How to Coronavirus-Proof Your Home
CNN put together this Game Plan – Check List on How to coronavirus-proof your home. It has some excellent tips. VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association recommends that you print and post it. The sources are expert physicians as well as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Stay Safe.
How to coronavirus-proof your home
By Scottie Andrew, CNN
Life under coronavirus means staying at home as much as possible — but you’ll likely need to make a trip to the grocery store or pharmacy at some point. Download or print this tip sheet to make sure you don’t bring the virus back home with you.
Note: Recommendations for Covid-19 may change as officials learn more, so monitor your local health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for updates.
Make a game plan
- Designate one person to be your errand-runner to limit your outside exposures
- Set up a disinfecting station — an area outside your home or in a room with low foot traffic where you can disinfect packaged food
When you’re out
- Avoid coming within less than six feet of others
- Wipe handles on carts or baskets while shopping
- You don’t have to have gloves or a mask — just wash your hands frequently while you’re out and avoid touching your face
When you get back
- Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds
- Disinfect takeout boxes and packaged foods at your disinfecting station
- Thoroughly wash produce before putting it in your kitchen
Disinfect
- Disinfect everything you touch — doorknobs, light switches, keys, phone, keyboards, remotes, etc.
- Use EPA-approved disinfectants (these include Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and certain Lysol sprays) and leave surfaces wet for 3-5 minutes
Delivery
- Ask workers to drop deliveries off on your doorstep or an area of your complex
- If they need you to come to the door, keep six feet of distance
- Pay and tip online when possible
- After you pick up mail from your mailbox, wash your hands
Laundry
- Wash clothes, towels and linens regularly on the warmest setting
- Disinfect your laundry hamper, too, or place a removable liner inside it
- Don’t shake dirty laundry to avoid dispersing the virus in the air
Guests
- You shouldn’t allow guests over right now
- If you need to house a family member or friend, avoid shared living spaces as much as you can
- If they need to enter shared living spaces, ask them to keep six feet of distance
If someone in your home gets sick
- First, consult your doctor
- Isolate them in another room and ask them to use a separate restroom
- Disinfect frequently touched surfaces every day
- Avoid sharing items with them
- Wear gloves when washing their laundry
- Continue to wash your hands frequently
- Ask them to wear a face mask if they have one
Supplies you’ll need
- EPA-approved disinfectants
- f you don’t have disinfectants, make a bleach solution:
- Mix four teaspoons bleach per quart of water; or
- Use a 70% alcohol solution
- Laundry detergent
- Trash bags
- Prescription medicines (you can mail order these)
- Canned foods — fruits, veggies, beans
- Dry goods — breads, pastas, nut butters
- Frozen foods — meats, veggies, fruits
Pets
- Supervise your pet in your backyard
- It’s OK to play with them outside — just keep your distance from other humans
- If you’re sick, ask someone you live with to take care of them while you recover
- If you must care for them while you’re sick, wash your hands frequently
Sources:
- Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore City Health Commissioner and an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University in Washington.
- Dr. Koushik Kasanagottu, an internal medicine resident physician at John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and who is among the thousands of health care professionals treating patients with coronavirus.
- Dr. Richard Kuhn, a virologist, director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease and editor-in-chief of the journal “Virology.”
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
