New Habits: Lasting Lessons The CV Pandemic Is Teaching Us As A Culture

Right now we’re all stuck at home, waiting for COVID-19 to run its course. But what are we learning?

For one, we’re finding that most of us appreciate working more than we’d like to admit.

That a routine trip to the grocery store can be a lot of fun, the one chance we have to get out of the house.

But we’re also discovering the city’s parks. NYC residents are still permitted to exercise, although group play is now off-limits.

But what else have we learned? There’s actually quite a bit.

Each year, seasonal flu ravages and takes the life of about 70,000 people.

By now, we should all be far more experience at keeping germs at bay.

Here’s a short list of what we can do, from this point forward, to help ensure the lives of our seniors and the most vulnerable among us, those with preexisting health conditions.

-Flush with the seat cover down. Who ever heard of a urine or “feces plume”? Regardless, it’s a real thing. And so, why ever flush with the seat cover up?

Forget about all the hysteria about not leaning the seat down for women. Leave the cover down, and you’re benefiting everyone.

-Clean doorknobs, phones, steering wheels, and whatever we touch, regularly. Why? Germs lurk everywhere! Even after COVID-19 is just a bad memory, other germs will still be lurking, uninvited.

-Wash your hands. And, not just after going to the bathroom. Wash your hands after you return from being outside. Wash your hands, perhaps not with the urgency of someone suffering from OCD, but fairly regularly throughout the day, just the same.

-Clean the bathroom better.  All surfaces can harbor germs. So, it just makes sense to keep everything sparking and clean.

-Stay home when sick. Why expose others to your cold, flu, or other unknown germs? It;’s not fair to those among us who are most susceptible, whether at work, at play, or even in the grocery store or bank.

-Insist on a culture at the doctor’s office. Taking antibiotics for everything, without knowing what you have, is not a good idea. To fight a battle and win, you have to know your enemy!

-If you’re older, or suffering from a serious health condition, try to avoid crowds. When possible, of course. Try to do your shop[ping early in the morning, when it’s primarily older folks who are retired doing the shopping,anyway.

-Shop for your elderly neighbors and family members, whenever possible. See above, friends.

-Consider wearing a face mask during flu season. They do it in Asia. So, why not?

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-Carry tissues. Cough and sneeze into a tissue. Makes sense, no?

Cat In Tissue Box. Image Credit- Jeffrey. License By CC 2.0

-During a time when everyone around you is sick, check your temperature every day. It could make the difference between taking your illness seriously and staying home, or going into work and getting five people sick, who then get another 25 sick, and another 125 sick, among whom three people die. Germs are real!

-Maintain a safe distance during flu season, whenever possible. Of course, sometimes it;s just NOT possible. Like on the subway. Or on line at the store. But when you can, do it.

Anything else we’re learning that we could apply during next year’s Winter flu season? Please leave your own suggestions in the comment section below.

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