Amitabh Bachchan and his family contracting the coronavirus reminds us once again to take extra precaution for old-age relatives.
Now when the Star of the Millennium has contracted Covid-19 and battling against it, speculations are rife over various ways in which he would have got infected. It could have been through a family member who went out for some work or an infected daily help who left traces of the virus nearby him that he picked up.
It is impossible to think that Amitabh Bachchan, who himself asked people in videos to take precaution, would have dropped his guard against Covid-19. However, it didn’t spare him from its high infectivity.
It reminds us once again to take extra precaution for old-age relatives as we have to frequent go out for day to day work. There are numerous instances of young family members becoming the reason for older ones contracting Covid and even dying due to age-induced weak immunity system or comorbid conditions.
Here’re a few things that you can do to prevent a situation in which Big B is in today.
Sanitise yourself before you enter home: In case you need to go out for daily work or for any other purpose, you must sanitise yourself before you enter the house. Take off your shoes away from the entrance as some virologists also think that virus can enter the house through your footwear. Before interacting with any family member or kids at home, it is preferable for you to have a bath with soap.
Sanitise anything that you touch: Once you come home from outside, treat yourself as an infected person until you have taken a shower with soap and cleansed yourself. Be careful not to touch anything and in case you do that, please sanitise it immediately. “As we know the only source of infection is the person who is going out. So he or she needs to be extremely careful especially in those homes where people above the age of 60 also reside. A small touch is all Covid-19 needs to spread,” says Dr Raman Sharma, Professor of Medicine, Sawai Man Singh Medical College, Rajasthan.
Maintain social distancing from older relatives at home: The ICMR and the Union Health ministry have been continuously asking people to maintain social distancing at home. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, has said that social distancing is the best vaccine today. “In the case of old relatives, I think this should be religiously followed. Don’t go close to your old parents as you might be a cause of infection for them. Express your love by maintaining a distance not by going close to them,” Dr Rajeev Ranjan of Laboratory Medicine Department of AIIMS, Delhi, says.
Don’t allow family members to touch anything that you bring home: Experts say that any objects, be it fruits, vegetables, chocolates and even currencies like notes and coins can be a carrier of the Covid-19. Till now, there is no concrete evidence to prove how long the virus stays on a particular surface. In such a situation, it is advisable to sanitise all the objects that you carry home. “There are various ways available to sanitise fruits and vegetables. If there are certain stuff which you think you cannot sanitise, keep it away from everyone for at least three to four days as various studies have shown that virus doesn’t survive on any surface for more than three days.
Keep your home well-ventilated: Researches have shown that sometimes virus of very small size keep floating in the air when an infected person coughs and sneezes. If the room is well ventilated, it can clean the environment with fresh air. Using an air-conditioned room is not preferable because it doesn’t let the virus escape.
Wear a mask at home as and when required: A mask helps stop the virus from entering mouth or nose. So use a mask or any cloth to cover your mouth and nose while interacting with your old parents or ask them to do the same. Dr Sharma is of the view that speaking loud can transmit the virus from one person to another so mask helps avoid that. However, a surgical mask should not be used at home.