Can Shoes And Clothes Bring The Virus At Home? The virus has taken all over the world almost and has become a pandemic. People are trying to practice safety measures like hand washing, social distancing, and wearing masks to protect themselves. Since the virus spreads from respiratory droplets, it is so important to practice social distancing. Also, handwashing frequently is necessary, because if anyone having the infection coughs or sneezes on the surface. The virus can reside on that surface for almost 24 to 48 hours. People are also worried that can shoes and clothes bring a virus at home. In this article, we will discuss that your shoes and clothes can become a source of virus transmission or not. Do you need to disinfect them rapidly or you can keep wearing them either. Can clothes bring the virus at home? Since SARS-COV-2 is a different and a new virus, there is not much research done about it. Up to date, experts believe that clothes or fabric have a low risk of carrying the virus. They believe that plastic and metal are a significant source of carrying and hence transmitting the virus. If you are going out for a grocery and maintaining a proper social distance, then you do not need to wash and disinfect your clothes soon. You can keep wearing them. But in some situations, it is better to wash and disinfect your clothes just as you come home. These conditions are as follows: Who should wash their clothes soon? If you are a healthcare worker, you should wash your clothes soon as you come home. There is a chance that you can bring a virus at home. If you went out shopping at the grocery store and was unable to practice social distancing, you should wash your clothes soon as you come back home. If you are taking care of any person at your home who is suffering from a virus, you should change and wash your clothes frequently. You do not need any specific disinfectant for your clothes. Normal detergent can kill the virus. So do not worry about getting any particular disinfectant. Try to wash your clothes with a possible warmest temperature. Also do not shake your dirty clothes, it can make viruses airborne. Can shoes bring the virus at home? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus can reside on your shoe soles. The experts conducted a study in Wuhan’s intensive care unit. They took the samples from the healthcare workers’ shoe soles who were working in the intensive care unit. It showed that the virus strains were present on their shoe soles. Therefore, you can bring a virus at home if you are a healthcare worker or if you go out for any other purposes. But the chances of virus transmission are quite low through your shoes because we already treat them as a dirty object. Shoe soles are not a high touch surface. But you should make sure that you do not roam in the house with the same shoes you wear while going out. You should keep them at a particular place of your home from where there would be fewer chances of virus transmission. You can also keep your shoes in your garage, garden, entrance, or anywhere else. Do take extra care if you have crawling kids at home. Because kids can reach easily your shoes and even touch them on their faces. You can also consider disinfecting your shoes with a detergent or a disinfectant whenever you come back home from out. It would be a good practice to contain the spread of the virus at home. Experts say that make sure to wash your shoes out of your home and let them dry naturally. Conclusion The virus has become a major problem nowadays for the whole world. It is better to take as much care as we can. By taking the right measures, we can contain this outbreak. It is important to practice social distancing, disinfecting high touch surfaces, and avoid shaking hands. Another thing that contributes to bringing a virus at home is the polythene bag. Make sure you discard them as soon as you bring them home. Since the virus can reside on plastic for a long time. Make sure to disinfect the surface where you put them in your home. It would take extra time and energy in disinfecting things, but it is worth doing. A little prevention can save you and your family from getting the infection. For more info visit Instacare for a coronavirus test, visit here.
How Can Older People Stay Safe From This Pandemic? Older adults and people seem to be at higher risk. We can make sure that older people stay safe. But people with severe diseases like cancer, heart, lungs, and diabetes are at higher risk. They can develop more complications from the infectious disease. Because 8 out of 10 deaths in the US have been in 65 years and older. Here are some stats: Estimated percent requiring hospitalization 31-70% of adults 85 years old and older 31-59% of adults 65-84 years old Estimated percent requiring admission to an intensive care unit 6-29% of adults 85 years old and older 11-31% of adults 65-84 years old Estimated percent who died 10-27% of adults 85 years old and older 4-11% of adults 65-84 years old However, the fatality rate of people over 80 years from this pandemic is almost 15% from China. Older people do not have a robust immune system to cope with this pandemic. This pandemic is impacting the global population in drastic ways. In many countries, it is difficult for older people to stay safe and they are facing severe threats and challenges at this time. On the other hand, all age groups are at risk of exposure to the virus. However, older people can develop a severe illness if they contract due to the psychological changes that come with aging and potential health conditions. During this time of isolation, we should treat all older people treated with high respect and dignity so they stay safe. Likewise, support for older people’s families, their near ones, and their caregivers are an essential part of the countries’ comprehensive response to the pandemic. Care of Diet and Medicine During times of isolation and quarantine, older people need safe access to nutritious food, necessary supplies, money, medicine to support their physical health, and social care. Older people should have access to accurate information. So, they should be told how to stay physically and mentally fit during this pandemic and what to do if they fall sick. They are often dependent on communities and carers to maintain their daily routine. The care of mental health during troubled times is also a key consideration. Social Challenges To keep your grandparents or parents safe because you can not visit them. However, this does not mean to isolate them socially. Physical distancing is not social isolation. The older people might have isolation or mobility challenges. As a result, they might not know what to do. In many societies, seniors are most lively to live in poverty. Therefore, this makes it difficult for them to get food, and they can not even take care of them. To stay at home might be difficult. This is not asked to change their behavior forever, but just for three to four months. When you look at the curve of Wuhan and Hubei, It’s only been three months. So stay at home for three months, and it will be alright. There are some simple steps that you can do to keep them safe and fit during this pandemic. Family Get Together You can plan family gatherings not physically but virtually. This will help them to cope with their loneliness. Research shows that older people are more likely to talk with their grandchildren. Precautions in Checkups Whether it is routine checkup or emergency, take all precautionary measures. Call a doctor at home for a regular checkup for table condition or electoral procedure. Consult with a doctor before any move. You can use telehealth services like Instacre is providing free guidelines related to the pandemic and infectious virus. Encourage Activities If they are still doing their exercise and following their diet and health care routine, appreciate and encourage them. Ask them to practice all types of training like strength and flexibility etc. Plan ways if they fall sick “Expect good and prepare for the worst” thing applies here because they fall ill. This will enhance the delivery of emergency health care to them instead of unable to understand what happens. On the other hand, if you did not think about it, then it will create panic and even cause significant loss. Create a list of organizations For this, create a list of organizations that can properly guide you on what to do in that situation. For this purpose, the government of Pakistan created a helpline for the guidance of individuals. You can call on 1166 to ask for more details about the disease. Instacare is providing free counseling on this high time for serving the community. You can call on 092-317-9797-297 for guidance from medical experts. In short, there are many ways through which we can prevent them. We can engage them and keep them mentally and physically fit when this pandemic will over; they can easily follow their previous routine. Meanwhile, they need our attention and support. Loved ones check in with older adults about their support networks, and help them find ways to stay connected to these groups and routines. Some religious and civic organizations may already have a plan in place for reaching out to older adults in their community. If so, make sure that the older adults know that too, and help them connect with whatever services may be available to protect them.
The world is facing a global crisis of coronavirus pandemic. The testing capacity has always been a question mark to the performance of any government in the world. In Pakistan, More than 5,000 patients have been reported to date. The current testing capacity of Pakistan is still very low. According to the Federal Health Minister, Dr. Zafar Mirza, the government of Pakistan is trying to increase the capacity to 20,000 PCR tests by the end of April 2020. Meanwhile, InstaCare, who is always known for its innovation in making healthcare services accessible in Pakistan joined hands with Eurofins Biomnis, a Global European leader in Diagnostic Services through Balsa. With this collaboration, InstaCare now has the capacity to conduct up to 40,000 PCR Tests in Pakistan every month. It’s a massive contribution by a European leader to support Pakistan and is also a great support for the government where our own local pathology labs have a monthly capacity of fewer than 10,000 tests per month. Eurofins is currently offering the test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, and the Netherlands and soon in more countries with a global capacity of 15,000 tests per day and have already conducted more than 600,000 tests. How to Book COVID Test in Pakistan Through a web and mobile portal, a patient can book a test with a home sample collection service in Pakistan. A Patient can also use a helpline number i.e. 0317-1777516 to book a test. InstaCare will start collecting the samples with home delivery service in collaboration with Akram Medical Complex, Lahore. These samples will be shipped to Eurofins Biomnis diagnostic centers in Europe. Within 4 days, results will be produced. Digital Reports will be provided to the patients through InstaCare’s EMR. Quality Assurance Eurofins Biomnis performs 32,000 tests every day with a team of 737 pathologists, highly qualified scientists, and technologists. Currently, the European leader is operating in over 40 countries across the world with 23 international collection hubs. The collaboration between InstaCare and Eurofins Biomnis through Balsa have collectively increased the national testing capacity to over 100,000+ Tests per month. It is also important to understand the importance of collaboration in this critical time when SARS-CoV-2 detection is crucial for every country. Not just the testing capacity but also the authenticity and quality of the test is a real challenge for everyone. Current situation of PCRS tests in Pakistan According to Government officials, Pakistan will have capacity of testing 25,000 patients per day by the end of this month. But are the testing kits that are employed currently precise enough to give credible results? There are several instances when people were tested positive while they were not infected and then in the second text it showed they are negative. Consider that if a kit can show a negative case positive, then the opposite can also be true. If a corona positive has been ignored because of the wrong text result, this can cause serious consequences. That’s why, in any case, we must not compromise on quality. As mentioned above, Eurofins Biomins is currently serving in countries like Britain, US, and Germany. Further, there are a few number of laboratories who are providing testing options but there are two problems. They don’t have nationwide reach and charge a considerable amount of money. To solve this problem, along with Akram Medical Complex, InstaCare will serve a vast number of people.
