So far this year, as a nation, we've had our heads wrapped around the crazed panic of the novel Corona Virus which has swept through 49 states, maybe all 50 by the time you're reading this. Not only can this virus be fatal to those with underlying medical conditions, but it can affect anyone no matter how strong their immune system is. Because it's also airborne and easily transferrable through surfaces and air, this virus is no joke.
In order to truly keep yourself healthy and also to not get driven insane during these trying times, here are 5 things that you can do to keep yourself busy, healthy, and sane — or just happy for some.
1. Practice your social distancing -- no, seriously.
Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash
You've heard this everywhere: the CDC, CNN, News 13, NYT, etc. This wouldn't be mentioned in certified news websites and radio stations if it wasn't a solution, people. From what I'm noticing as a resident in the Orlando area, people are still treating the public as their own personal playground for their hoarded germs. This is what we not finna do.
If you're able to, granted that you're out of work for a few weeks and have remote online schooling as I do, stay inside as often as you can. Going outside for fresh air is okay, but leaving your house and placing yourself into a public atmosphere purposefully is you basically saying you don't care enough for your well-being, so little that you're willing to risk it just for the thrill of leaving the house.
2. Journal or draw.
To each their own on this one. I'm no artist except when it comes to stick people and houses, so a good outlet for me is journaling. Write or draw what you're feeling, channel the inner anger, sadness, isolation, or anything else you may be feeling right now in this national pandemic crisis. I promise in time, if you make a routine out of it, you'll continue the routine even after this apocalypse is behind us.
3.Abide by a routine.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Since it doesn't appear that we'll be back at work anytime soon (for those of us with non-essential job positions that are being called for), there's time to regulate your lifestyle. I've been able to catch up on sleep, focus more on my schoolwork because it's all online, and not sidetrack by placing myself in a chair that is only comfortable for a given amount of time so I don't sit in bed and fall asleep.
Get up by a certain time every day and have your morning coffee. Somewhere in your routine, go outside and get some fresh air. Even if you have a stay-at-home order, you can still get your steps in and walk around the block or down to the next neighborhood. Make time to clean your house or apartment that you've been slacking on being so busy. Read that book you've had your sights set on. Make a YouTube or a Tik Tok (trust me, once you go in, you won't come back out). If you can afford to, buy the new Animal Crossings New Horizons video game and play alongside your friends. There are endless amounts of things you can be doing with yourself.
4. If you don't need sanitizer, wash your hands.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
For my family and I, hand-washing is the former choice over using hand sanitizer. Especially with there being a major shortage of it in stores, washing our hands is something we now find ourselves doing after touching anything that we think could carry tons of germs, or in case we accidentally touch our faces afterward (this is me, it's a nervous habit to touch my hair and face). My mother has previously had breast and skin cancer and is prone to COVID-19 more so than I am. Her underlying conditions make her immune system compromised, so she must be extremely careful about keeping her distance and sanitizing in public when hand-washing isn't possible.
This is why, for someone like me, if I'm able to wash my hands over using the sanitizer, I will. We need to be preserving our supplies for those who really need it more than we do. Not just for family, but for healthcare workers and people working in essential positions that are continuing to operate under the pandemic.
5. Take precaution when leaving the home.
Even with a stay-at-home order or a town/county lockdown, with essential businesses staying open, it's crucial at a time like this to stay clean for ourselves as well as for those around us. If you must leave the house for any reason, make sure to bring sanitizer, gloves, and/or Lysol spray or wipes (if you have any of these). All surfaces, pin pad devices, and items are risky to touch without proper sanitation.
Granted that these establishments have been deep cleaning often, you can never be too careful. Rather be overly clean and have dried out hands from the alcohol content in sanitizer than to have greasy hands that have touched God knows what, right?
Help to support your local businesses who are staying open. Help them in cleaning when you're there for their business so that they don't have to. They already have a huge burden on them to clean 5 times as often, so anything helps at this time.
When returning home from being out, remove any overgarments and wash them if you can. If you didn't wear any, consider changing your clothes into more relaxing clothes (we have nowhere to go or anyone to impress anyway, right) and wash those as well. The disease doesn't spread through the air, but rather through contact. The disease itself is near moving, but we are. Carriers move and infect others. Do anything that you can to be sure that you're not a carrier and don't even know it until it's too late.
Right now, it's imperative that everyone works together to get through this. If we listen to what medical professionals, the CDC, and the government are saying, we can pull through this. No one ever said it'd be easy, but there is hope. Stay at home, enjoy this time with family (if applicable), do things you enjoy to keep yourself occupied and stay healthy. That's all that anyone can ask of you at this point in time.
