A Practical Guide to Staying Safe During the

Coronavirus Pandemic

Andrew Junkin, MD
Mar 24 · 11 min read

A letter from the physician authors of this guide: We Are All in This Together

This guide, developed by experts in Medicine and Infectious Diseases, offers step-by-step
instructions for some of the most common situations you might encounter, focusing on how you
can protect yourself & your community:

1. In Public Places (including where you work)

a) What to avoid
b) What to do if you have to touch things or other people
c) Transportation
d) Other ways to stay safe in public
e) When to wear a mask
2. At Home
a) Instructions for initial cleaning
b) Instructions for what to do when you return home from public places
c) Instructions for receiving deliveries
3. If You Develop Symptoms

Since the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new infection, there are a lot of questions that no
one in the world knows the answers to right now! Our advice may change as we learn more.

This guide does not take the place of instructions you receive from your doctor or other
healthcare professional. If you have medical concerns, please contact your doctor, healthcare
professional, or local public health authority.

To learn more about the novel coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19, please see the
CDC guide. It is a great place to start and has answers to many basic questions.

If you’d like to learn more about why we all need to do our part to “flatten the curve,” we
recommend reading this article.
To learn more about how following this guide could help us avoid catastrophe, we recommend
reading this interactive article.
IN PUBLIC — INCLUDING WHERE YOU
WORK
PART A: What to avoid
❖ Avoid places where you will be within 6 feet (2 meters) of people who do not live with
you, for more than a few seconds. Including:
❖ It is OK to leave your home to walk, jog, bike, and walk your dog.

In fact, this is encouraged to help you maintain your mental and physical health, but maintain 6
feet of space between you and others and follow the hand-hygiene guide below.

Photos credits: Chander R, Ronaldo Santos, Tyler Nix, Maddy Baker, Theodor Vasile; from
Unsplash

❖ Avoid touching any surfaces that other people touch unless you MUST
Some common examples include:
➢ Door handles or knobs, hand railings, elevator buttons, payment terminals at shops, gasoline
pumps, tabletops, chair armrests, workout equipment at gyms, and faucet handles
➢ Things you exchange with people when buying things: pen, credit card, bag handles, cash
Photos credits: Djim Loic, Bernard Herman, Anisa Ryanda Putri, Russ Ward, Patrick Tomasso;
from Unsplash

* Any surface may have coronavirus on it *

PART B: What to do if you have to touch things or other

people
❏ Carry hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol in its list of “active ingredients” with you at
all times. DIY hand sanitizer

❏ Use hand sanitizer before touching any surface (to protect others) and after (to protect
yourself).

❏ Sanitize your hands before touching your cell phone, every time.

❏ Avoid touching your head, face, eyes, or neck.

➢ If you NEED to touch your face, sanitize your hands before and after, every time.

❏ Do not touch other people, especially their faces, hands and arms.
➢ If you NEED to touch other people, sanitize your hands before and after, every time.

The CDC does not recommend wearing gloves in public. You can still pick up the virus on the
gloves and you are less likely to clean your hands while wearing gloves.
PART C: Transportation
It is safest to walk, bike (your own personal bike), or drive a personal car to your destination.

If you can, try to avoid all public transportation, including bus, subway, train, taxicab, ride-share,
bike-share, plane, and ferry.

If you must use public transportation, please follow the instructions in Part B.

If you drive a personal car:

1. Sanitize your hands before touching the vehicle and your keys.
2. Place any items you picked up in the trunk or backseat (consider those spaces
contaminated).
3. Enter the vehicle.
4. Hand sanitize again.
5. Close the door.
6. After you exit the vehicle and collect your belongings, sanitize your hands.

PART D: Other advice for preventing spread of coronavirus

Greetings:
Keep your distance! At least 6 feet.
Coughing & sneezing:
Image credit: Westchester County Health Dept. on Twitter

To cough or sneeze:
1) Bend your arm at the elbow.
2) Place your hand on the opposite shoulder .
3) Bend your head to your elbow.
4) Look towards the ground and cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
5) Clean your hands immediately.

*If you cough or sneeze into a tissue instead, throw it away immediately, then hand sanitize.

To blow your nose:

1) Do not use cloth or other types of reusable handkerchiefs.
2) Dispose of your tissue into a trash can immediately.
3) Clean your hands immediately.

PART E: Masks
In general, wearing a mask is NOT RECOMMENDED unless advised by your doctor.

If your doctor advises you to wear a mask, the WHO has a great site explaining when and how to
wear a mask.

A few examples of when you might be advised to wear a mask:

❖ If you have symptoms, live with others and you must be in the same room.
❖ If you are taking care of someone with symptoms who is unable to wear a mask.
❖ If you develop symptoms and are instructed to go to a hospital or healthcare center.
Photo credit: visuals on Unsplash

Otherwise:
➢ Do not wear a mask unless you have symptoms and must leave the home.
➢ Do not buy N95 respirator masks for public or home use.
**Health workers desperately need these masks to provide patient care and supplies are running
short across the country.
➢ It is not recommended that you make your own mask as there is no way to ensure its quality.

Most importantly, though:

❏ If you have more than 10 surgical masks at home:
**Please return any unopened masks to the store you purchased them from or donate them to
your local hospital today.

❏ If you have any N95 respirator masks at home:

**Please return any unopened masks to the store you purchased it from or donate it to your local
hospital today.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

AT HOME
Your home should be your safe space. You should be able to relax at home and act normally
without fear of the virus. The coronavirus can spread through the air as droplets for over 3 hours,
and can survive on some surfaces for over 3 days, so the primary goal is: don’t bring the virus
home with you.

PART A: Cleaning your home for the FIRST TIME

Disinfect all shared spaces and frequently touched surfaces including:
❏ dining tables
❏ counter tops
❏ appliances
❏ bathrooms
❏ door knobs
❏ light switches
❏ handrails
❏ remote controls
❏ laptops/keyboards
❏ phones
❏ any other surfaces that the virus can live on such as pens/pencils that anyone has touched in
the past week

For disinfection, diluted household bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol,
and most common EPA-registered household disinfectants should be effective.

Photo credit: Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

These are just a few common household cleaners you could use, from the EPA’s very long list:
● Clorox Multi Surface Cleaner + Bleach
● Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
● Lysol Brand Clean & Fresh Multi-surface Cleaner

PART B: EVERY TIME you return to your home

Treat anything you bring into the home as potentially having coronavirus on it.

1. Close your entry door.

2. Drop anything you bring inside (including keys) just inside the door and leave it there.
3. Immediately sanitize both hands.
4. Take off your shoes and jacket.
5. Go straight to your sink and wash your hands and wrists thoroughly with soap and warm
water for at least 20 seconds.
6. Sanitize your doorknob, light switch, faucet, and anything you touched in public like your
credit card or keys.
7. Sanitize your cell phone.
8. Clean the outer surfaces of all items you’ve brought home with an approved virus-killing
cleaning solution.
*See the CDC guide for cleaning instructions.
— or —
Allow them to sit untouched for an appropriate amount of time to allow any virus on
them to die (could be up to several days for plastics).
*See WHO FAQ for up-to-date information on how long the coronavirus is thought to
survive on surfaces.
9. Wash your hands again.
10. Relax.
Photo credit: Mélissa Jeanty on Unsplash

PART C: Receiving Deliveries

Photo credits: Wynand van Poortvliet, Liam Kevan, Rhodi Lopez, Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Treat anything you bring into the home as potentially having coronavirus on it.

Ask delivery persons to leave packages outside the front door if possible. If you need to meet
face-to-face to get the package, minimize the amount of time within 6 feet.

There are 2 options to dealing with the package itself: quarantine or clean.

Quarantine the package:

 1. For cardboard packages: leave package in an out-of-the-way area for at least 24 hours.
For plastic packages: leave package in an out-of-the-way area for at least 3 days.
2. Unbox package.
3. If items were shipped less than 3 days ago, disinfect any plastic and metal surfaces on
your items.
4. If items were shipped more than 3 days ago, disinfection is not needed.
5. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap & warm water for at least 20 seconds.
6. Go about your day!

-or-

Clean the package:

1. Disinfect outer surface of package.

2. Remove outer packaging.
3. Immediately discard packaging.
4. If items were shipped less than 3 days ago, disinfect any plastic and metal surfaces on
your items.
5. If items were shipped more than 3 days ago, disinfection is not needed.
6. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap & warm water for at least 20 seconds.
7. Go about your day!