Although COVID-19, Corona virus, is a major topic in the news, it doesn’t mean you are doomed to become infected. In this post we want to share with you some common sense precautions that everyone should take. Some being things you do every day anyway, but now you just do more thoroughly.
Simple Solutions to Combat the Virus
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends several things for prevention. They are easy to do and don’t really cost a lot and don’t mean you have to change your lifestyle.
In an article here (https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-protect-yourself-from-coronavirus/), Dr. Tom Moorcroft, an osteopath focused on infectious diseases recommends the following:
- Wash your hands with soap or use a hand sanitizer that contains alcohol.
- Sneeze and cough into tissues or the crook of your elbow. If you get mucus or spit on your skin, clean it off right away. Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick, especially people exhibiting respiratory symptoms and fever.
- Stay home when you’re sick.
- Regularly and thoroughly clean surfaces, such as counter tops and doorknobs, with a disinfectant.
Those of us who work at the Co-op know that point #1 is a daily action when working with food. To correctly wash your hands, use warm or hot water, use a normal soap, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Count this out in your head –{or maybe there’s an app already for your phone}. Then, rinse thoroughly and dry with a paper towel. After drying your hands, turn off the tap using the paper towel. You don’t have to use your food budget to buy special hand sanitize – just use normal soap correctly.
Clean Surfaces to Combat the Virus
Point #5 is also easily done with many different types of cleaning solutions. Check your Co-op – they have a selection.
Build a Strong Immune System against the Virus
What should be an obvious preventative measure that’s not discussed too much in the media might require you to change part of your life style – build or maintain a healthy immune system. Here’s what Dr. Moorcroft has to say on that:
On top of basic illness prevention, Moorcroft says the best (and only real) defense against disease is a strong immune system. Your body is better able to fight off illnesses when your immune system is really humming, he explains, and everyone should put in an effort to get theirs into tip-top shape. To do so, get enough quality sleep at night, stay hydrated, minimize overly processed foods, and get enough micronutrients in your diet.
In addition, the Co-op carries a number of remedies that may be helpful in strengthening your immune system and helping to combat any stray virus (of any type) that happens to get close to you:
On that last point, your local food co-op is a good place to look for foods that will help get those micronutrients: vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Since this is a really big topic, we’ll cover them in another post.
P.S. The agency (CDC) estimates that as of Jan 20, 2020 so far this flu season (2019-2020) there have been 9.7 million flu illnesses, 87,000 hospitalizations and 4800 deaths from flu, including 32 pediatric deaths. Compare to COVID-19 stats from the CDC: 99 cases, 10 deaths as of March 5, 2020
