What to Do at Home During COVID-19

Find Out How to Stay Physically and Mentally Healthy When the Corona Virus Has You Confined at Home, Having to Work From Home, and Limited to At-Home Activities

Things are indeed uncertain right now. But the situation is not as hopeless as it may seem or as dire as the pandemic news reports may have led you to believe.

As you and your family self-quarantine, there are a lot of things you can do at home during this putative pandemic to protect yourselves from the coronavirus and the effects of COVID-19. Keep in mind, too, that your mental and emotional health also need care, especially if you’re limited to remote work and at-home activities.

Keep reading to learn about what you can do at home to stay safe and healthy in every way during COVID-19.

Guard Your Physical Health at Home During Coronavirus

First in the order of business should be protecting your physical health at home during the coronavirus crisis. After all, current estimates show that millions — if not billions — of people are “quarantined” at home through self-isolation and social distancing and assorted curfews.

Plan Ahead

The CDC recommends that you have a plan – an organized, systematic way to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

“Creating a household plan can help protect your health and the health of those you care about in the event of an outbreak of COVID-19 in your community. You should base the details of your household plan on the needs and daily routine of your household members.”

And here’s what you can do . . .

• Thoroughly discuss the plan with all household members and other close relatives and friends to determine the needs of each.
• “Plan ways to care for those who might be at greatest risk for serious complications.” Typically, this means older people and those with underlying medical conditions (though reactions to COVID-19 vary widely).
• Get to know and talk to neighbors about your and their plans in order to promote cooperation and pool resources when necessary.
• Find out about and compile a list of community aid organizations so you’ll know where to turn for medical and support services.
• “Create an emergency contact list” consisting of emergency contacts for family, friends, neighbors, carpool drivers, healthcare providers,” and so on.

Practice Good Hygiene and Take Preventive Measures

You should also note, the CDC says, “[r]emind everyone in your household of the importance of practicing everyday preventive actions that can help prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses.

These include:

• Avoiding close contact with sick people
• Staying home as much as possible, except for medical care
• Covering coughs and sneezes
• Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces often
• Washing your hands often, using soap and water and for at least 20 seconds. When you can’t wash, use a good hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol

The CDC also recommends that you designate a separate room as a sickroom for household members who may become ill. In that case, you and all household members should wear face masks when practicable. (if you can’t get face masks, you can use a face-and-mouth covering like a bandana, which the CDC also recommends.)

Boost Your Immune System to Avoid COVID-19

A strong immune system is one that is less susceptible to the coronavirus and the possible ravages of COVID-19. And a strong immune system becomes even more important when you’re confined to your home with several other people — especially when those people are partaking in remote work and at-home activities in common living spaces.

So let’s see what the Diet Doctor says you can do to bolster your immune system . . .

Lifestyle and Preventive Measures

• Wash your hands frequently and/or use a 60%-alcohol hand sanitizer.
• Don’t smoke because smoking increases your risk of contracting infections and suffering more severe complications.
• Get enough sleep. Adequate sleep is necessary for general health, studies have shown that it benefits immune function.
• Exercise, but not too much. People who exercise regularly tend to get fewer infections, but too much strenuous exercise can lower your immune response. Be sure to stay away from gyms and health clubs right now.
• Drink alcohol in strict moderation. “Perhaps most pertinent for the discussion about COVID-19, some of these studies showed an increased risk among heavy drinkers of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the lung complication responsible for most of the COVID-19 related deaths.”
• Manage stress. “While acute stressors may temporarily enhance immune functions, chronic stressors likely diminish immune function. . . . Worrying about the stock market, stressing about having enough toilet paper, and focusing on the uncertainties of the future can raise cortisol levels, which may negatively impact our immune function.”

Dietary Supplements

Certainly, you should eat a good diet with adequate protein, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and little to no packaged/refined foods and bad carbs.

However, due to the pandemic, many stores may have limited offerings. So it wouldn’t hurt to include some dietary supplements to help ward off the virus.

Among the more important ones for overall health optimal immune functioning are the following:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Zinc
• Turmeric
• Echinacea
• Garlic

Stress Management and COVID-19 Survival

If you are feeling stressed during this challenging time, you’re not alone. For many of us, the uncertainty of the future and the chronic stress that it engenders are our worst enemies. Thus, it is imperative to have daily regimens that support your emotional wellbeing.

Consider this interesting study . . .

“In the early 1980s, psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, and immunologist Ronald Glaser, PhD, of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, were intrigued by animal studies that linked stress and infection. From 1982 through 1992, these pioneer researchers studied medical students. Among other things, they found that the students’ immunity went down every year under the simple stress of the three-day exam period. Test takers had fewer natural killer cells, which fight tumors and viral infections. They almost stopped producing immunity-boosting gamma interferon and infection-fighting T-cells responded only weakly to test-tube stimulation.”

The CDC has also commented on coronavirus-related stress: “The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.”

Their recommendations for stress management include:

• “Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.
• Take care of your body. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate.
• Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy.
• Connect with others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.”

The Benefits of Meditation and Yoga

Harvard Medical School advocates yoga, meditation, and controlled breathing as sound ways to reduce stress and relax in the midst of “coronavirus worries.”

Even Pharmacy Times contributor Dr. Christina Tarantola writes, “Yoga and meditation help mitigate stress by decreasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” response, which is typically responsible for constricting blood vessels and raising blood pressure and the heart rate.

Meditation practices can also improve one’s mood and increase gray matter in the brain, aiding decision-making, reasoning, and self-control.”

But if you’re a stranger to yoga and meditation practices, there are current tools you can use to begin. Consider the app Calm or a kundalini yoga practice from Ramayoga Institute to begin. YouTube is also an excellent resource for finding beginner-level yoga and meditation classes. The best part: they’re free!

Anything that makes you feel at ease during this stressful time is indeed worth the investment of time — especially when the time you now have is in abundance.

WholesaleForEveryone.com for Products to Keep You Safe and Healthy

Yes, the CDC and every other health authority advise us to wear face masks and use hand sanitizer. But those life-saving items are simply not available to many people right now. And that’s a problem – especially for healthcare providers and frontline workers.

Fortunately, wholesaleforeveryone.com has located a supplier and now has them for sale at discounted prices. While supplies last, wholesaleforeveryone.com will be making cases of disposable face masks available for purchase. We are also selling bandanas that can be used as a supplementary or backup protective measure against the coronavirus in the USA.

These 3-ply disposable face masks, equipped with comfortable ear loops, are currently available only in cases, but smaller quantities will be available for purchase soon. They are soft and easy to breathe through, fluid-resistant, and help filter out both irritants and pathogens. Orders of 10 or more cases come with a full 25% discount.

And coming soon will be sterile masks, medical masks, and N95 masks, along with smaller quantities of disposable face masks and hand sanitizer. Keep an eye out for these developments:

• 20,000 disposable face masks for customers who need less than case quantities
• Liquid hand sanitizer available by the gallon or by the tote (a tote being a quantity of either 275 or 300 gallons)
• Pricing for the top-of-the-line N95 masks

Email subscribers will get a notice the second these become available. Please subscribe!

Stay Connected With Us via Social for COVID-19 Updates

Right now, our top priority is to provide customers with the products and information they need to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy. Thus, we ask that you stay connected with us via social for the latest updates and information on how to best navigate this sensitive time.