The Winn Machine team cares about the communities we serve. To do our part in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Winn co-owner and Registered Nurse Dina Gasaway wants to help equip you with the advice and knowledge you need to be safe. If you find yourself needing a quick reminder of some best practices, we want to help guide you through the situation we’ve so suddenly found ourselves in. With that all said, here are seven simple tips to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of coronavirus.
1. Wash Your Hands
One of the most effective things you can do is also one of the simplest. Frequently washing your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds will go a long way. If no soap is available, hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is also effective. Be sure to wash your hands after blowing your nose, coughing, using the restroom, eating or preparing food, or after contact with pets.
2. Cover Your Cough
Oftentimes, COVID-19 shares many symptoms with the “common cold,” which contributes to the difficulty of diagnosis. One of these symptoms is the dry coughing, but coughing is one of the primary ways COVID and other viral infections are spread. If you don’t have a tissue, cough (and/or sneeze) into your upper sleeve or elbow–never into your hand or into open air.
3. Keep Your Distance
At this point, it’s safe to say we’re all familiar with the idea of social distancing. We know it’s not easy but staying away from each other has already proven to be an effective and necessary measure to stop the spread of coronavirus. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guideline for social distancing is six feet of separation.
Disinfecting high-contact areas is key to preventing the spread of coronavirus.
4. Disinfect Surfaces
Cleaning high-contact areas such as tables, doorknobs, light switches, phones, keyboards, etc. Use soap and water, detergent or a bleach solution. Know that bleach is a powerful substance, so it shouldn’t be mixed with ammonia and should be diluted in water–5 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water or 4 teaspoons per quart of water.
5. Avoid touching your face
Keeping your hands clean is critical, but it’s not always possible (not everyone carries hand sanitizer in their pocket) so if you have germs on your hands, unnecessarily touching your eyes, nose, or mouth can cause infection.
6. Stay Home when Possible
Another step to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to eliminate unnecessary travel. Most restaurants, bars, and other stores not selling “essential” products are closed, so much of the temptation to go out has probably already been removed, but it’s still advisable not to go to stores unless you need to restock on essential needs like groceries or medicine.
7. Your Mental Health is Important, Too!
With so much focus on maintaining and restoring physical health, perhaps it’s easy to forget the importance of mental health. When you and your kids are asked to stay inside all day, it cast a depressing cloud over your life. Going outside and getting some exercise, even for a short period of time every day, can go a long way in keeping your morale up. Just make sure to keep all other safety precautions in mind.
As you can hopefully see, staying safe from the coronavirus and stopping the virus’ spread does not require a massive change in your lifestyle, but making small, simple measures can go a long way in getting us through this together. When the coronavirus pandemic finally ends, we can’t wait to get back to what we do best: precision machining.
