After the coronavirus struck in 2020, many families have been increasingly concerned about keeping themselves safe. This is completely understandable and many will be pleased to hear that there are ways to protect their families without interfering with their overall lives.
After all, life in the UK has mostly gone back to normal. COVID-19 is still lurking, but it’s more manageable than it once was and people are hopeful that this trend will continue. The best way to make sure that it does is to still inject a little bit of caution in our day. Chances are, you won’t even notice the difference, but it does help families to feel a slightly more secure if you know that you’re making an effort to reduce your chances of getting sick.
Here are some tips to help people to stay as healthy as possible, while still having fun together as a family. This advice can reduce your chances of getting unwell with COVID-19 or even other illnesses.
- Pay Attention to Symptoms
Not everyone who has been contracted with coronavirus displays symptoms, but there are some symptoms that people should take note of. The main symptoms include:
- A fever or high temperature. Your temperature should measure around 37°C and anything higher than 38°C is considered a fever.
- A new, continuous cough.
- A loss or change in your sense of smell or taste.
If you have these symptoms, or others that may concern you, like a persistent and otherwise unexplained headache, then you should get the PCR test for coronavirus. Unfortunately, many of the symptoms associated with coronavirus are also signs of other common illnesses, like the common cold. This makes it easy to brush off mild symptoms. However, if you have these symptoms, then you should self-isolate until you get your test results back.
However, while the symptoms of coronavirus may be mild or even nonexistent in one person, they can be far more severe for someone else. If you’ve been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus, then you should take care and get tested to make sure that you can’t pass it on.
It’s been estimated that about one-third of all people with coronavirus don’t have any symptoms. Someone without symptoms could be spreading the disease without even knowing it. Because of this, it’s an idea to take regular rapid lateral flow tests from home. You could also take a test if you plan on going to a higher-risk area, like a cinema where you’ll come into contact with a lot of people in an enclosed space.
If you do have a positive result from the test, then you should self-isolate from either the day you developed symptoms or the day that you received a positive test result, depending on whether or not you display symptoms. After five full days of isolation (on the sixth day) and two negative home tests (rapid lateral flow), you can end your isolation.
Some people still choose to work from home if at all possible. While this isn’t possible or ideal for everyone, it’s something to consider if you have the choice. The fact is, our lives have mostly returned to normal. Keeping an eye on your symptoms will keep it that way.
- Hand Washing
One practice that was highly recommended during 2020 was that of regular hand washing. People’s hands pick up a surprising amount of germs when they touch surfaces, especially when those surfaces could have been contaminated. People also often touch their faces with their hands, usually without noticing.
Hand contact can not only introduce coronavirus or other infections to your family, but they can also spread them to other people. However, regular hand washing can drastically reduce the spread of these illnesses.
People should wash their hands for 20 seconds with warm soapy water. Make sure that you wash your thumbs and fingers, rather than just wetting your hands and moving on. Most of the time, hand washing isn’t possible.
For example, when you’re on the move, hand sanitiser is far easier to use. At the height of the pandemic, hand sanitiser was a bit like gold dust, but it’s a bit easier to get ahold of now. You can even buy hand sanitiser in bulk to save money, especially if you think you’ll go through a lot of it.
- Follow Local Health Guidelines
It isn’t always easy to keep track of governmental health guidelines and updates. Ideally, you should regularly check for updates. By February of 2022, most of the restrictions have been lifted. However, there are still some recommendations that you should consider.
One of the most recent restrictions to be lifted was that of face coverings. You don’t have to wear a face covering anymore, but there is no real reason not to. It’s still recommended to wear one in crowded, enclosed spaces where you are likely to bump into a lot of people. This might be shops, busy venues, or other places where people tend to congregate.
Meeting outdoors is generally considered safer than meeting inside, although this isn’t always practical. If you do meet indoors, then crack open a window to let some fresh air in. Even a little bit can help to reduce the risk of airborne transmission.
Since the vaccines were developed and rolled out in 2021, the government has consistently recommended that people get vaccinated. There are currently two vaccines and a booster, although you should especially keep track of whether more will be recommended.
There isn’t a legal requirement to get vaccinated, although it will give you more freedom to travel. If you’re planning on any holidays abroad, you may need to bite the bullet and get vaccinated, if you haven’t already.
As you can see, most of these guidelines aren’t too difficult to manage. Maybe you’ll want to keep your masks around, either to keep yourself safe in enclosed areas or to have handy in case the pandemic regains ground.
As has been mentioned before, these guidelines and advice will also protect you from other illnesses and stop you from spreading them. For example, if you don’t have coronavirus but you do have a cold, then a mask will still provide a measure of protection for other people, or from other people. Maybe a cold isn’t dangerous, but nobody wants to catch one.
- Stay Generally Healthy
Coronavirus, like any disease, tends to more heavily affect people who have health conditions. Although, to be honest, being generally as healthy as possible will just help you to feel better. Health conditions sometimes can’t be helped, including those affected by COVID-19. If you have asthma, for example, all you can do is treat the symptoms and keep them under control.
However, you can control other aspects of your health and that of your family. The first step is good food and exercise. When the pandemic was hitting us particularly hard, many people couldn’t go to work and struggled to get to the gym.
For some people, this has meant that they spent lockdown becoming more sedentary. While takeaways and other food industries had been put on hold, it was still very common for people to eat less healthily. This, along with the lack of exercise, didn’t do wonders for the nation’s health.
While lockdown was a while ago, these unhealthy habits may have lingered. There’s no time better than the present to shake things up and reinvigorate your diets and exercise plan. Many people are motivated by the desire to lose weight but, while this can make some people more healthy, this isn’t always the best motivation for families.
One great way to encourage your family to exercise more is to arrange family activities where you’re all active and moving together. Whether it’s a walk or an active game like badminton or tennis, this will help you to have fun and to be more active. Different activities suit different families, so find something that you’ll all enjoy so that it doesn’t become a chore.
As for food, meal plans are a great way to save money and to eat more healthily. When you do the weekly shop, one common mistake is to shop while hungry. You’re more likely to pick up snacks and unhealthy foods while ignoring healthier options. Instead of just picking what you fancy at the time, create a shopping list based on meals that you plan on eating throughout the week.
Finally, you shouldn’t neglect other aspects of your health. The lockdown and the pandemic as a whole have done a number on people’s mental health. Children were especially affected, especially when they were unable to go to school or see their friends. However, parents have struggled as well.
While things are largely back to normal, it might be a mistake to ignore the difficulties that your family has gone through over the last few years. Talk to your family and see if they need any support. Or, if you need a little extra help, don’t be afraid to ask.
