In the time of this pandemic, there is one thing that has become clear to me–more information is not always better. Or rather, the constant influx of information from everyone and their mother is not helping. There is so much confusion as to what are the best practices and more to the point, why they are the best practices. Like, I knew I should wash my hands a ton, but wasn’t sure why exactly. I mean, getting Covid-19 by contact exposure is rather low on the list of how to get it. So why all the hand-washing? It’s mostly because of touching your hand to your face and protecting from it. Speaking of which….
My BFF sent me an article boiling down some of these conflicting ideas. It’s really the best thing I’ve read on the topic, and I’m pretty sure it’s not just because it confirms much of what I already thought. It addressed something that I had been confused about, but could not find a satisfactory answer in all my Googling. My question was if I self-isolated and did not leave the house for, say, three weeks (and let’s pretend I haven’t gotten any deliveries in that time). If I did not get sick in that time, would it be fine to assume that I was not going to get it? And the answer is yes.
Basically, my home would be a safe place because no new exposure was happening. The author of the article wants people to consider their home their safe places and to do whatever they need to do in order to keep it safe. Wearing masks and gloving up when outside (but also understanding that they aren’t 100% solutions), then disposing of them (or washing them) properly before entering the safe place. Once you’re in the safe place, however, you don’t have to follow the stringent practices you do in exposure zones. In other words, you can touch your face in your safe place. You don’t have to wash your hands any more than you normally would. It confirmed my hunch that I couldn’t get it without new exposure, which makes inherent sense.
In addition, the mask is mostly for the person wearing it if they are sick in order to keep their germs to themselves. It’s helpful to other people, but to a much lesser degree. It’s more important to stay at least six feet away from others (preferably ten) at all times, and if you are wearing a mask/gloves, to wash your hands once you get home. For twenty seconds. The most important thing about the touching your face advice is to not do it when you’re in exposure zones (the author calls them danger zones). Which includes not touching your mask if you’re wearing one. If you’re wearing gloves, touch as little as possible with them and then make sure they’re off before you go into your house.
Another thing I’ve seen a lot of back and forth about is deliveries. Takeout and grocery mostly, but also just packages in general. I’ve had the habit of putting what needs to be refrigerated in the fridge straight in, but the bags are living in the garage, and if I don’t have to bring the item inside, it stays in the garage as well for several days. It’s overkill, but if I don’t need it, then it might as well live in the garage. In the article above, it says that leaving the package out in the sun for two minutes will kill off most of virus particles (grossly simplified). Also, if a package is not damp, it should be fine in general. If you store it in a cold and damp environment like the basement, it’ll be fine in 2 1/2 hours. And wash your damn hands afterwards.
But really, stay six feet away from other people. Better yet, stay at home. That really is the best thing you can do in these trying times. If you can’t stay at home, then stay six feet away from others and don’t touch your face. If you can wear a mask and gloves, that’s good. If not, use hand sanitizer liberally. And don’t touch your face!
I read of someone who used gloves to get their mail and microwaved the mail and the gloves upon coming back into the house. My immediate impulse was, “That’s too much,” but who the hell knows these days? Reading the above article did a lot to assuage the terror, but I can’t blame anyone who goes to any measures these days. I mean. it’s hard to say what’s paranoia and what’s prudence. I haven’t gone anywhere in the last two weeks because I have a really shitty immune system (I almost typed humane system, which is funny), and still I freak out about touching things in my house. I’ve had to draw a line, and it’s that I wash my hands thoroughly any time I touch anything that comes from the outside.
On the plus side, we have snow. Actual snow that is sticking, and we’re supposed to get either 1-3 inches or 3-6 inches. If it sticks and there is an appreciable amount by nightfall, then I will do midnight nekkid snow dancing. It was quite a nice surprise. I knew we were supposed to get snow today, but it was supposed to be less than an inch. Right now, it’s about two inches, and I’m watching it fall. I’m a happy camper, and I don’t even have to feel guilty about it because most people are not driving today.
It’s staring to think about being happy during these times, but life does go on. It wouldn’t be helping anything to be moping around all the time. And, honestly, given that I rarely have anything to be happy about in general, I’ll take it.
Time has been so fluid. Yesterday, I woke up and started gathering up the garbage before realizing that I didn’t have to do it until today. It’s strange. I’m 90% self-isolating, anyway, but that extra ten percent has really messed with my brain. Time has both sped up and slowed down, and it’s pretty immaterial right now. I have nothing pithy to say so I’m just going to enjoy the snow falling outside my window.