Stay Healthy As You Head Back Out

While your family may feel stir crazy and ready to escape after months of quarantine and sheltering in place, it can still be scary to think of leaving the house right now. Questions may plague your mind like:“Is the virus under control enough?” “Is it alright to actually be around people again?”

As many businesses are opening up and bans are being lifted, here are some practical ideas to help you stay healthy as you venture carefully back out into the world.

MASK UP!
There may have been a time you never would have imagined yourself driving though the bank with a mask and gloves on, but if the pandemic has taught us anything, masks matter. For the health of yourself and those around you, wearing masks is still a sensible way to reduce the spread of illness. And if your supply is low, we’ve got you covered!

SANITIZE!
Whether you’re armed with alcohol wipes or a bottle of sanitizer, be sure you have a way to disinfect your hands as you touch surfaces and handle various items. This goes for when you get back home too—think of car keys, elevator buttons, door knobs, light switches, and so on. What you’ve touched needs to be disinfected.

LEAVE IT AT THE DOOR!
When you get home, priority should be to touch as little as possible in your living space before you get your hands thoroughly scrubbed (more on that here) and the items that were out with you also cleaned. This means take your shoes off, leave your purse by the door, and even your laptop bag needs to be decontaminated.

LAUNDRY & SHOWER!
The clothes you wore should be treated like they’ve encountered potentially hazardous germs on your outing. Remove them before sitting on your furniture and jump in the shower to ensure you’re taking the important precautions—washing off the invisible dangers that may have been floating through the air and landing on you.

Now relax. Have a glass of water to stay hydrated and feel good knowing you’ve put forth the effort to minimize the risk of getting sick or infecting others!