Enhanced community quarantine. Lockdown. COVID-19. Pandemic.
These are the words that have instantly become part of our daily lives over the past few weeks. And while you have probably heard or read loads of news and information about coronavirus, you might still feel that you are clueless about what's going on. It is better to arm yourself with reliable and updated knowledge to adapt better and understand more about this unique, present situation.
To help you navigate these unchartered waters of keeping you and your family safe from COVID-19 and even from preventing common illnesses, here are the basic dos and don’ts that every condo homeowner must know and follow:
Basic Dos During Enhanced Community Quarantine
1. Stay at home.
Everyone must stay at home. This is the first and foremost guideline that you must follow during the enhanced community quarantine. Since there are no classes in all levels, and there is no reporting for work in the government and private sector, it is your primary responsibility to keep yourself and your household inside your home. You must strictly follow this guideline along with your family members to prevent the Coronavirus from transferring from one place to another through a mobile host or carrier.
2. Present your valid IDs and community pass.
Only one person per household would be allowed to buy or access necessities such as money, food, and medicines. If you are a senior citizen with a pre-existing medical condition or if you are pregnant, you must appoint one member of your household who can go out to buy or access necessities. You or the household member you appointed must always bring and present a valid ID and community/quarantine pass or certificate when going out of the house.
3. Boost your immune system.
Although gyms are closed, and everyone must stay at home to be safe, these are still not valid excuses to skip a workout at home. It is a known fact that both exercise and a healthy diet are essential to boost your immune system, so you and your family members must keep moving aside from eating healthy meals during the enhanced community quarantine. You can either watch workout videos on YouTube or download training apps and lead the way in improving your family's overall well-being.
Here are a few of our favorite home exercise and workout recommendations:
- 8 Quick Yoga Exercises You Can Do To Relieve Stress at Home
- Summer Fitness Tips: 18 Ways to Get Fit at Home
- The Surprising Value Of Stairs Rather Than The Condo Elevator
4. Always wash your hands.
You and your family members must develop the habit of frequent handwashing as it can protect you from sickness. You can wash your hands frequently using soap and water. Here's the best way to wash your hands:
Step 1: Wet your hands with running water.
Step 2: Apply enough soap to cover your whole hand.
Step 3: Scrub all surfaces of the hands, including the back of your hands, between fingers, and under nails, for at least 20 seconds.
Step 4: Rinse the soap off thoroughly with running water
Step 5: Dry hands with a clean cloth or single-use towel
Wash your hands often, especially before eating; after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; and going to the bathroom. However, if you can't wash your hands with soap and water, you can also use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
5. Observe proper coughing or sneezing.
Another important guideline in coronavirus prevention is proper coughing or sneezing etiquette. Teach your family members, especially your kids, to either cover their mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue when coughing or sneezing and to dispose of used tissue immediately properly. For good measure, wash your hands as well or use alcohol or sanitizer.
6. Maintain social distancing.
Be a good citizen and condo homeowner by practicing physical or social distancing, by keeping a distance of more than six feet between you and another person. Physical distancing also means staying away from groups of 10 people or more. Doing this inside, especially outside your home, creates an additional layer of protection to help stop the spread of the human coronavirus. Keep this in mind and connect with family, friends, and others via digital methods instead.
7. Keep calm and clean.
During tough times like this, it is important to keep yourself calm. Keeping calm is one way to lower your cortisol or stress hormone. Also, you must maintain good personal hygiene even if you're just staying at home as well as keep your condo home spotlessly clean because aside from the fact that it improves your mental state, a clean home also reduces the risk of allergies and diseases.
8. Tune in to the news.
Tune in to the news and listen carefully. Make sure to tune in to your radio or TV, or watch news online so you can stay updated about COVID-19.
9. Check your family’s health.
One of the good things that the enhanced community quarantine brings is to have more time to look after your family's health. While you're staying at home, it is the best time to check each family member's state by talking to them and asking them what they feel and what they're thinking.
Keep in mind that mental health is just as important as physical health. Also, reach out to your family members, relatives, and friends via phone or video calls or connect with them via text message or chat and see how they’re doing. This would likely mean the world to them when you reach out and catch up to provide moral and emotional support during this time of crisis.
Also, you must keep in mind family planning as you try to maintain your overall health and well-being with your partner inside your condo home during the enhanced community quarantine.
10. Pray with your family.
Everyone in your home is facing unexpected challenges these days, so it is very important to do this together: pray. With the COVID-19 cases continuing to increase, Malacañang has declared the fourth week of March as the National Week of Prayer. It is certainly the best way to respond to the crisis.
You can pray as one with your family aside from your individual prayers. Pray about your fears, troubles, needs, and disappointments. Pray for the frontliners, including the health professionals, the leaders in your community, the national and local government officials, and all the nations in the world. Pray for those who are sick and at-risk and their families. Most importantly, pray for hope and peace to everyone during these troubling days.
Basic Don’ts During Enhanced Community Quarantine
1. Hoarding isn’t helping.
As a good member of the community, you must be considerate to others—your neighbors, relatives, and the service people who will need an ongoing flow of supplies during this crisis. For extra measure, DTI has set purchasing limits on how much and how many items can people buy in grocery stores to avoid hoarding and loss of stocks in essential products like canned goods and other food and hygiene items.
Stock up only what your household needs for the next two to three weeks and help by not hoarding toilet papers, diapers, masks, and other important necessities.
2. Posting social media rants won’t change the world.
While it is sometimes tempting to post rants on social media, especially after hearing the news and seeing the flaws while implementing the enhanced community quarantine, you must remember that doing this won't do any good.
What you can do instead is to find ways on how you can help and fill in the shortcomings of the government, like starting a digital fundraising campaign or sending donations online. You can also write an appreciation post to the frontliners and encourage your family members to share inspiring messages online to your fellow community members. By doing these things, you are making a positive contribution to the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Non-essential travels and events are not allowed.
Under the enhanced community quarantine, you must keep in mind that all public transportations are not allowed to operate, and no travels are allowed except those classified as 'essential’ travel, which means urgent family or business commitments. So if you have a planned vacation or trip abroad, you will have to postpone it and contact your airline company to rebook your flight (or manage it online) since you will not be allowed to leave the country.
Major airline companies have already adjusted their operations and announced the cancelation of their domestic and international flights to help the country contain the coronavirus. Aside from this, mass gatherings and events are prohibited, so you will have to also cancel your parties and group activities. However, you can opt for virtual or online meetings.
4. Roaming around is serious.
With a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. that is currently being strictly implemented by the local government units, you and your family are prohibited from roaming around, and you cannot wander nor stay in public places. Those found guilty of these violations will either be fined ₱20,000 to ₱50,000, jailed for one to six months or will be required to do community service.
5. Sendoff party for departing passengers is strictly prohibited.
If you have someone in your household or home (e.g., OFWs, balikbayans, and foreign nationals) who needs to leave the country, you have to keep in mind that you are not allowed to accompany them to the airport as no sendoff party will be allowed to accompany departing passengers during the enhanced community quarantine.
6. Accepting visitors is a no-no.
Aside from hotels, casinos, and amusement parks that are not accepting guests at this time, you must also not receive visitors into your condo home. This is another way, aside from travel abstinence, that you can guard your family against coronavirus.
However, if you have family members from abroad who are returning home, please keep in mind that they will be allowed provided that they will comply with the mandatory 14-day home quarantine set by the national government and Department of Health (DOH).
7. Stop panicking.
Panicking won't do your body any good. Even though everyone has anxiety from time to time, you have to avoid it as panic or anxiety causes serious effects on physical health. Also, the national and local government is giving assurance that there will be more than enough food and necessities during the enhanced community quarantine.
8. Spreading fake news is a crime.
You have to be mindful when it comes to sharing posts or news, especially online as the Philippine National Police (PNP) has already formed a task force to go after fake news spreaders. So, to keep yourself from committing this offense, verify the information first and also, know the facts and myths about COVID-19.
9. Avoid wasting your time.
Sooner or later, you or your family members who are staying inside your condo home will realize that aside from the threat of COVID-19, you're also fighting another battle — boredom. You must learn how to be productive at home during the quarantine. You can learn something new online, do general cleaning, update your budget, and so much more!
10. Face mask is not a requirement.
There is more information emerging everyday about COVID-19. You may be aware this time that basic surgical masks do little to protect yourself from getting infected, and while there are other masks available, they are not recommended for the general public to use. Instead of purchasing masks, you must continue to practice social distancing, wash your hands, and refrain from touching your face as these are the most effective methods of protection from coronavirus.
Now that you know these basic dos and don'ts during enhanced community quarantine, your next step is to follow these guidelines and implement them inside your condo home. This is your contribution to the efforts in the fight against coronavirus.