How to stay safe at home
CLEANLINESS at home is of utmost importance. This helps in adding value to the property while helping minimise the chances of coming into contact with diseases.
The education curriculum in the past years also highlight the importance of cleaning your surroundings as these help instill many values including responsibility and pride.
According to Maid for You, the website shares simple ways to keep your homes clean while also including and teaching cleaning fundamentals to your loved ones and children.
Keep a place for everything
Ensuring that all things have a home is essential for keeping your home clean and tidy.
In order for your family to follow suit, everyone must know where everything belongs. You can have a family meeting where you walk through the house and ensure that each family member knows where items should be placed. You can also include your family in the decisions and have an open conversation about what places make the best sense.
You want to pick spots that will make it accessible and easy to clean and put things away. For example, if you need a quick kitchen sweep, keep a broom handy in the kitchen rather than the garage.
Teach children to take pride in cleaning their rooms
If you are wondering how to cope with a messy house and children, teach them to clean their own rooms.
This can be done with some guidance and support, but you can encourage kids to respect their space and take pride in keeping their space clean. Make this part of their routine at home.
Routines are important for a child’s development. Research shows that children with routines at home have stronger self-regulation skills. They are also more capable of adapting to challenges and stressors.
With your child, you can create a checklist of things that need to be done daily, weekly, or monthly in their rooms. Encourage your kids to take part in making the list.
You can use a whiteboard to create a list to make it more fun for your kids to check off items. This will give your kids a sense of accomplishment.
Allocate play areas
When your kids are distracted by play, it’s easy for them to spill into other rooms and areas of the house that are not suited for play.
Choose a few places in the house for toys and games and ensure that your children know where these are. Additionally, let them know that they must tidy the play area before moving on to a different room in the house.
This will also make clean-up much easier when playtime is over.
If these designated play areas are in common areas, ensure that you keep a basket or a bin close by for quick and easy clean-up.
In light of the recent JN1 variant of coronavirus. Here are steps you could take at home according website www.webmd.com
Wash your hands
Soap, water, and some scrubbing are all it takes to kill viruses on your hands.
You probably already know the usual times you should wash your hands, including before and after you handle food and after you;
■ Use the toilet;
■ Change a diaper;
■ Blow your nose;
■ Touch garbage;
■ Care for a sick person; and
■ Touch animals or their waste.
Don’t touch your face
Your eyes, nose, and mouth are a direct path into your body for viruses. Scratch your nose, rub your eyes, or bite a hangnail, and you let germs inside.
You probably touch your face all day long without noticing. Breaking the habit takes practice. Try the following tips;
■ Notice the habit. Wear scented lotion or perfume on your hands so the smell alerts you each time it happens;
■ Give your hands something else to do. Use rubber bands or a stress ball to keep your hands busy;
■ Keep tissues nearby. Make sure you use them for itches or a runny nose or eyes;
■ Switch up your posture. If your hand habits are tied to the way you sit at your desk, for example, try a new position.
Don’t go out if you have symptoms
If you start to have mild symptoms like a runny nose and headache, stay home for five full days until you feel better. When you do go out, continue to wear a mask for five more days. Get tested as soon as possible. Your symptoms could mean you have the infection and could spread it to others.
Also, hospitals and doctor’s offices are dealing with many cases of COVID-19. Going to the doctor for mild symptoms will raise your chance of getting the virus, and make clinics busier.
Call your doctor to get advice on what to do before you head to a clinic or hospital if you have more severe symptoms, such as:
■ Coughing;
■ A fever;
■ Trouble breathing/shortness of breath;
■ Headache;
■ Nausea or vomiting;
■ Diarrhea;
■ Loss of taste and/or smell;
■ Muscle aches;
■ Sore throat;
■ Runny nose or congestion
CLEANUP campaigns have always been focused around the Colonial War Memorial Hospital.
CWM Hospital is generally the main health facilitator for the public especially within the greater Suva area.
Over the years, non-government organisations, private companies, social groups, health workers and individuals have chosen CWMH to carry out volunteer work such as cleanup campaigns.
Earlier reported in The Fiji Times, members of the public were being urged to join in such campaigns.
Last year in a statement, CWMH called for assistance in providing reliable water supply, consistent electricity supply, beds for patients in all wards, clean spaces and rest spaces for the health workers.
The hospital also highlighted the need for equipment such as dialysis machines, improved maternity unit beds and spaces, laundry services, sheets, towels and pillowcases.
“So much has been raised in the media on the need for some urgent work, from minor to major, from quick fix to major projects to be undertaken at the CWMH,” the hospital reportedly said in a statement.
“There have been challenges in the recent past, but the aim now is to instill in all of us living in Suva and throughout Fiji that CWMH, the largest hospital in Fiji, is our hospital and our collective responsibility.
“We must build a coordinated culture of keeping our hospital clean and involve all in the opportunity to make a difference.
“The health of every Fijian is not the responsibility of one person, one organisation, one association or one ministry, but the combined responsibility of us all.
“Help us help you and the CWMH Hospital.”
The hospital said many have expressed an interest in offering their services and the cleanup day is a good place to start.
“There is a lot of pressure on the CWMH to meet and deliver growing patient-centred services.”
Interested people should contact Losalini Tavaga on 9925269 or 9380157 or email cwmhosp.bov@gmail.com
Also in light of it centennial celebration Board of Visitors chair, Dr Esther Williams said they worked tirelessly and supporting CWMH Medical Superintendent Doctor Luke Nasedra and hospital management in the celebrations.
Dr Nasedra said they have companies that are contracted by the ministry to maintain the daily cleaning of the hospital.
“Apart from this cleanup, they (hospital staff) continue to do their normal cleanups everyday,” he said.
“Most of the cleanups they do are within the walls and around the sides of the hospital, but this cleanup is mostly on the grounds and outside the hospital.”
Dr Nasedra added that for this year, they will continue to organise similar cleanups.