4 Serious Tips To Avoid Coronavirus

If you're not already using these tips for grocery shopping, opening doors and signing your name when you leave the house, now's a good time to start.

The CDC reversed its position on who should and shouldn't wear face masks in public. Prior to its latest announcement, the CDC and other health experts maintained that there was no need for the general public to wear a face covering when they left the house. 

However, the rapid spread of COVID-19 has caused the US authority on infectious disease to change course. The institute now recommends that people who reside in areas with high transmission rates, and those who are going to places where they can't maintain social distancing (that is, six feet of space between you another person who isn't a household member), drape their nose and mouth with cloth or another type of breathable fabric, including face masks you make at home or buy. 

The CDC considers this a voluntary health measure, and a recommendation, though some counties and cities are making the order mandatory -- typically when you gather somewhere around other people, like in a store, and not while you're alone in your car, or taking a walk where keeping six feet from others is easy to do. At the very least, it's a good idea to keep a face covering on hand if for no other reason than to avoid a strangers' side eye or lecture at the store. 

Here's what you need to know about homemade and other nonmedical face masks and coronavirus prevention.

If you're still pressing buttons for walk signs with your fingertips, stop. Any time you have to open a door, push a button, pull a lever or digitally sign for something, use a different body part instead. You have plenty.

For example, I'll often tap out a PIN code or make a selection on a digital screen with my knuckle instead of the pad of my finger. I'll push open a door with my shoulder, hip or foot instead of my hands.

You can usually flip on a light switch or sink faucet with your elbow or wrist, and you can wrap the sleeve of your sweater or jacket around the handle of any doors you have to physically pull open. It's easy enough to toss your clothing into the wash later rather than expose your skin now, especially if the chances you'll use your hands to touch food items or your face is high.

Social distancing can mean anything from hunkering down at home and refraining from seeing outside friends and family in person to keeping a boundary between you and others when you do go out. The practice of keeping 6 feet away from those outside your home group extends to waiting in line at the grocery store, going on walks (you can momentarily walk in the bike lane if you're careful about looking out for street traffic) and picking up food to go.

If you need to keep more distance between you and someone else while on a walk or when reaching for an item at the store, take a step back and wait or politely ask the person to give you more clearance ("Oh, I'm trying to keep my distance from everyone.")

Along with social distancing, washing your hands thoroughly is one of your best defenses against acquiring coronavirus. Give your hands a thorough scrub each time you get back. 20 seconds is the going recommendation, which may seem like ages, but if you wash slowly, it's easy to do. 

I count five long seconds (one-one-thousand) of soaping each hand, in between the fingers and up to the wrists, then count another five seconds for washing each hand thoroughly to get the soap (and any dead germs) off. I often wash the soap dispenser pump and faucet handles, too.

That helps me feel safe enough to adjust my contacts, blow my nose and pick that nagging something or other out of my teeth in the comfort of my own space.