When you think of summer, it’s not often that the first thing you think about is getting sick. You’re usually thinking about cookouts, and fireworks, and the beach before you consider summer illness. However, summer illness is a real thing that can take even longer to recover from than during the winter, fall, or spring, and can make you more miserable since you could be doing something else. Let’s talk about some of the best ways you can prevent getting sick during the summer.
#1: Vaccinate Fully
With the COVID-19 pandemic beginning to wind down, we’re starting to see life go back to “normal”. However, there are rumblings of another wave of COVID-19 and variants causing us to go back into lock down. While this thought is terrifying, the best thing we can do to prevent it is to vaccinate ourselves and our loved ones, and urge others to vaccinate fully. Variants arise the most from people who opt only to vaccinate with one dose in a two-dose vaccine regimen; make sure to get your second dose in a timely manner.
#2: Continue best handwashing practices
We should be doing this anyway, but remember to always wash your hands when coming back from going to the store, or touching anything that is not yours. The CDC says that when washing your hands it’s best to do so for at least 20 seconds, so remember to hum or sing in your head a song like the birthday song (twice) to remind you how long 20 seconds is.
#3: Clean your devices
Our phones go everywhere with us, and we’re constantly touching them, putting them up to our faces and ears, and more, which makes them very dirty. Make sure to wipe it down according to manufacturer specifications when you can — usually rubbing alcohol (isopropyl 70% alcohol) or soap and water applied to a cloth or paper towel will do.
#4: Keep from spoiling food & consuming spoiled food
It’s easy to take something out of the refrigerator and put it on the back counter to defrost, then forget that you put it there, far past it being defrosted. If you start getting into the questionable grey-area with defrosted food being at room temperature, it’s better to toss it than to get sick from it.
#5: Disinfect common surfaces
Even if people aren’t sick, it’s good practice to make a routine of disinfecting common surfaces. In your home and office this may be countertops, desks, and tables. Remember to also disinfect common touch points like door knobs/handles, light switches, face plates and buttons, like on microwaves and phones, as well as mice and keyboards (carefully, of course!) if devices are shared. A routine scheduled cleaning can be a great way to take care of this without having to worry. Contact us today if you need routine scheduled cleaning for your business!
We hope these reminders will help you have a safe, happy, and healthy summer!
