6 Tips on How to Avoid Letting Other People Compromise Your Safety During COVID-19

The last 20 months have truly pushed many of us to the brink. In addition to the clear and present health risks presented by the novel coronavirus, the COVID-19 pandemic has also changed the way many of us go about our daily lives and exposed the extent to which disinformation has been embraced by a staggering number of Americans. While this pandemic rolls on as a result of millions of people refusing to get a free and highly effective vaccine, the rest of us must continue to take assorted precautions in order to keep ourselves and the people around us safe. In the interest of preventing other people from compromising your safety during this difficult time, make a point of taking the following precautions.

1. Get Your Vaccine

At the present time, the best way to avoid having your health compromised is to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Regardless of where in the U.S. you’re based, you should have no trouble finding a clinic, medical facility or pharmacy that administers vaccines free of charge. Being fully vaccinated exponentially reduces your risk of developing a serious or fatal case of COVID and may ultimately wind up saving your life.

2. Insist on Working Remotely

While some businesses are requiring employees to get vaccinated, a significant number of them are not. So, if you happen to work for one that falls into the latter category, insist on being allowed to work remotely. Poor decision-making on the part of your bosses should not result in you having to risk your health every time you go into the office. Your employer may claim this is an issue of personal choice, but your coworkers’ supposed right to willfully spread virus particles during an active pandemic does not supersede your right to be protected at work. This is particularly true in the case of individuals with compromised immune systems.

Not only do such workplaces put your safety at risk, they also stand to compromise the safety of anyone with whom you cohabitate or interact. If your employer won’t take the necessary steps to protect workers who actually care about public health, you can at least extricate yourself from the situation by working remotely.

3. Avoid In-Person Interactions with Proudly Unvaccinated Individuals

We all seemingly have certain people in our lives that readily embrace misinformation and build entire belief systems around the faulty info they consume on a daily basis. Unsurprisingly, many of these people have refused to get vaccinated for a variety of nonsensical reasons. Individuals whose knowledge of medical science is sorely lacking are suddenly experts on vaccine efficacy.

If any of your close friends or family members are fully on board with vaccine-based conspiracy theories or are refusing to get vaccinated out of pure laziness, avoid in-person interactions with these individuals until they decide to act in the best interest of public health. While the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious and fatal cases of the novel coronavirus, they are not impenetrable shields, and breakthrough cases are entirely possible – which makes interactions with the proudly unvaccinated a risky venture. (This is not unique to the COVID-19 vaccines, mind you. Breakthrough cases occur with virtually every vaccine and virus.)

4. Complete Certain Tasks Remotely

Taking advantage of the contactless pickup options provided by many stores, restaurants and pharmacies can simplify the shopping process while reducing your risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus. You can even seek out medical advice online by visiting convenient sites like Plushcare. Additionally, if you’re currently on the hunt for therapy, counseling or other forms of mental health care, look for individuals who provide patients with remote options.

With COVID-19 vaccines being widely available free of charge for over half a year, it feels like a sizable portion of the country is being held hostage by the unvaccinated. If not for their refusal to get a free, safe, and highly effective vaccine, we’d see a decrease in new variants and breakthrough cases, and life could finally resume some level of normalcy. However, for as long as these individuals continue to act against public health, the rest of us will need to keep our guard up and take the previously discussed precautions.

5. Maintain Good Hygiene Wherever Possible

You might already be aware of the fact that coronavirus can stay much longer on certain surfaces. Well, anyone can get infected if they touch the face after touching the surface. Many studies have found that the virus doesn’t live on plastic surfaces after 72 hours. The same thing happens with steel or other cardboard materials. It will not be present on these surfaces after 48 hours. Still, you should not forget to protect yourself from contaminated ones.

The only thing that can help you protect yourself from this dangerous virus is good hygiene. In other words, you have to keep everything in your home free from germs. You can use a sanitizer that is suitable for your furniture and other objects. Apart from that, you also need to keep your hands clean and sanitized after you come back from outside. It is crucial to wash for at least fifteen to twenty seconds from an effective hand wash or soap.

Some people forget about hygiene, especially when they go to public spaces. They often touch their face, eyes, or mouth with their unwashed hands. You should not make this mistake if you don’t want the virus to come near you. You have to take special precautions while going out. You cannot wash your hands everywhere. So, you must carry a sanitizer with 60% or more alcohol.

Another thing that you need to take care of is how you sneeze or cough sometimes in public places. The best method is to keep your elbow instead of your hands. You can also use a tissue, but make sure to throw it in the dustbin after usage.

6. Food Safety is Necessary

Just like keeping everything cleaned and sanitized, you should also focus on keeping your food safe from coronavirus. The cutting boards you are using might also get contaminated if someone else had used them. You can only do one thing in such a situation, which is cleaning the boards regularly. Some people think it is weird, but the reality is you can fight against coronavirus with the same.

It is unsafe to eat from restaurants where the cooks and waiters don’t take safety precautions like wearing masks, offering sanitizer, and more to visitors. If you plan to go to a cafe or restaurant, you need to check if they follow social distancing and other rules carefully. You should do proper research before selecting a place to eat. Otherwise, you might get infected and also put your family at risk.

You should also avoid consuming raw or undercooked meat. It is essential to maintain health by eating healthy food like vegetables, fruits, and milk products. They might also help increase your immunity level to kill the virus, even if it enters your body.

The Bottom Line

Coronavirus pandemic has transformed people’s lives in many ways. There is a constant fear in their minds as they want to protect themselves and their families. We hope now you feel comfortable after reading the tips mentioned above. All you have to do is remember and follow them.