When your partner gets sick it’s more difficult to keep yourself healthy. It’s no accident that families and people who share households tend to get sick at the same time, and the impulse to take care of a sick significant other can make getting sick feel almost inevitable. The most important thing is to make sure that you reduce your exposure to your sick partner and take the best care of yourself while they recover.
Here are some simple actions you can take if you are asking yourself, “How do I avoid getting my partner’s cold?”
Wash Your Hands Often
The best way to avoid catching a cold, coronavirus, flu and other viruses from your partner is to be vigilant about hand-washing. Common sense? Yes. The techniques of hand-washing are significant, however. Hand-washing should take 20 seconds (about the length of time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song two times) and should include vigorous rubbing. You should use soap and warm water. The technique should include washing between your fingers, the backs of your hands, and under your fingernails.
When you dry your hands, don’t use the same towel as your partner. Disposable paper towels are a highly effective way to avoid spreading germs. If you don’t have access to soap and warm water, you should use alcohol-based hand sanitizers, hand-sanitizing gels, and wipes to clean your hands.
Part of good hand-washing is making sure you wash them at the right times. These times include before you eat or drink, after you use the bathroom, and any time you touch something that your sick partner might have touched.
Clean High-touch Surfaces
Areas and surfaces that are frequently touched are a source of virus transmission, so regularly clean high-touch surfaces such as door knobs, refrigerator handles, countertops, keyboards and toys — before you touch them. Viruses can last on surfaces for a full day.
To kill the germs, use a quality disinfectant. Cleaners that contain virus-killing ingredients include bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol and antiseptics that contain iodine. If you don't have a household product, you can mix 1/4 cup of household bleach and a gallon of water to make your own.
Proper Disposal of Tissues
Because sick people use tissues and other items to wipe their noses and cough and sneeze into, these items should be handled properly. The sick person should promptly discard any items that contain their secretions. Proper disposal is important because viruses can remain on the inside of tissues for about 15 minutes.
Vaccination
A flu vaccination prevents one in three cases of the flu and it can help to prevent you from contracting the flu from your partner. If you get the flu after getting the vaccine, your symptoms will be milder and you should have a shorter duration of the flu.
Learn more about how you can stay healthy during flu season this year.
Quarantine Your Partner
To avoid catching a cold, coronavirus, flu, and other viruses from your partner, you can create a sick room. Viruses can live on surfaces for up to eight hours, so avoid touching tissue boxes, remote controls, medicines or other things that might be contaminated. By setting aside a separate room, you confine the germs to the room of your sick partner.
If your partner or spouse is sick, you should consider sleeping in separate beds. If you share a bed, wear a face mask while you sleep, or face in opposite directions to avoid breathing in each other’s faces. A face mask that is comfortable to wear for long periods of time is key here. So look for a mask like the Boomer Nano-Silver Reusable Face Mask that meets WHO guidelines, and that has comfort-enhancing features like adjustable ear straps and multiple sizes.
If possible, assign a separate bathroom for your sick partner. If you have to share a bathroom, the partner should clean and disinfect any surface he or she touches after using the bathroom. If cleaning isn’t possible, you should increase the air circulation by either using exhaust fans or by opening doors or windows to refresh the air.
Take Care of Yourself
To avoid catching a cold or other infectious disease from your partner, these recommendations should help. Boomer Naturals and its full line of protective products can help you to employ some of these good behaviors until your partner gets well again.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/well/how-do-i-avoid-catching-cold-or-flu-from-my-sick-partner.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMake%20sure%20tissues%20and%20other,Rehm%20said.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-stay-healthy-when-your-family-is-sick-770446
https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/stop-spread-cold-flu1#1
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-avoid-the-flu-2018-2
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/living-in-close-quarters.html