Tips for Staying Safe Before the Holidays

With the holidays just around the corner, many students are making travel plans to return home to visit their families and loved ones. When making these plans think about who you are going home to, and who you might see over the break. Are you going home to older parents? Do you have a grandparent living with you? Are any of your siblings or family members immunocompromised? Is any family member considered to be high risk for COVID-19?

These are the people that you are protecting – your friends, family and loved ones.

If you are planning on travelling home for the holidays, it might be a good idea to self-isolate for the two weeks before you go home. Here are some things you can do in order to prepare for your self-isolation.

Communicate With Your Roommates

When starting your self-imposed two-week quarantine, it is important to communicate with your roommates what you are doing and why you are doing it. This may be something your roommates were also worried about and discussing how you are approaching the issue may have them deciding to join you to protect themselves from spreading anything to their family members.

If your roommates do not wish to join you in self-isolation there are things that you can do to practice a safe isolation period.

• Use a separate bathroom. If there are multiple bathrooms in your home, maybe ask your roommates if one bathroom could be dedicated to you for the next two weeks.
• Wear a mask around the apartment when you are in common areas and you cannot be 2-metres apart where a mask to protect yourself.
• Limit interactions. Try to keep to yourself as much as possible for the next two week stay in your bedroom.
• Avoid sharing personal items. These items could include towels, utensils, electronics, etc.

Prepare Your Food Ahead of Time

If you are going to be quarantining for two weeks, you will need to purchase all the food you may need ahead of time so that you do not need to go to the grocery store. A good idea is to plan which types of meals you might want to eat in the next two weeks and plan your grocery list around those meals. But while you are planning your meals don’t forget to buy the snacks that you would normally eat as well.

If you are in the middle of your self-isolation and you find that you have run out of food or you don’t want to eat any of the meals you had originally planned, there are other options for you.

• Uber Eats and delivery services. Uber Eats is great for a last-minute craving and they have a great new service where they leave the food on your front step and will message you when the delivery person has left the area. Other restaurants, such as Pizza Hut, provide the same no-contact service as Uber Eats. Order food from a local restaurant and ask them to leave the food at the front step and call you after they are back to their car! There are even some grocery stores, such as Independent Grocer, that offer a delivery service. As well, Uber Eats has a new grocery delivery option.
• Call a friend and ask them if they could bring you more groceries to get you through the rest of your isolation period.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

During your quarantine it is important take care of your mental health as you may get lonely and forget why you were isolating in the first place. There are a number of things that you can do to take care of yourself.

• Exercise! Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can improve your mental and physical health
• Go for a walk. Just because you are isolating doesn’t mean you can’t go outside to get some fresh air. Just remember if you are leaving an apartment you need to wear a mask and it is good practice to bring hand sanitizer with you so that you can sanitize your hands after touching door handles and railings.
• FaceTime/Zoom friends or family. It’s easy to forget that FaceTiming your friends can boost your spirits and help you remember that you are not alone. Talking to your family can help you remember why you are doing this and who you are protecting by doing this.
• Play a game online with friends or play games by yourself, such as solitaire.
• Take up a new hobby such as drawing, painting, writing or chess.
• Eat healthy foods! It may be easier to grab a bag of chips or make a pizza for dinner, but having healthy meals will do wonders at keeping your spirits high and improving your mental health.

You may be thinking why should I do this? Doesn’t this seem a bit extreme? But before thinking that, remember that anything you touch, anyone you see, will pass germs onto you and in turn you could pass those germs onto other people. Think of everyone you love and how they may be affected if you accidentally bring home the virus.