House and Home

Infection Control
(The SAME as you should use during “flu season”)

1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a peace sign, slight bow or Namaste greeting.
2) Prepare a bag containing a few pairs of latex gloves, hand sanitizer and some disinfectant wipes to carry with you when you are out. Wash or sanitize your hands as soon as you remove your gloves.
3) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches, elevator buttons, etc. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.
4) Open doors with your closed fist or hip – do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. This is especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.
5) Use disinfectant wipes at grocery stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in shopping carts.
6) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.
7) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home’s entrances AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can’t immediately wash your hands.
8) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!
(Thank you, James Robb, MD UC San Diego, for circulating these recommendations on social media)

Household Recommendations

Stay Home
Taking “physical distancing” seriously is critical. Please stay home and ensure that your family members and friends do as well. Read more about why this is so important here.

Handwashing
Here is a nice March 3rd piece from The Atlantic about handwashing and home sanitation or if you prefer, here is a video. If you run out of hand sanitizer, here is some advice from the New York Times to help you.

Disinfecting the Home
As part of your daily routine, you should try to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects (phones, door handles, light switches, countertops etc). This is especially important if someone in the home is sick. 

Refresh your Medicine Cabinet
Consider organizing 3 months of your prescription medications and getting the following over the counter medications to have on hand: ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), acetaminophen (Tylenol), pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), zinc lozenges (Cold-Eeze and others)

If you or a family member are at particular risk (over the age of 60, or have chronic lung conditions, diabetes or heart disease), please consider discussing additional standby medications with your personal doctor. If you are NOT in a high risk group, your risk from Coronavirus is very low.

Make sure your First Aid Kit is fully stocked and prepare an Emergency Kit (similar to an Earthquake preparedness kit). See the many online resources for home kits here.

Get to know your neighbors.
Talk with your neighbors about emergency planning. If your neighborhood has a website or social media page, consider joining it to maintain access to neighbors, information, and resources.

Create an emergency contact list.
Ensure your household has a current list of emergency contacts for family, friends, neighbors, health care providers

Learn about your employer’s emergency operations plan.

Use a separate room and bathroom you prepared for sick household members (if possible).
Avoid sharing personal items like food and drinks. Provide your sick household member with clean disposable face masks to wear at home, if available. Read more about caring for sick family members on our FAQs page or on the CDC’s page here.

Take care of the emotional health of your household members.

Stay at home if you are sick!
Visit our FAQs page for more information on how long you’ll need to stay home and how too protect your family.