Ways to keep your family safe from coronavirus

As cases in Australia slowly increase, here are the things you can do to keep your family safe from coronavirus.

As coronavirus cases in both Australia and abroad increase, and a global pandemic being declared becomes more likely, Aussies are being urged by the government and authorities to prepare for the worst.

The deadly COVID-19 has spread to more than 60 countries, and with Australia’s first human-to-human cases confirmed, chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy said an outbreak was now likely, stating “it’s no longer possible to absolutely prevent new cases coming in”.

Warnings of a potential pandemic have sent many households into a tailspin, causing people to wipe supermarket shelves around Australia of toilet paper and other household supplies.

While it’s important to talk about and plan for the possibility of a pandemic, University of Queensland virologist Ian Mackay wrote in a blog post, there is no need to hoard supplies.

RELATED: Follow the latest coronavirus updates

What exactly are these people expecting to happen here? We're not going through a nuclear winter. If schools close or gatherings are shut down, we'll still have access to grocery shops. And...where's the food this will be needed for ? https://t.co/0qltWSEMAY

— ɪᴀɴ ᴍ ᴍᴀᴄᴋᴀʏ, ᴘʜᴅ 🦠🤧🧬🥼🦟 (@MackayIM) March 3, 2020

“Planning now and doing something means we can control how well we cope with some of what may be coming,” he wrote.

Professor Mackay suggested there are two main categories under which people should plan and “do things”: reducing our risk of being infected and reducing the chance we will run out of essential foods and goods.

“Australians should continue to go about their lives in their normal way and just exercise common sense in the same way you would during a severe winter season, where there may be an outbreak of flu or something like that,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Here are seven things you can do to help keep your family safe from coronavirus:

WASH YOUR HANDS

Washing your hands regularly – either with alcohol-based rub or ordinary soap and water – is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 and many other diseases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advises.

Australians should practice washing their hands:

• After coughing or sneezing

• When caring for the sick

• Before, during and after you prepare food

• Before eating

• After toilet use

• When hands are visibly dirty

• After handling animals or animal waste.

However, over-usage of soap and water can lead to dermatitis, warned experienced infectious diseases physician and microbiologist Professor Peter Collignon, and people should use commonsense.

RELATED: How coronavirus will change your routine

PRACTICE NOT TOUCHING YOUR FACE

Health researcher Dr Nancy C. Elder told The New York Timeswhile people understand the importance of handwashing, it’s time to enforce a similarly strong message regarding face touching.

According to one study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, people touch their faces around 16 to 23 times an hour.

“Scratching the nose, rubbing your eyes, leaning on your chin and your fingers go next to your mouth – there’s multiple ways we do it,” said Dr Elder.

There is a chance your unwashed fingers will have a virus on them, and if you touch/rub your mouth, nose or eyes, you may introduce the virus and accidentally infect yourself.

Australian health experts have said they encourage people to abstain from touching their faces, and if they do so to make sure they have used hand sanitiser first.

“The public health message is this: try very hard to keep your hands away from your nose, mouth and eyes,” infection control expert at the University of NSW, Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

PROTECT ELDERLY RELATIVES

Doctors around the world have been quick to analyse just who has been suffering the most serious coronavirus complications.

While most people only developed mild symptoms, researchers have found that those most at risk of dying are over the age of 70, or those who have pre-existing serious health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer.

Professor Robert Booy from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance told the ABC that Australia needed to focus on older people living in aged care and the elderly still living at home, as they were most at risk.

Professor Mackay suggested when preparing your own household for a pandemic, elderly relative’s needs should also be considered: their medications, pets, their own pandemic stash, and their plans for care.

RELATED: Your chances of dying from coronavirus

KEEP SURFACES CLEAN

Unfortunately not everything is known about how long this strain of coronavirus can survive on surfaces.

But when it comes to preventing household surfaces from becoming carriers for other types of coronavirus, it’s not so much about what you clean them with but how often you do it.

If your community or someone in your home gets infected with COVID-19, surfaces that get touched frequently – including kitchen benches, tap faucets and doorknobs – will need to be cleaned often.

Most household cleaners that contain bleach or alcohol are enough to keep coronavirus at bay, Columbia University Medical Centre epidemiology professor Stephen Morse told NPR.

You should also consider cleaning the screen of your smartphone at least twice a day with antibacterial wipes to help combat the spread – as the average person picks up their phone 2600 times a day and uses it around 76 times.

Professor of public health the University of Waterloo, Peter Hall, described mobile phones as “portable Petri dishes” and suggested people should clean their phones at lunch and after returning home at night to kill any germs collected at work or while commuting.

STOCK UP ON NECESSARY FOOD AND SUPPLIES – BUT DON’T PANIC BUY

To prepare for a possible coronavirus pandemic, Australians have been advised to make sure they have enough food and medication in their pantries to last at least two weeks.

Families should slowly build up their long-life grocery stocks, and other essentials such as prescription medications, toilet paper and tissues.

But, Professor Mackay said, don’t panic buy or hoard.

“Now is a great time to make a list, label up a ‘Pandemic Stash’ box, and begin to slowly fill it with items that won’t go off and that you won’t touch unless needed,” he suggested.

“Buy a few things each weekly shop. Don’t buy things you won’t eat later, don’t hoard and don’t buy more than you’ll need for a two-week period. We’re not talking zombie apocalypse.”

RELATED: Foods to avoid buying during virus outbreak

Professor Mackay said there was no need for households to hoard or panic buy.

Families should consider purchasing foods that will fulfil a need for carbohydrates, protein and fibre; and supplies for caring for the sick and cleaning products to reduce the spread.

Buying extra long-lasting foods such as cereals, pasta, fruit and tinned fish could help those told to stay indoors.

The last things you should buy if you’re afraid supplies might slow or stop for a time altogether include bread, meat for freezing, milk, eggs and fruit and vegetables.

SEEK ADVICE IF RETURNING FROM AFFECTED AREAS

If you have been in mainland China or Iran in the last 14 days or you have travelled in or transited, according to NSW Health you should stay at home and isolate yourself for two weeks and watch out for any symptoms.

If you develop a fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath within 14 days of travel to an affected area, you should call your GP or emergency department and seek medical attention as soon as possible.

It is important to phone ahead so that the practice or emergency department can make appropriate preparations and protect others.

AVOID TRAVEL TO AFFECTED AREAS

People with the highest risk of exposure to coronavirus are those in china or those who have travelled there recently.

While the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has issued travel warnings for a growing number of countries hit by the virus, China and Iran are currently the only countries with a “do not travel” warning in place.

South Korea, Japan, Italy and Mongolia have been issued with a “level two” warning by DFAT, telling travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution”.

RELATED: Should I cancel my travel plans?