In the interest of public health, Dr Kishore Madhwani offers tips on how to stay safe and calm.

Worldwide reports assert that ‘Corona Fatigue’ has set in. The inadvertent phenomenon has also been described as ‘Caution Fatigue’.

After nearly three months of lockdown followed by the phase of ‘opening up’, people have started taking it easy, so to speak – you may find that you’re no longer disinfecting your hands as frequently as you used to and even venturing out to public places. CNN World News has quoted professor Jacqueline Gollan, expert in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, as well as obstetrics and gynecology, as saying, “When we become impatient with warnings, or we don’t believe the warning to be real or relevant, or we de-emphasize the actual risk - we then bend rules or stop safety behaviors like washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing.”

The importance of the professor’s statement is significantly relevant. During the lockdown, most had sought to stay indoors. The fact, however, is that we have to be more careful during the ‘opening-up’. We were protected during the lockdown—as we all stayed indoors. 

However, we will now be more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, as we step out into the world. We have to be more self-disciplined about social distancing because if an asymptomatic person sneezes or coughs near us we’re more likely to be infected. It has to be remembered that the Coronavirus hasn’t lost its severity.

We still cannot host people at home. Moreover restaurants are best avoided: a spoon, fork or glass, which had not been well cleaned, could be the route to Covid-19.

We have to request Uber and drivers or your own care to switch off the air-conditioner and keep the windows open. In case the driver coughs or has been mildly infected, then you could be in trouble.

It is a time to be grateful that we have survived the first phase, and avoid being trapped by the next.

There is no reason to be alarmed or to get overwrought. Here are 10 tips, from the point of view of an occupational therapist.

1. Wear a cloth mask when venturing out of home, either to the office or to a public space. Venture out only if necessary and take the minimum time possible to complete the task.
2. Switch on your cell phone Bluetooth when going out of the house. Download the Arogya Setu App and 1.5 App (United Nations–Social Distancing App). Take care of elderly family members, pregnant women and children for whom maintaining hygiene and social distance is a special challenge.
3. Wash hands more often/clean with sanitizer (take at least 20 seconds) every two to three hours - before and after eating meals, before touching eyes, mouth, nose and mask and after use of restroom. Keep surfaces – floors, tables, walls, and objects - doorknobs and handles, virus free by using soap water or disinfectant.
4. Avoid eyes, nose and mouth, touch less handrails, doorknobs and lift buttons. Vis-à-vis, grocery shopping (vegetable and packaging’s) should be disinfected by 1 per cent sodium hypochlorite with contact time of 10 minutes or bleaching powder (20 ml of bleach in a liter of water), with contact time of 10 minutes.
5. Maintain social distancing – keep at least 6 feet away and no shaking of hands. Try to walk 10,000 steps in your house daily.
6. Use the crook of your elbow for catching your sneeze or cough. Alternately use a disposable tissue and dispose immediately. Spitting outside your home is prohibited and punishable.
7. Stay away from the ailing (better to avoid hospitals) and drink warm liquids – like milk with ginger, tea with tulsi, mulethi and cardamom. Inform the family that you are arriving home, leave the door open on reaching home, keep your footwear outside, remove your watch, cellphone, spectacles and wallet and keep them in a secluded area. Immediately have a bath with soap and water. Then sanitize your belongings and wash your hands. Alternatively, your personal belongings could be sanitized in UV-C chamber boxes for 10 minutes.
8. Eat thoroughly cooked hot food 80%, minimize junk food to 20%. Eat greens, sprouts, protein like soya, rajma, chholay, egg whites, chicken breast and vitamin supplements containing zinc, vitamins C and D. Take flu and typhoid shots; the elderly could take pneumonia shots if asthmatic or have chronic bronchitis.
9. The monsoons may be responsible for outbreaks of malaria, dengue, leptospirosis, typhoid, diarrhea, vomiting, flu – all of which may be accompanied by fever, body aches, Immediately contact your personal physician to determine the next steps.
10. Maintain calm and a cool attitude. Perform body stretches and do yoga. & SPIRITUALITY. If anxious, contact the counseling line: 080 4611 0007.

Here below, is a link for you to download – This excellent 1.5 meter App, which will maintain social distancing for you works wonderfully. Download it for your entire family – Note: This is only for Android

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.onepointfive