Jun
20
How to Protect Yourself From COVID-19
We all want to protect ourselves and our families from COVID-19. While nothing is guaranteed to prevent infection, there are some simple precautions you can take to reduce your risk of being infected and prevent the virus from spreading in our Fredericksburg community.
Wash Your Hands
Scrubbing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is one of the best ways to remove and destroy virus particles that may have attached themselves to your hands. You can sing “Happy Birthday” twice while washing your hands to ensure that you are washing them long enough to kill all of the viruses that may be present. You should also make sure to get the spots that people frequently miss, like the back of your hands, in between your fingers, and your fingertips.
Use Hand Sanitizer
Hand sanitizers are great to use after touching things like door handles, keypads, and touchscreens to sanitize your hands right away. To kill any coronavirus particles, you will want to ensure that your hand sanitizer contains at least 70% isopropyl alcohol, comes in contact with every part of your hands, and dries completely. Keeping a travel-size hand sanitizer with you in your bag or car makes sanitizing your hands while in public easy and convenient.
When Wearing Gloves
Gloves prevent your hands from coming in contact with germs but it’s important to use them correctly to keep yourself as safe as possible. If you use them at a gas station, for example, put the gloves on before you touch the gas pump or any buttons on the machine, and then remove them before you touch your keys, car door handle, phone, or steering wheel.
Wear a Mask
Face masks that cover the nose and mouth securely help reduce the distance that airborne virus particles can travel. While wearing a mask protects the people around you more than it protects you, it’s important for everyone to wear a face mask so that we are all protecting each other from COVID-19. Face masks should be made of breathable material and should either be thrown away or washed after each use, so germs don't collect on the mask.
