Coronavirus is spreading worldwide. In our current globalized world, curiously, we are back home in order to reduce the speed of contagion and getting away from the risks of the outside. Therefore, we need to keep our homes protected from the virus, so we can be safe and healthy.

We have to take into account, however, that it is very possible to get the virus. The important thing in this first stage of the pandemic is to avoid the excess of patients that would make the medical resources available insufficient. By staying home and keeping it clean, our chances to pass the pandemic with no infection increase considerably. So let´s do the following:

If you have to go out, once you are back intake off your shoes and disinfect them with alcohol or hypochlorite in the space by the house´s door. At the same place, put a box or a bag for the clothes you were wearing and then put on another pair of shoes or flip-flops, which must be ready right there.

Take those clothes to the washing machine and take a shower with abundant soap, avoiding touching your eyes, mouth, and nose. Then get dressed in clean clothes. Walking in your home with the same shoes you were wearing on the street is a great risk, as coronavirus gets easily attached to the soles, and, as for clothes, people coughing in the street can contaminate them. The virus can stay on the floor or on different surfaces for several days.

According to the CDC, coronavirus is active for hours or days, depending on the materials it can be located on. The use of water and soap is the best weapon against it because soap destroys the external layer that covers the virus (a virus is not a living being, it is a molecule that affects cells) and deactivates it. Other products effective against viruses are alcohol, chlorine, hypochlorite, bleach, disinfectant wipes, and detergents.

If a person is sick in your home, make sure the surfaces and devices we usually touch with our hands are disinfected: switches, doorknobs, handles, etc, must be cleaned and disinfected several times a day.

For clothes and dishes, the NSF (formerly known as National Sanitary Foundation) has certified several appliances as appropriate to fight viruses and germs, like washing machines and dishwashers, among others. Nevertheless, thorough washing with water and your usual detergent or dishwasher should do.

There is research about the benefits of more humidity in places, as it creates an environment viruses cannot bear well. Humidifiers can work, but they can also breed bacteria and, therefore, must be cleaned very often.

In case of feeling sick, use the mask. It is necessary for health workers, people taking care of those who are sick, and for the sick ones.

Wash your hands constantly. If you do not have a bathroom nearby, carry a hand sanitizer.

Keep the phone numbers of health services at hand. In case you feel difficulty breathing, headaches, lack of smell, and /or have a fever, call and ask to be tested for coronavirus.

It is really important to be thorough when you are taking care of such dangerous (and for many of us never known before) things, like a pandemic. Our homes are our sanctuaries, and they must be duly protected to actually be our shelters.