By Tiffiney Gray
Stay Home. Save Lives. Prevent the Spread.
That’s the latest guidance from the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect yourself and others. It can be tempting to attend social activities or hang out with friends and family, especially when you don’t feel sick and haven’t traveled internationally. However, several studies have shown that people without symptoms can carry the virus and infect others.
Our community depends on everyone doing their part to keep others out of harm’s way. Your family needs you to stay healthy. Your neighbors need you to stay home. Please follow the social distancing, respiratory etiquette, and hand hygiene recommendations from the CDC.
Social Distancing
Avoid close contact with people to prevent the spread of infection. Maintain a social distance of 6 feet or more from individuals who don’t reside with you.
Respiratory Etiquette
Cough or sneeze into a tissue and throw it away, then wash your hands. If a tissue is unavailable, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.
Hand Hygiene
Wash your hands regularly throughout the day, especially after using the bathroom; after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose; and after touching high-traffic surfaces including door knobs, computers, telephones, electronic devices, etc.
Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose, and mouth. Bacteria, viruses, and other disease-causing pathogens (germs) can reside on surfaces that we touch. Even with proper hand-washing, germs on your hands can infect you with illness and the gateway is your face.
For more information visit Covid Waco and the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.
Tiffiney Gray was Prosper Waco’s senior content specialist for health at the time of this article.