One 12 months after the beginning of the pandemic in France and tens of 1000’s of deaths later, the coronavirus is the rhythm of our lives, even when we wish to do away with it.
In taking inventory of this previous 12 months, we’ve got listed – by way of a number of testimonies collected – a number of actions that we took for worry of the virus within the spring of 2020 and that we’ve got fully abandoned since …
1 / Let your groceries relaxation earlier than placing them away
It is by way of droplets and direct contact between people that the Covid-19 is unfold. But initially of the epidemic, the virus was stated to outlive on surfaces for as much as 3 hours … Theory which has typically been dismantled since.
As a end result, the races grew to become a supply of stress for a lot of. The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Anses) really useful to “let your shopping rest two or three hours after bringing them home when it is not about products fresh”.
The French left their groceries on the touchdown, within the automotive or within the storage … “I put them in the entrance to my apartment for a few hours and then I washed the wrappings that I could not remove before putting them away. J ‘was scared,’ tells us Julie, in her forties. And a little wipe over all that.
However, certain hygiene habits remain: “For a 12 months, I’ve washed all of the fruit and veggies with cleaning soap earlier than placing them away”, adds Eloise. Well…
2 / Go out with surgical gloves
We had some within the cabinets … and we offered out the shares like Jean, who swore by his surgical gloves. He even put them on to go to the mailbox throughout the first confinement. Considered to be in danger, this 60-year-old was very afraid of the virus initially of the pandemic, a 12 months in the past. “I didn’t even want to go back to a hospital after spending a lot of time there for my treatment.”
So, as quickly as the colleges have closed, begin the combat in his small Parisian condominium: each day cleansing with bleach, rolls of kitchen towels at hand to press switches or elevator buttons, procuring. wipes, hydroalcoholic gel, masks… “I almost needed a handbag to carry all my gear,” he laughs, excited about it.
Louis additionally made his first purchasing for Covid-19 in a hypermarket by pushing the cart with surgical gloves. “I put the mask on my nose over and over again, I touched everything, thinking about it it was far from hygienic.” He is true.
Very quickly, the specialists clarified that “gloves are a false measure because you end up putting your gloved hands on your phone and forgetting the basic rules. In addition, there is a risk of contaminating yourself when removing the gloves”, had defined Dr. Benjamin Davido, infectious illness physician on the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches and quoted by the UFC Que Choisir. “Better to wash your hands when leaving home and returning from shopping.”
More information
In the pharmacy, fragrance and hygiene departments of hypermarkets, shoppers threw themselves, throughout the first week of confinement, on family gloves (+ 344%), bleach, extremely really useful as a result of it’s virucidal (+ 133% ), in line with LSA journal.
3 / No longer open your home windows
How might the coronavirus enter our house? When doubtful, the French didn’t even dare to open the home windows, at the same time as the attractive days arrived.
“At the beginning, we did not really know how the virus circulated, we had limited the impression that, if we opened the window, it was going to jump on us,” continues Louis. “I was sealed off at home, I avoided having contact with the outside as much as possible,” provides Simone.
“It’s a mistake”, warned in May 2020 Valérie Pernelet-Joly, head of the air threat evaluation unit at ANSES. “By dint of confinement, if ever a person is sick, it would be much more problematic in an unventilated environment than if we opened the windows,” she assured.
Even in an epidemic interval, it’s certainly completely really useful to resume the air in your little house, by opening the home windows a minimum of 10 to fifteen minutes thrice a day, and by checking that the air flow system, such because the air grilles. air flow or VMC (managed mechanical air flow), is functioning appropriately. Moreover, the WHO raised the air flow of the premises to the rank of barrier gestures final October.
Since then, Emmanuel Macron has even staged himself by airing a window of the Elysee Palace.
4 / Applaud the caregivers
Remember, each evening at 8 p.m., for 2 months, we applauded the caregivers, on the entrance line towards the coronavirus. A behavior that was quickly forgotten on the primary day of the (first) deconfinement …
5 / Take off and clear your garments immediately
Some had created a sanitary “airlock”: when coming back from procuring or the approved hour-long stroll, many French individuals undressed fully and put their garments to be washed immediately, a bit like tidying up groceries …
6 / Brush with gel in all places, on a regular basis
“A year ago, I washed my hands all the time, a real OCD. And since my hands were damaged, by force, in addition to the gel I brushed myself on, I put on gloves when I went out. shopping, ”says Nathalie.
The hydroalcoholic gel, which was impossible to find a year ago, has found its usefulness during this crisis.
But for fear of Covid-19, some have had very bad ideas, such as spraying their pillow or beard with hydroalcoholic gel. However, alcohol dries out the skin and hair, it is well known! Not to mention the uselessness of the gesture …
