"Woe is me. Summer's here and I'm stuck inside because of the stupid coronavirus."
Okay, I'm showing my prejudice here, but I don't agree with any governor or mayor who has wholly opened up society, even on a limited basis. Ignoring CDC guidelines, they'll sit back and take no blame for the swell of new infections, which have been publicized since last month's openings.
While I do agree that isolation is no picnic, I also believe a bit – but only a bit - of loosening the rules, such as going outdoors but using social distancing guidelines, helps us both physically and mentally.
However, being safe means not being sorry later, and USA Today's Courtney Campbell helps solve some of our woe-is-me worries.
According to health experts, being outdoors helps to separate airborne particles. Remember the recent Consumer Watch column that specified the number of droplets just from talking, much less laughing, yelling, singing, and the like that stay in the air long enough to fly on over to another person's orifices? Obviously, if you're one of these people who are carriers with no symptoms, you can potentially kill a bunch of strangers or friends. Seriously.
To help avoid infecting others, mask-wearing is truly imperative. Frankly, I'm not fond of masks, either, as my glasses fog up and sometimes it's even hard to breathe with one on. Glasses can be cleaned, though, and I can breathe enough to stay alive; on the other hand, by not wearing a mask, I am possibly contagious or other persons can make me very ill with Covid-19 or even send me straight to the morgue!
How about washing our hands? Most of us are lucky enough to have access to soap and running water so there's no excuse for not washing hands properly for the allotted 20 seconds. Reciting the Lord's Prayer or singing Happy Birthday to the mirror will help keep us safe. Entering the house, touching your phone, shopping for and then bringing groceries inside – all these activities and more can attack you in minutes. That delicious peach you picked up for breakfast? By the time various shoppers – and carriers -have touched the fruit, just think what's now on your hands and what you're bringing into your home. Yuk.
A great idea I read about just a couple of weeks ago discussed the widespread impact of the virus on the homeless population. These folks have very little access to a bathroom to wash their hands, much less many times a day. The article discussed portable hand-washing stations being placed across several major cities to give the homeless (and the rest of us) an opportunity to keep them and us safer through hand washing.
If we don't have access to clean hands at most all times, then carry sanitizing wipes in pockets or purses. Yes, they are hard to find these days, but try online or in-store for the following: SPARITUAL (and, yes, it's supposed to be spelled thusly) Hand Sanitizer Spray, 4 Pack at Amazon for $15.95; Earth to Skin Hand Sanitizer, 6-pack at Walmart for $6.99; and Milk + Honey Lavender, Eucalyptus Hand Purifier No.08 at Ulta for $6. Sometimes, I even luck up at the dollar stores and find small packets of wipes perfect to carry, then the larger cannisters ones stay in my car. (How many times do you touch everyday surfaces, such as stair railings, grocery carts that may or may not be sterilized, or many others too numerous to mention?)
(Continued next week)