Protection
Put yourself at ease by protecting those you love
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{{label}}18 December 2020
The coronavirus isn’t the first pandemic in history. Long before you or your parents were born, an airborne plague spread across Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. Known as the black plague or bubonic plague, it killed over 20 million Europeans by attacking the lymphatic system until the infection spread to the blood or lungs. Those who had been infected got sick with black boils that oozed blood and pus.
At the time, physicians attempted to treat the infection, but the medications and methods used—from herbs to vinegar and boil lancing—were not really based on science. When the treatments did not work, many people even started doing rituals like flagellation.
Today, more than 600 years after the plague, the fields of science and medicine are a lot more sophisticated. Breakthroughs and innovations allowed people in the modern age to know how to protect themselves from outbreaks better, one of which is the current coronavirus pandemic. This is crucial, especially if you need to go to work.
Whether you’re in areas where strict lockdowns are still enforced or in places where COVID-19 policies are more relaxed, these health and safety tips will keep you virus-free.
Health Tips during the Coronavirus Pandemic
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some people need to start going out again for essential activities like work. As you return to work, too, here are health tips to include in your routine. These basic steps can ensure your safety despite the risks that the pandemic may pose to your well-being.
Wear a face mask
Face masks are a must under the new normal. If you’re going to a public or crowded area where you will encounter other people, you need to wear a mask.
According to health organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are people who have coronavirus but are not showing symptoms of the disease (asymptomatic). Wearing a face mask gives you protection from virus particles that may be unknowingly transmitted by people around you when they talk, sneeze, or cough.
Masks can also be a great reminder to not touch your face—another preventive measure against COVID-19.
Unless you’re a healthcare worker, fabric or cloth masks are enough to filter the air you breathe, as long as they’re made of the right materials. The natural fibers in cotton make it the top material for cloth masks because the three-dimensional structure makes it hard for respiratory droplets to pass through.
Pro tip: The tightness of the weave is also important. You can easily check it by holding up your mask to a light. If the individual fibers have a visible outline, it means they’re not tightly weaved and won’t do a great job of filtering unwanted particles.
Here are more dos and don’ts in wearing a mask:
If you’re wearing glasses, choose masks that have a bendable border at the top. This makes it possible for you to adjust the fit of the mask at the bridge of your nose and prevent your glasses from fogging.
Wash your hands
The virus that causes COVID-19 can be transmitted to you when you touch objects, surfaces, or hands that haven’t been disinfected. In the same manner, you can spread germs when you cough or sneeze into your hands and then touch someone else’s hands or common objects. Good handwashing practices can minimize these risks.
Washing your hands with soap and water is the best way to physically remove germs from your hands. Wash your hands before eating your meals, after contact with high-touch surfaces like building elevators and doors, and after using the toilet.
Pro tip: To follow the recommended 20 seconds of handwashing, sing to the tune of the “Happy Birthday” song—not once but twice.
Use hand sanitizers
You might be asking: what’s the difference between cleaning your hands with soap and water and cleaning them with hand sanitizers?
Hand sanitizers are disinfectants that kill germs, but they don’t remove microbes from your skin like soap and water do.
Then again, alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be a good alternative if it’s not possible to wash your hands with soap and water. This is because the main ingredient used to make hand sanitizers—whether it’s isopropanol or ethanol—can kill a broad range of viruses and bacteria. Needless to say, using hand sanitizers is better than not having anything to clean your hands.
Practice social distancing
With the re-opening of businesses, you’ll likely find yourself being in the company of other people as you travel to work or go to public places like banks, grocery stores, pharmacies, or restaurants to do some errands.
According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, physical or social distancing at 6 feet (2 meters) or more not only reduces the risk of close contact with people who may or may not be sick, but it also prevents prolonged contact with them.
In an office that employs several people sitting next to each other, it only takes one person with the virus to infect others in the same floor or building, similar to what happened to employees working in a call center in South Korea.
It may still take some time before the COVID-19 pandemic ends, but you can always protect yourself, your loved ones, and the rest of your community from the novel coronavirus. And even if you have good health insurance in the Philippines, you’ll want to do everything possible to avoid getting sick.
Good hygiene and health practices like washing your hands often and wearing a mask when going outside are simple yet effective ways of fighting the virus.
To ease your worries about the pandemic, BPI AIA offers health insurance with benefits that can help you cope with the COVID-19 crisis. Schedule a virtual appointment with our Bancassurance Sales Executives to learn more.
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