Don’t Drop Your Guard Yet! 5 Practices To Adopt Amid Covid 4th Wave Fears

Therefore it is advised the one should not let down their Covid guard yet!

WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove said,” We believe we can end the Covid emergency by end of this year. This can be done by increasing the vaccination coverage and increasing access to life-saving tools and at the same time taking measures to reduce the spread. We cannot forget the possibility of more variants and all the future scenarios of how the pandemic may unfold.”

Earlier this week, WHO also pointed out that with the virus still circulating, the risk of more deadly variants emerging still remains.

WHO warned that with winter approaching for Southern Hemisphere countries, “there is a high risk of another wave of new COVID infections.” The coronavirus spreads more easily in cooler temperatures when people are more likely to gather in larger numbers indoors.

It has been suggested that the reason why the deadly Covid-19 virus is still thriving is because the human body is a suitable host for it. Therefore the only option of stopping the virus spread is to cut off transmission from one body to another. 

Laxity in social behaviour should not be endured. Social distancing to be maintained

“Though people of all age brackets are vulnerable to the infection, still, in the current scenario, the geriatric population and those with multitude of co-morbidities like, people on dialysis, or those who underwent renal transplant, medical history of COPD, Asthma or other respiratory ailments, patients undergoing treatment for cancer including chemotherapy etc are at an increased risk of infection,” says says Dr. Sachin Kandhari, Senior Neurosurgeon and Managing Director, IBS Hospital, New Delhi and emphasizes on the need to stay alert.

Here are five practices one can adopt to prevent the spread of the virus

1. Masks

A wide and tight coverage around the nose, and mouth including the chin area is the most effective way to keep the virus from entering the body and vice versa.

When the coronavirus was first spotted in Wuhan, China in late 2019, the first suggestion from experts was to mask up everyone.

Administrations and government agencies made people aware of the benefits of wearing masks. Research studies have found that simply wearing cloth masks cuts down the risk of contracting the virus by a large percent.

As per a US CDC report, “cloth masks not only effectively block most large droplets (i.e., 20-30 microns and larger), but they can also block the exhalation of fine droplets and particles (also often referred to as aerosols) smaller than 10 microns.”

2. Avoid crowds

Apart from masks, what contributed a lot to stop the wildfire of the coronavirus was the lockdown.

Two years hence, we should not forget this practice. If it is not necessary, avoid going outside, and avoid attending public gatherings.

Public gatherings are the breeding ground for several pathogenic infections. Unmasked public, not maintaining physical distance of atleast 1 metre, unhealthy sanitisation methods and improper circulation of air if the gathering is in a closed space are few of the reasons why it is always advisable to avoid outdoor gatherings during pandemic

3. Quarantine even by self diagnosing a miniscule symptom 

If you are feeling sick, quarantine yourself voluntarily. When COVID was a novel disease, health agencies focused on quarantining the infected individual along with the ones who they were in contact with.

Quarantine helps to cut the transmission of the virus. The person who is infected with the virus stays isolated from others for a duration of 10-14 days till the incubation period of the virus.

Quarantining within a household would save the older people and kids from contracting the infection.

How many of you still buy bottles of sanitizer as you did in 2020? Not many of you would be doing it!

4. Keeping hands clean and use sanitizers

Keeping hands sanitized is another effective way to not just keep COVID causing virus at bay, it is equally to keep every infection away.

Hands are one of the most mobile human parts. These are one of the major sources of carrying the virus into your body.

Therefore, be it for cooking or before eating it is very much essential to wash hands properly.

A glaring example of the effect of hand sanitisation can be seen in the deworming exercise of the government. After kids were taught to wash their hands before and after eating and after using the toilet, the incidence of worming in kids reduced to a large extent.

5. Vaccination

Vaccination is the only effective way to reduce the risk of severity of Covid, so far. Experts say less hospitalisation during the Omicron wave of Covid was majorly due to vaccination.

Vaccination prepares the memory of the immune system to fight against the virus. The booster shots enhance the memory of the immune system which usually wanes after few months of vaccination.

Therefore it is advised the one should not let down their Covid guard yet!

WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove said,” We believe we can end the Covid emergency by end of this year. This can be done by increasing the vaccination coverage and increasing access to life-saving tools and at the same time taking measures to reduce the spread. We cannot forget the possibility of more variants and all the future scenarios of how the pandemic may unfold.”

Earlier this week, WHO also pointed out that with the virus still circulating, the risk of more deadly variants emerging still remains.

WHO warned that with winter approaching for Southern Hemisphere countries, “there is a high risk of another wave of new COVID infections.” The coronavirus spreads more easily in cooler temperatures when people are more likely to gather in larger numbers indoors.

It has been suggested that the reason why the deadly Covid-19 virus is still thriving is because the human body is a suitable host for it. Therefore the only option of stopping the virus spread is to cut off transmission from one body to another. 

Laxity in social behaviour should not be endured. Social distancing to be maintained

“Though people of all age brackets are vulnerable to the infection, still, in the current scenario, the geriatric population and those with multitude of co-morbidities like, people on dialysis, or those who underwent renal transplant, medical history of COPD, Asthma or other respiratory ailments, patients undergoing treatment for cancer including chemotherapy etc are at an increased risk of infection,” says says Dr. Sachin Kandhari, Senior Neurosurgeon and Managing Director, IBS Hospital, New Delhi and emphasizes on the need to stay alert.

Here are five practices one can adopt to prevent the spread of the virus

1. Masks

A wide and tight coverage around the nose, and mouth including the chin area is the most effective way to keep the virus from entering the body and vice versa.

When the coronavirus was first spotted in Wuhan, China in late 2019, the first suggestion from experts was to mask up everyone.

Administrations and government agencies made people aware of the benefits of wearing masks. Research studies have found that simply wearing cloth masks cuts down the risk of contracting the virus by a large percent.

As per a US CDC report, “cloth masks not only effectively block most large droplets (i.e., 20-30 microns and larger), but they can also block the exhalation of fine droplets and particles (also often referred to as aerosols) smaller than 10 microns.”

2. Avoid crowds

Apart from masks, what contributed a lot to stop the wildfire of the coronavirus was the lockdown.

Two years hence, we should not forget this practice. If it is not necessary, avoid going outside, and avoid attending public gatherings.

Public gatherings are the breeding ground for several pathogenic infections. Unmasked public, not maintaining physical distance of atleast 1 metre, unhealthy sanitisation methods and improper circulation of air if the gathering is in a closed space are few of the reasons why it is always advisable to avoid outdoor gatherings during pandemic

3. Quarantine even by self diagnosing a miniscule symptom 

If you are feeling sick, quarantine yourself voluntarily. When COVID was a novel disease, health agencies focused on quarantining the infected individual along with the ones who they were in contact with.

Quarantine helps to cut the transmission of the virus. The person who is infected with the virus stays isolated from others for a duration of 10-14 days till the incubation period of the virus.

Quarantining within a household would save the older people and kids from contracting the infection.

How many of you still buy bottles of sanitizer as you did in 2020? Not many of you would be doing it!

4. Keeping hands clean and use sanitizers

Keeping hands sanitized is another effective way to not just keep COVID causing virus at bay, it is equally to keep every infection away.

Hands are one of the most mobile human parts. These are one of the major sources of carrying the virus into your body.

Therefore, be it for cooking or before eating it is very much essential to wash hands properly.

A glaring example of the effect of hand sanitisation can be seen in the deworming exercise of the government. After kids were taught to wash their hands before and after eating and after using the toilet, the incidence of worming in kids reduced to a large extent.

5. Vaccination

Vaccination is the only effective way to reduce the risk of severity of Covid, so far. Experts say less hospitalisation during the Omicron wave of Covid was majorly due to vaccination.

Vaccination prepares the memory of the immune system to fight against the virus. The booster shots enhance the memory of the immune system which usually wanes after few months of vaccination.