In the face of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic or any public safety emergency, a practical action for aging adults is AVOIDANCE. And, the most effective avoidance strategy is to shelter-at-home/self-quarantine.
You and I, as aging adults, are proving to be the most likely populations to develop severe COVID-19 infections that require medical intervention. The older we are, from age 60 forward, the greater our vulnerability. Access your vulnerability based not only upon your age, but your underlaying level of health.
For EX: I am 77.5 years old, with asthma, sleep apnea, adrenal problems, low thyroid in addition to 2 decades with ME/CFS. Therefore, I am responding by reevaluating, each day, the footprint of my activity outside my home. As states-of-emergency are being called, that will affect my decisions. I have plans in place for that eventuality.
The riskiest behaviors to acquire or transmit COVID-19 are: close contact with returning travelers from areas known to have the infections; close contact with people who have been in close contact with these travelers; contact with a person known to have the virus for any reason; community activity in an area where the virus is spreading. Remember, some people actually are infected with the virus even though they display little or no symptoms. Let the above data influence your activity outside your home.
Even though it is unlikely you will be asked or mandated to shelter-at home/self-quarantine, you may want to think about it NOW as a potential strategy that you choose. Talk it over with those close to you.
If you have not already done so, notice what you and your household use every day, and make sure you have enough on-hand for at least 2-3 weeks. For example: Do you have sufficient food staples and ingredients to make meals you enjoy? There is nothing more deflating than having to eat food you don’t like when you can’t go out and buy other things. It makes meals seem more like “rations”.
Do you have electrolyte replacement drinks, like Gatorade or similar beverages?
How about treats and snacks; do you enough on-hand? They are important to boost or maintain morale. Go easy on sugar intake, for the sake of your immunity.
Include the needs of your pets; do you have enough food and meds for them?
If you want to be REALLY prepared, for other emergency contingencies, stock up with some pure drinking water. However, there is no data whatsoever that COVID-19 is affecting municipal water supply safety.
Do you have enough of both prescription and OTC medications? I have managed to accumulate a good stock of my prescriptions by doing the following: I refill a 30-day or 90-day script at the earliest day my insurer will accept. For 30-day it is usually near the 21st day. Call your insurer.
When you do that over a period of a multiple months, you have created a sustainable emergency supply of most meds. Every 6 months, I put the newest ones into my emergency kits and rotate the previous emergency meds into home-use.
We hear about 2-3 weeks as the period of sheltering time we should be prepared for. That works okay if you live alone. But if you share your household with others that could mean your home would end up being under quarantine for a longer time -- IF the illness infects your household members sequentially rather than concurrently. So, prepare with that in mind. For one thing, some infected people recover and then get ill again.
Do you have enough hand, dish and laundry soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizer and other hygiene products? What about sanitizing wipes and sprays to keep surfaces, handles, and often-touched, shared objects (think remote controls, phones, refrigerator/freezer doors, etc)?
How about paper products? toilet paper, paper towels, strong tissue.
If you feel vulnerable about being in public, this may be the time to ask local family, or close-by younger, healthy neighbors to do essential errands for you.
If you share your home with young people, as some seniors do, what would it take to keep them engaged at home for a couple of weeks? Is tele-schooling possible so they don’t fall behind? Are school closures occurring in your school district?
Are you a senior who is still working? If so, you need to pay attention to Your Work-Place. Have they been talking about working from home? Would that affect you? Would your job be in jeopardy if you elected to home-shelter for a few weeks?
Another version of that: Are there discussions taking place at work as to what conditions would prompt the temporary closing of the company? What about public-health mandated closing? Would your pay checks continue or discontinue?
At this point in time, mid-March, business closings are not being mandated; but it is appropriate to think about such a turn of events and talk about it. Do you have a plan if any of the above were to occur?
How about family finances? Could you manage with a temporary interruption in paychecks getting deposited? Do you have autopay for all or some of your bills? Do the accounts from which you pay your obligations have a safety buffer of emergency funds? If not, can you transfer from savings to cover your predicted expenses?
If you were to need help through a period of pay interruption, do you have the kind of relationship with your bank or credit union manager or loan officer that you could call and arrange a temporary loan to see you through this emergency?
Having been through a variety of emergencies and major disasters, I can tell you, warm relationships are the basis of successful personal, family and community recovery. Do you need to work on building warmer relationships?
I want to end on a note of optimism. Be calm and measured as you think and plan to respond appropriately. While fear may be useful to capture attention, beyond that fear is not only unhelpful, it is damaging. Stress impacts our immune systems. Preparation quells anxiety.
Go about preparation thoughtfully, make purchases prudently. Do not get swept up in a prep spending frenzy. Buy what you need now for the current situation. Do not hoard products that everyone needs.
When calm is restored and the shelves are again fully stocked and prices inch their way down, perhaps then, you could take further preparation steps.
For up-to-date information about the Novel (new) Coronavirus (COVID-19) see these sources: CDC.gov; WHO, Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource center, and your state, county and city sites. Coronavirus.Utah.gov works well for me.
Explore more posts on my BLOG: Preparetorespond.blogspot.com. Updates will be posted for Coronavirus matters, and many topics of emergency preparedness in general.
Excellent information., common sense, easy to understand, and absolutely doable. Thank you so much.
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