work if you are feeling sick.
  • Stop going to the gym or other indoor fitness centers.
  • Stop eating at restaurants, unless you can do so safely.
  • Stop going to bars or nightclubs.
  • Stop traveling, unless absolutely necessary.
  • Stop visiting nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.
  • Stop attending religious services in person.
  • Stop hosting or attending large family gatherings.
  • Stop engaging in activities that involve close contact with others, such as team sports.

By following these recommendations, you can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect yourself and others.

All of our lives have been uprooted because of the coronavirus and our regular schedules are a factor of the previous. With the stress of contracting this scary virus in your thoughts and your routine thrown out the window, you might depend on frequent day-to-day habits to make at the least one a part of your life really feel acquainted. 

However some frequent habits have to be thrown out alongside together with your sense of normalcy as a result of they might put you at better danger for contracting coronavirus. Try these 15 frequent habits which will put you in danger for COVID-19 and make some adjustments to maintain your self wholesome, and to make sure your well being and the well being of others, do not miss these Certain Indicators You’ve got Already Had Coronavirus.

African girl in glasses rubs her eyes, suffering from tired eyes
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If you happen to’re drained or get a small particle in your eye, it is a pure response to rub your eyes together with your arms. However within the age of COVID-19, it is time to cease touching your eyes. Your arms might have touched surfaces that had droplets of germs, together with these that may unfold the virus. Whenever you contact your eyes, you possibly can simply develop into contaminated. 

The Rx: Keep away from your eyes in any respect prices, particularly for those who’re in public. In response to Dr. Sonal S. Tuli from the College of Florida, “Think about carrying glasses extra typically, particularly for those who have a tendency to the touch your eyes lots when your contacts are in. Substituting glasses for lenses can lower irritation and power you to pause earlier than touching your eye.” If you happen to do not put on glasses, placed on sun shades once you’re outdoors to keep away from the wind blowing particles of mud or filth into your eyes.

Family talking over dinner.
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In current weeks the CDC and Dr. Fauci have been warning that almost all transmission is happening throughout small gatherings of family and friends. Clearly, different folks’s houses won’t ever “shut,” however they are often simply as harmful for COVID-19 an infection as a bar or a nightclub — if no more. Why? You usually tend to let your guard down in these sort of locations, taking off your masks and neglecting to socially distance.

Beautiful emotional businessman on a gray background. Silly look. Picking his nose.
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It is a behavior we’re all responsible of: choosing your nostril. However with COVID-19 working rampant, choosing your nostril will not be solely frowned upon, it is also harmful. If you happen to’ve been in public touching grocery retailer objects, elevator buttons, or bank card machines, you’ll have germs in your fingertips, together with those who might unfold COVID-19. 

Placing your finger in your nostril permits your sinuses to soak up these germs, infecting you with the virus. In response to the World Well being Group (WHO), coronavirus assaults your lungs and by giving it entry to your nostril, you are making it straightforward for it to begin wreaking havoc in your physique.

The Rx: Preserve your fingers out of your nostril. If you happen to actually cannot break the behavior of choosing your nostril, be certain that your arms have been completely washed earlier than you begin digging for gold.

Young woman sharing her food with her husband or friend
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Earlier than COVID-19 began spreading all through the world like wildfire, you would not have thought twice earlier than sharing a milkshake together with your good friend or taking a chew of a cherished one’s sizzling canine. In response to Dr. Isaac Bogoch from the College of Toronto, “If individuals are sharing meals, the virus might contaminate the meals that they are consuming or on the fork or knife that they are sharing. And that is an ideal strategy to transmit this to different folks.” 

Your beloved could also be asymptomatic and never even know they’re contaminated. Sharing meals or drinks can transmit the virus to you. And you may expertise extra extreme signs or you may go the virus onto a high-risk one who experiences life-threatening problems.

The Rx: Preserve your meals in your plate and cease sharing, particularly with those that you are not residing at house with. If you wish to share meals, solely do it at house and cut up the meal in half onto two separate plates earlier than anybody takes the primary chew.

elderly father and grown up adult son sitting on sofa talking

If you happen to’re often a detailed talker who likes to throw in a number of arm touches throughout dialog, these social distancing pointers are going to be robust. However it’s vital to interrupt these habits for now and be certain you are giving folks area. The World Well being Group (WHO) recommends staying at the least six ft away from different folks, particularly in the event that they’re coughing or sneezing. 

Coronavirus is carried within the droplets from an contaminated individual’s cough or sneeze and these droplets are estimated to fly at a most of six ft from somebody’s mouth or nostril. So for those who’re speaking intently, you are placing your self and the opposite individual in danger.

The Rx: Standing far-off from neighbors or associates as you chat feels awkward and impersonal however it’s important to cease the unfold of the virus. If you happen to merely cannot break this behavior, take into account speaking together with your family members by means of video chat or textual content messaging as an alternative.

Beautiful dark skinned businesswoman with casual hairstyle working on her laptop, looking at screen with concentrated face and touching chin with hand
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As quickly as COVID-19 began changing into a worldwide well being situation, one of many first items of recommendation launched by consultants was to cease touching your face. If in case you have germs that unfold the virus in your fingers or face and also you contact it, these germs might go into your mouth, nostril, or eyes and trigger you to develop into contaminated. A research printed within the American Journal of An infection Management discovered that we contact our faces a median of 23 instances per hour and 44% of those face touches concerned contact with a mucous membrane.

The Rx: Chances are you’ll involuntarily contact your face with out even fascinated with it. If you happen to’re in public, be cognizant of the place your arms are and preserve them away out of your face always. At house, you possibly can contact your face if you already know your arms have simply been completely washed.

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Beautiful dark skinned businesswoman with casual hairstyle working on her laptop, looking at screen with concentrated face and touching chin with hand
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Being caught at house and wired by the unknown of this virus could make you crave consolation meals. Ice cream, pizza, chips, and chocolate are meals you are interested in once you’re wired as a result of you might assume binging on these treats will make you’re feeling higher. However sustaining a nutritious diet is vital throughout a well being disaster like COVID-19. 

If you happen to eat wholesome, your immune system continues functioning correctly so in case you are contaminated, your physique has a greater probability to combat off the virus with out experiencing problems. In response to a research printed in Vitamins, “Enough and acceptable vitamin is required for all cells to operate optimally and this consists of the cells within the immune system.”

The Rx: Sustaining a weight loss program that features loads of fruits, greens, and protein, and that is low in fats helps your physique to operate correctly. With the correct vitamins, your immune system stays sturdy and might help you combat off the coronavirus for those who’re uncovered to it.

Hand washing for 20s, the first step to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 and other viruses
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In case your hand washing habits contain merely splashing your arms underneath water, then grabbing the closest towel, it is time to make some adjustments. These handwashing habits merely will not reduce it now that the coronavirus is circulating. The CDC recommends that you simply lather your arms for at the least 20 seconds with antibacterial cleaning soap. The cleaning soap traps germs that have been in your arms and the water washes them away.

The Rx: Take the CDC’s recommendation and lather your moist arms with cleaning soap for a complete rendition of the “Blissful Birthday” music. Rinse them completely and dry them with a clear towel.

impatient girl nail-biting while she waits for a call or an answer to her chat or sms during her breakfast
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You already know that biting your nails is a foul behavior that you must most likely work on however now it is thought-about harmful. If you happen to mindlessly chew your nails and your fingers are internet hosting germs that may unfold the virus, you are giving it a strategy to enter your physique and infect you. 

In response to Dr. Elie Murray from Boston College College of Public Well being, the virus solely wants entry to the liner of your mouth to unfold. She says, “Something you do to sort of assist the virus get from the surface world into these moist elements of your face goes to extend your danger of catching the virus.” This consists of biting your nails.

The Rx: It is time to implement a technique to cease biting your nails. In response to a research printed within the Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences, you should use your personal self-control interventions, strive behavior reversal, or try to preserve your arms busy. Attempt holding a small ball, chewing gum, or partaking your fingers with a writing utensil.

Woman doing housework.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci revealed that whereas it does not damage to wipe each single factor down — like your groceries or different objects — it is not essential. “When folks begin feeling that they should wipe issues down a number of instances, there’s nothing fallacious with that. You may need to get some wipes and put them on the doorknob or one thing like that,” he mentioned.

“However to compulsively really feel like you possibly can’t contact one thing except you wipe it down would most likely create extra stress than it could actual safety.”

The Rx: As an alternative of specializing in disinfecting objects, he suggests shifting your power on your self. “What we are likely to do is to inform folks to actually simply wash your arms as regularly as you probably can,” he mentioned. “… And put on a masks.”

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Woman Washing Hands In Kitchen Sink
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Up to now, you’ll have skipped out on the hand washing ritual earlier than you ate or after you went to the toilet. However now, hand washing is one in all your greatest traces of protection in opposition to coronavirus and ought to be taken severely. Any time you’ve got been out in public or touched shared surfaces, it is vital to finish a radical hand washing earlier than touching something in your house, your face, or relations.

The Rx: With the specter of COVID-19, you merely cannot wash your arms sufficient. Along with washing your arms any time you’ve got been in public, the CDC additionally recommends washing your arms:

  • Earlier than, throughout, and after you put together meals.
  • Earlier than and after caring for a sick cherished one.
  • Earlier than and after treating a wound.
  • After coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nostril.
  • After utilizing the toilet.
  • After dealing with pet meals or touching pets.
  • After touching rubbish or altering diapers.
Woman in medical protective mask panic buying wine
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Being caught at house isn’t any enjoyable and for those who’re used to working round city all day, it is a laborious behavior to interrupt. However it’s vital to recollect the extra folks you come into contact with, the better your possibilities of contracting COVID-19. Whenever you enterprise out to shops or different public locations which are open and run errands that are not actually important, you are rising your danger and making these areas extra crowded, rising different folks’s dangers for coronavirus.

The Rx: Comply with the principles in your space and solely go away your home for errands which are important. If you find yourself working important errands, do your greatest to shortly and safely get what you want and get again house.

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Fauci mentioned washing arms is more practical than wiping down each floor. However you continue to need to preserve your property clear and virus-free.

The Rx: The CDC recommends that you simply routinely clear highly-touched surfaces, together with “tables, doorknobs, mild switches, counter tops, handles, desks, telephones, keyboards, bathrooms, taps, and sinks.” Then, use a family disinfectant or diluted bleach to kill germs on these surfaces.

Man coughing covering mouth with a tissue
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Now greater than ever, failing to cowl your mouth once you cough or sneeze is a particularly unhealthy behavior. Whereas it could not have an effect on whether or not you are contaminated or not, it instantly impacts the folks round you. If you happen to’re contaminated with the virus however not displaying any signs, your sneeze or cough droplets can infect others and so they might not be so fortunate with the end result.

The Rx: The WHO recommends sneezing or coughing into your arm for those who’re in a public place. If you happen to’re at house, sneeze or cough right into a tissue and promptly throw it away as an alternative of inserting it on a desk or different floor in your house.

young woman wearing a hygiene protective mask over her face while walking at the crowded place
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It could be inconceivable so that you can keep away from crowded grocery shops or a visit to the pharmacy, however it’s additionally vital to be conscious about different crowded locations. Your each day habits might have included a stroll in your native nature path or sitting by the lake and meditating each morning. But when these locations are actually crowded with folks additionally attempting to take pleasure in some recent air, these are habits you might want to interrupt. The extra folks you are round, the upper your danger for contracting the virus.

The Rx: You will have to ditch the locations you often frequent close to your property in the event that they’re so crowded you possibly can’t observe the six foot social distancing rule. If you happen to actually take pleasure in these spots, take into account going throughout much less standard instances of the day, corresponding to early within the morning. You may additionally take this time to discover your neighborhood and discover different hidden gems, like a unique strolling path that is not as crowded.

And to get by means of this pandemic at your healthiest, do not miss these 35 Locations You are Most Prone to Catch COVID.