The current pandemic situation has driven everyone crazy; however, it has imbibed the significance of health and hygiene. While everyone, in general,is aware of personal cleanliness, the pandemic has made hygiene more essential and important. Not only today but henceforth always maintaining personal hygiene should top our list.
The basic and simple rule to deal with any viral or bacterial infection is washing hands frequently. It can make a large difference by merely washing your hands to lessen the spread of any contamination. Hand washing when you enter the home, when you cough or sneeze, blow your nose, etc. has to be followed religiously. If you are coming home from outside, make sure to wash your hands, face, and feet with a good anti bacterial soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds. Having a bath is the best option.
Avoid touching your face specifically the mouth, eyes, or nose, without washing hands thoroughly. If it not possible to wash hands or if you do not have water and antibacterial soap readily available, make a habit to keep a good hand sanitizer with you that has at least 60% alcohol content. This not only helps maintain good hygiene but also keeps you safer from infectious diseases. Apart from hand washing after coughing and sneezing, make sure you do wash your hands after touching your pet animals, using toilets, touching garbage, changing baby nappies, and also before eating or handling food. Also, when cooking food, make sure hand washing before, during, and after preparing food.
It is not only important to keep yourself safe from infections, but also to make sure that you do not pass your infection to others near you. To ensure this, always cover your nose and mouth while coughing and sneezing. Keep a pack of tissues to use when you sneeze or cough and discard the tissue properly into a dustbin. You can use a handkerchief also, but ensure you wash it properly after the use.
To maintain a healthy and germs free atmosphere optimally, you also need to ensure your surroundings and home is clean as well. Make sure to clean and sanitize floors, kitchen tops, table tops, and all the frequently used surfaces daily. Use water and good detergent solution to clean the floor. Make use of good disinfectants to clean kitchen and tabletops and other surfaces. Maintain kitchen hygiene as best as possible. Cover your foodstuff, store properly, and keep them out of the reach of food flies. Make sure you do have water stored in plant pots as they are a super way for mosquitoes to thrive.
Every day we come in contact with thousands and millions of microbes, and most of them are essential for our health being. However, some bacteria are harmful, especially for people with weaker immune systems, or people with some of the other illnesses. Though we cannot control our exposure to these harmful bacteria and viruses, maintaining good health and hygiene can help to lower our chances of catching infections.