Wash Your hands
Hand washing is the cornerstone of infection control, but we’ve all been doing it wrong. Wet your hands (the water temperature doesn’t matter), soap up vigorously and start counting to 20 as you scrub everywhere, including wrists and fingernails.
One big mistake is that people shake their hands to air dry them. Dry with a paper towel instead to remove any lingering germs, and when you’re done, use the towel to turn the faucet handle so you don’t re-contaminate your hands.
“Your hands carry almost all your germs to your respiratory tract. Keeping them as clean as possible is really helpful,” said Dr. Adit Ginde, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “It would dramatically reduce transmission if people did it well.”
Use hand sanitizer
If you are away from a sink, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol, and scrub your hands with the sanitizer the same way you would with soap and water. If you can’t find hand sanitizer, don’t worry. Washing your hands with soap and water is better anyway. (If you see the recipe circulating on social media for homemade sanitizer using aloe vera gel and alcohol, it doesn’t really work. Don’t waste your money and just wash your hands.)
Break the face-touching habit
We know you want to touch your face. Studies suggest that humans touch their faces as a form of self-soothing. For those moments when you must touch your face, keep tissues in your pocket to rub itchy eyes and noses (and then throw them away). Wearing glasses, makeup and gloves can also help.
Clean your home
Infectious disease specialists know where germs lurk, so we asked them how to clean. Their advice? In between regular cleaning, focus daily on high-touch areas — door knobs, light switches, television remotes, refrigerator and microwave handles, cabinet and drawer pulls, faucet handles and toilet flushers. If you’ve got a popular favorite spot for mail or a popular family closet, give that area an extra wipe. “I try not to be neurotic about it,” says Dr. Kryssie Woods, a hospital epidemiologist and the medical director of infection prevention at Mount Sinai West in New York. “But wash your hands when you get home and try to clean some of those high-touch areas. That’s good advice even without the coronavirus.”
Cover your sneeze or cough
Learn to practice “respiratory etiquette,” says Dr. William P. Sawyer, a physician in Sharonville, Ohio, and creator of HenrytheHand.com, a website dedicated to handwashing and hygiene practices. Respiratory etiquette means being aware of where you cough or sneeze. No matter where you are (even at home) don’t sneeze into your bare hand. If you do, chances are that hand will contaminate a TV remote, a door knob or a faucet handle. Always grab a tissue when you sneeze or cough (no cloth handkerchiefs!), and then throw it away and wash or sanitize your hands immediately. If you don’t have a tissue, sneeze into your elbow. Yes, you’ve contaminated your sleeve, but we don’t usually touch that part of our arms, and germs die more quickly on fabrics than on hard surfaces.
Keep your distance
The main way communities are trying to slow the virus is to practice social distancing. Try to keep six feet of personal space in public areas to avoid flying droplets from a sneeze or cough (droplets that carry the virus can travel about that distance). Avoid cramped workspace and standing shoulder to shoulder with people in bars or subways. The C.D.C. recommends no gatherings larger than 10 people in places with minimal to moderate spread and no gatherings of any size in harder hit areas. Hundreds of millions of people in more than a dozen states have been ordered to stay home except for essential trips like getting groceries or walking the dog. Here’s a running list. More states and cities may follow their lead.
While some people are practicing “social monogamy” — socializing with only one set of trusted friends — public health experts are now discouraging even that much contact. “Even if you choose only one friend to have over, you are creating new links and possibilities for the type of transmission that all of our school/work/public event closures are trying to prevent,” said Dr. Asaf Bitton, the executive director of Ariadne Labs at Brigham and Women's Hospital. “The symptoms of coronavirus take four to five days to manifest themselves. Someone who comes over looking well can transmit the virus.”
