This winter season turned out to be an unprecedented one for everyone. In the past, people stayed indoors because it’s cold outside. Some turned up the thermostat while others — the luckier ones — stoked the fireplace to stay warmer. This time, people are staying indoors for two reasons — to escape the cold and the risk of carrying home the COVID-19 virus.
Winter has never been a surprise; COVID-19 winter is. People will still plow their walkways and, in the case of businesses, hire commercial snow removal services to clear their walkways and parking lots of snow.
This winter, the goal is to stay both safe and healthy. You should prepare for the hazards of winter, but you should also consider staying prepared for COVID. Here are a few useful tips to help you face any surprises.
Be Prepared for the Winter at Home
While you can stay at home all you want during the holiday, it doesn’t mean that it’s safer. Temperatures at home can still go down further if you don’t insulate it properly. Remember to check if the heating systems are working properly and if you’ve properly winterized your home. If you have a fireplace, you should also invest in a proper smoke detector as well as a detector for CO2 emissions. Just remember to make your shelter safe first before thinking of sheltering from the weather (and COVID) outside.
Be Prepared to Respond to Home Emergencies
If you’re staying at home, then you should make sure that your stocks hold out. This means food that doesn’t spoil quickly. You should also have all rechargeable devices fully charged — this means your phone, any radios that need recharging, or even emergency lights. Stock a first-aid kit and extra batteries just to make sure. If you’ve got kids, then you should also keep a stock of food for them. You shouldn’t go overboard with the emergency supplies. You just need to make sure that you won’t go short if you ever suddenly need them.
Be Prepared to Quarantine if Arriving Home
Most of you will have to go home for the holidays as the song goes. If you must travel, remember the travel advisories — you should quarantine yourself before and after you arrive at your destination. Do not forget to stock up on masks to use when you’re traveling and when you’re doing your in-home quarantine. If you can, you should also open the windows when you’re traveling. It makes it easier for the air inside the car to circulate, driving any virus that might be traveling alongside you to dissipate before you arrive at your destination.
Be More Than Ready with your Ventilation
When you turn up the thermostat at home, the air inside is run through a filter. It should also help with the filtration of the outside air. It’s not the heat that kills any virus that may pass through — it’s the cycling over and over of air through the filters. You can breathe easier, knowing that the air you’re breathing indoors is actually helping to keep the environment inside your home cleaner. It will also help ventilate your home from the cold air outside.
While you’re hunkering down against the cold and COVID-19, don’t forget to check around your neighborhood if you can. You never know if there are at-risk persons living right next to you or around the neighborhood. A little goes a long way, especially at this uncertain time when everyone is trying to stay safe from two things. Make sure to listen to what authorities say will work against the weather and the virus and follow it. Just remember to always remain prepared for better or worse and you’ll be fine.
