Top Ways to Stay Safe

Top Ways to Stay Safe During the COVID 19 Pandemic. For many of us, we already feel as though doomsday is upon us. With schools closing, bars and restaurants empty and rush hour almost non-existent, it feels like a parallel universe.
The COVID 19 pandemic is no joke. If you are worried about your supply of food, water and toilet paper it is understandable. Whether you have all the supplies you need or not, here are some ways to stay safe and save on resources during this uncertain time.

Stop hoarding

This COVID 19 pandemic has definitely sparked some strange behavior. For some reason people seem to think hoarding toilet paper is the thing to do. Therefore, the lines to even enter a store have looked like a Black Friday doorbuster sale. Once the toilet paper was gone, people have sprung to paper towel, bread, meats, and cough medicine. There’s no need to panic shop at the moment, but the hoards cannot be contained. If you have more than a few weeks supply of toilet paper, then you are more part of the problem than the solution. Everyone should be stocked by now, right?

Use towels

Let’s be honest, you can really live without paper towels. Although incredibly convenient, it is time to start managing your paper towel usage. A few things you can do in your home to continue to stay sanitary is to assign each person in your household a hand towel. They can use their own hand towel to dry their hands for a day or two before washing them. You can also assign a dish rag to your children for wiping faces and cleaning messes that they make.

Medications

While stores and pharmacies still stay open, now is the time to ensure you have your prescribed medications stocked. The interesting thing right now is that you can ask for an additional supply and your pharmacy should be able to provide it for you. What you need to do is ask your pharmacist for a backup refill of medications. They should be able to fill  an additional 30 days, if not more.

Get creative with your recipes

You will never want to be more on top of the expiration dates on your food until now. It is also a time to get creative with your recipes. This means that you probably need to focus a lot on your perishable items first and then pair that with non-perishable foods. We recently wrote a great article on Great Recipes requiring minimal ingredients. This may help! 

If you shop, be smart

When you do venture into public, just be smart about it. Don’t send your 75-year-old grandfather or take your small children when possible. Bring your own sanitizing wipes with you if you have them.

Before you leave, try to plan your trip, organize your list and do not linger longer than necessary. This is also the time to be conscientious about touching your face, eyes and mouth.. Be very cognizant about what else you are touching (i.e. some very germ filled things include the cash register area, door handles and knobs, carts and should you need to fill up on gas – the gas nozzle is a germ-infested surface). Always wipe down your cart and wash up when you get home.

• Keep your immune system healthy
  In order to keep your body healthy should it need to combat this virus, try to improve your immune system right now. The following are things you can do right now to make your immune system strong:
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes (go for a walk, hike a mountain or do an at-home workout routine)
• Get enough sleep (aim for a solid 8 hours)
• Don’t smoke and keep drinking alcohol to a minimum
• Find ways to manage stress (meditate, shut off social media, shut off the news, etc.)
• Take your vitamins

Check on your neighbor

It is really a testament to our society with how we treat our neighbors. This is the perfect time to check on your neighbor to make sure they too are stocked and prepared for quarantine. Perhaps you have an elderly neighbor who cannot make it to the store or a mom with several kids that just needs a few rolls of toilet paper. Whatever the case may be, now is the time to be a good neighbor.

Bottom Line

The uncertainty of the CoronaVirus pandemic is unnerving. However, there are ways you can stay entertained, comfortable and ready to take on whatever comes next. Be mindful of your resources while keeping your body and family healthy. Take all the precautions you need and be sure you have checked on your neighbors as not everyone is vocal about what they need during this time. This too shall pass and things will get back to normal.