Keeping Your Children Safe in a COVID-19 World
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every part of our lives. Where we were used to going to school and work every day and shopping at our leisure, the virus took our lives for a spin and changed everything in an instant.
Your children are experiencing a world like no other. They have to take more precautions nowadays, and their social lives have been impacted. To keep your children safe during the possibility of COVID-19 staying with us for some time, read on.
Practice Basic Hygiene
Now more than ever, what a person touches can have a major impact on their health. Most of the germs and bacteria we are exposed to daily are on common things like door handles and grocery items. This is the time that you need to teach your children how to manage basic things like hygiene.
Washing their hands every hour is a good way to start. Teach them to not touch surfaces too often and keep a bottle of hand sanitiser handy in the home and car. To get your children to practice washing their hands, tell them to wash for as long as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star runs. It should be for no less than 20 seconds to allow bacteria and dirt to lift from the hands before rinsing.
Be Fussy About Visitors
When it comes to keeping your children occupied, you may want to bring a friend or two over to play. During this time, you have to be even more careful about the people that you visit or those who enter your home. If they are not showing signs of the virus, you will be none the wiser. It may be too late before you know that your child has been exposed to the virus. If this happens, you need to get a same day covid test as soon as you are aware of the situation.
You can easily get private same day testing at My Healthcare Clinic in the UK. This facility has been offering reliable and accurate Covid testing since March 2020, and the results only take four hours to receive. My Healthcare Clinic also provides medical and dental treatments for other conditions and employs highly specialised practitioners that are available 24/7.
Online Activity
Your children are going to be online during the pandemic and there is not much way around it other than banning them from using the internet. This might be your best bet though because cyberbullying has become a major problem since early 2020. Your child may feel pressured to engage in certain acts or groups that are risky if they are left in isolation for too long.
During this time, keep your children active at home, rather than spending time talking to people online. They will need social interaction with their friends, yes, but you need to monitor all online activity. Install parental controls on your home router and limit your child’s exposure to screens.
Speak to your children about being safe both emotionally and physically during this time. Teach them how to make rational decisions about basic hygiene and how to interact safely with their friends. Covid-19 may still be with us for a very long time to come.