Coronavirus Guidelines and Advice
On 31 December 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. A novel (new) coronavirus (2019- nCoV) was identified as the cause by Chinese authorities on 7 January.
WHO Guidelines
Though the majority of currently identified cases are in China at present, there have been confirmed cases in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the semi-autonomous region of Macau, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States. Vietnam, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have all reported at least one case of contamination, though the situation is evolving daily
You can find detailed guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), here on how to protect yourself.
- Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water;
- When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands;
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
- If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
- When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals;
- The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.
WHO are basically recommending common sense actions to ensure you and your family are kept safe and well. Wash your hands well and often with any soap and water, or you could get an anti-microbial soap which will kill the virus for certain – such as GOJO ANTI-MICROBIAL SOAP, or WHITE BACTERICIDAL SOAP. It might be useful to have a read over my Soap without sanitisers and soap with sanitisers blog again to refresh your memory.
WHO are also recommending the use of an alcohol based hand rub such as this 118ml Purell Hand Rub, or a slightly larger pump operation 300ml Purell Hand Rub. These alcohol based hand rubs have been proven to kill the virus.
You are also being advised to avoid contact with anyone who is experiencing coughing or a fever and to seek immediate medical attention if you have difficulty breathing.
WHO have also drawn attention to Good Food Hygiene Practices, which should always be on your agenda …. But have never been more important! Ensure you know where your meat has come from, cook it well and ensure it is 85 C before serving. Use different chopping boards (see my colour coding blog!) for meats and vegetables, sanitise your surfaces properly, (it would be useful to have another read over my Sanitisers blog!)
What I’ve been saying in my blogs is exactly what WHO are saying now, be sensible, keep yourself and people around you clean, make sure that everything is sanitised, and avoid people who have a cough or a fever. If you are feeling unwell, or are having difficulty breathing PHONE your doctors surgery (please don’t just turn up!) and speak to a practitioner about your symptoms.
At Astral Hygiene we talk about infection control in many guises, food hygiene, bio security, general cleanliness, pool hygiene…. But the principles remain the same.
Please do reach out to us if you do need any further support.
