What Can You do Yourself to Prevent Coronavirus Infection?

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The disease can cause respiratory complaints and fever and in severe cases breathing problems. The virus is spread by coughing and sneezing. It is released into the air via droplets. If other people inhale these droplets, or get them into their mouth, nose or eyes, for example, they can become infected with the virus.

How Can You do Yourself to Prevent Coronavirus Infection?

1. A mouth mask

The most famous option to protect yourself is of course the mouth mask. You can do this if you want to protect yourself against the virus. "You only wear such a mask because you want to prevent someone from breathing in and out the wrong air," explains Anne-Marie van Elsacker of Izore.

But what should you pay attention to when purchasing a mouth mask? "If they do not fit properly, they do not protect properly, then you can still ingest the virus. Even if you wear it for too long, it will become moist and lose its protective value."

So pay close attention to the shape and change the cap regularly.

2. Locations

If the corona virus comes into Your area, it is smart to avoid places where many people gather. There you have a greater chance that there is a person who carries the virus.

Places that can be dangerous are, for example, public transport or concerts. "I think it very much depends on where it is and how sick people are," says Linda Verhagen of GGD Fryslân.

3. Hygiene

According to Verhagen, you don't have to hysterically clean everything extremely well. Simply washing your hands with soap and water is good enough. "Practicing good hand hygiene, washing really well. Then in practice that is often enough to get rid of most viruses and bacteria. And if you don't have that with you, you have to use the good hand angel to kill that." And then it is best to use the professional hand gels.

But it is not only important to wash your hands properly. Hygiene is coughing you should also consider. "That you are aware that you are emitting a cloud with small droplets that you cannot see, but the virus is on it. Such drop clouds can be inhaled by someone else," says Van Elsacker.

"So you have to make sure that those drops cannot go anywhere and you do that by coughing in your elbow fold. Then the virus is still on your skin or clothes, but it dies off pretty quickly there."

4. Eating and drinking

Good news with regard to the supermarket, because in fact you can still eat and drink everything. "Everything that you simply buy in the supermarket, even if someone there with corona on his fingers, can still be consumed. The virus only survives in the outside world for a very short time," says Van Elsacker.

It is not necessary to stock up on food and drink on a large scale. "It turns out that the transmission does not take place via food, but really from person to person. So we do not expect you to have to take extra measures for this," says Verhagen.

5. Vitamins

When we think of the flu, the thought is that you have to eat extra vitamins, such as oranges, to stay healthy. That is no different for the corona virus.

Vitamins are always good to take, according to the GGD. "It turns out that if you eat healthy, that you get enough vitamins. If you think you don't, it is always good to supplement with vitamins. That is something that everyone can fill in individually in their own way", says Verhagen. .