Advice to the public regarding COVID-19

The public regarding COVID-19

If COVID-19 is spreading in your community, please take some simple precautions to ensure safety, such as keeping your distance, wearing a mask, keeping the room well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, bending your elbows when coughing, or covering with a tissue . Look up suggestions for where you live and work. Go all out!

How to keep yourself and others away from COVID-19

• Keep at least 1 meter away from others to reduce the risk of infection when they cough, sneeze or talk. When indoors, keep a greater distance from others. The farther the better.
• Make wearing a mask the norm when you have other people around you.

The following is the basic method of wearing a mask:

• Clean your hands before putting on the mask and before and after removing the mask.
• Make sure that the mask covers your nose, mouth and chin.

When to wear which mask depends on how many viruses are spreading where you live, where you are going, and who you are.

• Unless you belong to a specific risk group, you must wear a mask. This is especially important when you cannot maintain physical distance, especially in crowded and poorly ventilated indoor environments.
• If you have the following conditions, you should wear a medical/surgical mask:
  • Over 60,
  • Have underlying diseases,
  • Physical discomfort, and/or
  • Taking care of sick family members.
• For more public suggestions about masks, please read our Q&A and watch the video. There are also questions and answers about masks and children .

• For health workers, medical masks are essential personal protective equipment when dealing with suspected, possible or confirmed COVID-19 cases. In environments where aerosol-generating operations are performed, respiratory protective masks (such as FFP2, FFP3, N95, N99) should be used, and they must be tried to ensure the appropriate size.
• Read this interview to learn more about the science of how COVID-19 infects humans and our bodies.

How to make your environment safer

• Avoid closed, crowded or spaces that involve close contact.
  • There has been an epidemic in this situation: people gather in crowded indoor environments (restaurants, choir practice ranges, fitness classes, nightclubs, offices, and places of worship) and talk loudly, yell, pant, or sing.
    • The risk of contracting COVID-19 is higher in crowded and poorly ventilated spaces because infected people stay close together for long periods of time. In these environments, the virus seems to be spread more effectively through respiratory droplets or aerosols, so it is more important to take preventive measures.
• Meet people outside. Outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor gatherings, especially when the indoor space is small and no outdoor air enters.
  • For more information on how to host family gatherings, children’s football matches and family gatherings, please read our Q&A on small public gatherings .
• Avoid crowding and indoors . If you cannot do it, take precautions:
  • Open windows when indoors to increase the amount of natural indoor ventilation.
  • WHO has issued questions and answers on ventilation and air conditioning for the general public and those who manage public spaces and buildings .
  • Wear a mask (see above for details).

Don’t forget the basic elements of good hygiene

• Clean your hands regularly and thoroughly, wash your hands with alcohol hand rub or soap and water. This will eliminate bacteria, including viruses on your hands.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Hands touching many surfaces can be contaminated with viruses. Once contaminated, the hands will pass the virus to the eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and infect you.
• When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with a bent elbow or a tissue . Then immediately throw the used tissues into the closed trash can and wash your hands. By maintaining good’respiratory hygiene’, you can protect those around you from the viruses that cause colds, flu and COVID-19.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently, especially those that are frequently touched , such as door handles, faucets, and phone screens.

What to do if you feel sick

• Know all the symptoms of COVID-19 . The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough and fatigue. Other uncommon symptoms that may affect some patients include loss of taste or smell, pain, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, red eyes, diarrhea, or rash.
• Even if you only have mild symptoms such as cough, headache, and mild fever, you should stay at home and isolate yourself until you recover. Call your healthcare provider or hotline for advice. Ask someone to bring you some supplies. If you need to leave home or someone is around you, wear a medical mask to avoid infecting others.
• If you have fever, cough, and difficulty thing, seek medical attention immediately. If possible, call first and follow the instructions of the local health department.
• Obtain up-to-date information from trusted sources, such as WHO or local and central health authorities in your country. Local and national authorities and public health agencies are best suited to advise on how people in your area should protect themselves.

Stay healthy while at home

WHO Q&A

Q: To avoid contracting COVID-19, how can I say hello to others?

Answer: To prevent COVID-19, the safest way is to avoid physical contact when greeting. Safe greetings include waving, nodding or bowing.

Q: Should I avoid shaking hands due to the new coronavirus?

Answer: Yes. Shaking hands, touching your eyes, nose and mouth can spread respiratory viruses. You can wave, nod, or bow when you greet someone.

Q: Can wearing rubber gloves in public effectively prevent the new coronavirus infection?

Answer: No. Washing your hands often can prevent you from getting COVID-19 better than wearing rubber gloves. There may be COVID-19 contaminants on rubber gloves.

If you touch your face later, the contaminants will be transferred from the gloves to your face, and you may spread the disease to you.

ask: How can I do safe shopping during the COVID-19 epidemic?

Answer: When shopping, keep at least 1 meter away from others and avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose. If possible, disinfect the armrests or handles of the shopping cart or shopping basket before shopping.

After returning home, wash your hands thoroughly, and wash your hands after handling and storing the items you purchased.

ask: How to wash fruits and vegetables during the COVID-19 epidemic?

Answer: Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. It can be cleaned in the same way as in other cases. Before handling, wash your hands with soap and water.

Then, wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly with clean water, especially when eaten raw

ask: Can COVID-19 spread through coins and banknotes?

Answer: There is currently no evidence to confirm or deny that the COVID-19 virus can be spread through coins or banknotes. However, respiratory droplets discharged by an infected person can contaminate and stay on the surface.

Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly after touching surfaces or objects that are frequently touched by people, including coins or banknotes. If your hands are not cleaned, avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose.

Q: If there is a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient at home , how should I wash and dry my clothes, towels and bedding?

• Wash the patient’s clothes, towels and bedding separately.
• If possible, wear sturdy gloves before handling.
• Never hold these dirty supplies next to your body; they should be placed in clearly marked, leak-proof containers (such as bags or buckets).
• Before putting these supplies into special containers, use flat, sturdy utensils to scrape the solid waste (such as feces or vomit) from these supplies into the patient’s toilet. If the patient’s room does not have a toilet device, put the scraped excrement into a bucket with a lid, and then take it to the toilet for disposal.
• Wash and disinfect these items: use a washing machine, wash with hot water (60-90°C) and detergent. You can also use a large bucket to soak them in hot soapy water, and then stir with a stick, but you should be careful not to slap and splash. If there is no hot water, you can soak them in 0.05% chlorine bleach for about 30 minutes. Finally, it needs to be rinsed with water and then dried in the sun.
• Don’t forget to wash your hands last.

Q: If there is no suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient at home , how should I wash and dry clothes, towels and bedding?

Answer: Wash with detergent or soap as usual. There is no need to use a washing machine or dryer, nor to use very hot water. After the clothes are dried, always wash your hands before handling and storing clothes, towels and bedding.

If you have a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient in your home, please wash their clothes, towels and bedding separately. You should never allow contaminated materials to touch your skin or clothing.

Helping children cope with stress during COVID-19

Children may respond to stress in various ways, such as being stickier, anxious, shrinking, angry or irritable, and bedwetting.

To understand the children’s reaction, care about them, listen to their worries, and give extra care.

In difficult times, children need adult care. Care about them more and spend more time with them.

Listen patiently to your children’s speech, and be gentle when talking to them, so that they can rest assured.

As much as possible, create opportunities for children to play and relax.

Try to keep children with their parents and family members, and try not to separate children from caregivers. If you have to separate (such as hospitalization), you should make sure to keep in touch by phone or other means so that the children can feel at ease.

Try to maintain daily habits and schedules as much as possible, or help develop new routines and schedules in the new environment, including determining the time for class/study and safe play and relaxation.

Tell them in plain language based on the age of the children, explain the current situation, and clearly tell them how to reduce the risk of infection.

They should also be told what might happen, and they should be assured (for example, if family members and/or children start to feel unwell and may need to go to the hospital for a while, tell them that the doctor will help relieve the condition).