Can I Safely Make It Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Being that the holidays are within our grasp, many of us are beginning to formulate plans to travel back home to see our friends, family and relatives. With the chaos ensuing in the world right now, spending time with the ones we care about and enjoying the festivities is something we can all look forward to doing in the upcoming months. However, is it safe to travel with the resurgence of COVID-19 around the globe? If you want to travel safely and efficiently, here are some tips and tricks that will get you home to your family virus-free. Read More »
Wear Your Mask
The transportation method of the COVID-19 virus is through particle droplets and mucus discharged from our bodies. While that may sound gross, the act of sneezing, coughing or getting water from our eye into another host is what causes us to catch and spread coronavirus.
Knowing this, we advise you to cover your mouth, nose and keep foreign objects out of your ears. When traveling, always make it a habit to stock up on fresh masks and dispose of the products you use safely in a nearby bin or trashcan.
Not only will this keep you safe while traveling on airlines and waiting in line at the airport, but it will prevent individuals that are ‘high-risk’ from getting sick.
Vitamin D
While we still do not have a cure or vaccine that gets rid of COVID-19, breakthrough studies are coming out that show a link between vitamin-D deficiency and the potential to experience severe side-effects after catching coronavirus.
Luckily for us, there are a plethora of products, actions and foods that will cause our body to produce vitamin D and boost our immune system. Try incorporating some of the following ideas before you leave and after you arrive at your destination:
- Spend time in the sun
- Supplement over-the-counter vitamin D tablets
- Consume fatty fish
- Ingest foods such as egg yolks, cream, mushrooms and oatmeal
- Drink orange juice often
Not only will vitamin D keep your immune system strong, but it can clear brain fog and depression-like symptoms in a matter of days.
Wash Your Hands More Frequently
Remember when we were young, and the adults would harp on us to wash our hands every time we so much as touched an external surface? Their wisdom may soon pay off for the entire planet!
With healthcare researchers and medical professionals working around the clock to find a cure for COVID-19, the most tried-and-true method of removing the virus from our hands is using hot water and soap.
The next time you use the restroom or stay in a hotel, make sure to be overly-protective of your hand cleanliness. As a rule of thumb: Wash your hands under water as hot as you can withstand and scrub with soap. Run your fingers and palms through the water anywhere from 20-seconds to 1-minute. We know this may seem a bit annoying, but it will keep you safe during the pandemic so you can enjoy the holiday!
Pack Your Food
The best way to consume food during the traveling season is to pack personalized meals. Although restaurants and fast-food establishments are doing their best to maintain high-quality standards during the pandemic, no one is perfect.
Packing small, easy-to-consume meals will keep you energetic and satiated while traveling on airlines and staying in hotels. Who knows, maybe your relatives cooked some delicious food, and you can re-package the leftovers to snack on while visiting!
Bring Alcohol
Before you get too excited, we’re not referring to drinking alcohol that can give you a buzz! Instead, we encourage you to purchase hand-sanitizer products that contain an alcohol level of 60% or greater.
The reason for this is that 60% alcohol sanitizer is the most effective at removing COVID-19 from the surface of your skin. However, if you know that you will be traveling during the upcoming holidays, start preparing now.
Get Tested
This tip may sound like a no-brainer, but most people in public settings have not been medically tested for COVID-19. Before you book a flight or rent a car to travel across the country, get tested for coronavirus so you know with 100% certainty that you are virus-free.
With newfound methods of testing available to the general public, now you don’t have an excuse to skip out on testing. In the past, testing for COVID-19 required a long device to be inserted into the deep recesses of a patient’s nasal cavity.
The testing process was highly effective but painful for the individual. Nowadays, patients can test their saliva by spitting into a tube or gently scrapping the interior portion of their lip.
Video Holiday
If you, or your immediate family, have been diagnosed with COVID-19, traveling is not going to be available. Instead, we encourage you and your family to install conferencing apps to communicate with one another during the holidays.
We won’t lie: It may be a little awkward at first, but that shouldn’t stop you from having fun! You can play charades, board games, cards, watch movies and laugh at old memories that you have made together. Whatever the case may be, using modern technology to stay connected with your family during the pandemic is paramount.
Remain Hopeful
With the impact that COVID has had on our planet within the last year, it’s hard to remain optimistic for 2021. During this holiday season, we encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and be more hopeful for the future than you typically would.
Being optimistic for the upcoming year isn’t just a ‘feel-good’ mindset: New Studies show that people who are generally positive have better immune efficiency than their pessimistic counterparts. This holiday season, choose to see your cup half full!
