Tag: Coronavirus

How to Stay Informed about COVID-19

Social media platforms are great for staying connected with friends and family, especially during Coronavirus social distancing. But, how do you stay informed about the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic? It’s helpful to go straight to the experts. Information about Coronavirus is everywhere. Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation exists. While no once source is perfect, it’s helpful to go straight to the experts to stay informed about COVID-19. This is How to Stay Informed about COVID-19:

CDC and the WHO

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the source of information that many media outlets use for COVID-19. You can find what you need to know about symptoms and even answers to frequently asked questions about Coronavirus on the CDC’s website. If you want a global update, check out the World Health Organization (WHO). They have information about the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic worldwide. The CDC and the WHO are recommended by Harvard Health Publishing since they have a mission to keep the public protected and informed.

Coronavirus.gov

The White House and CDC have released a special site dedicated to sharing information about this pandemic. Find guidelines for how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you’re sick. These are just some examples of the COVID-19 information you can find at Coronavirus.gov. Both this site and the CDC are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Local DHHS Site and Local News Outlets

Each state has its specific Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) site. Find the website of your state or territorial health department and follow it for state-specific information about Coronavirus. Be sure to also check your local news outlets for information directly related to your community.

Don’t forget that many news authorities have Facebook and Twitter accounts to make it easier to stay in the know. As a caution, don’t spend too much time engrossed in the news feeds. Your family and your homestead deserve your attention too. Thank you for reading this post, How to Stay Informed about COVID-19, and we hope you and your love ones stay safe and healthy.

Don’t miss this DIY hand sanitizer recipe!

Homesteader’s Guide to COVID-19 Social Distancing

No doubt, you’ve been hearing about the spread of COVID-19, the Coronavirus with flu-like symptoms that are currently sweeping the world. At this point in the infection’s progress, no location is considered safe. However, millions of people are not yet infected and may never get infected. The best way to protect yourself and your family is to practice a procedure coined “Social Distancing”. Read on for the Homesteader’s Guide to COVID-19 Social Distancing.

Social distancing means limiting your physical contact with other people and avoiding places where many other people have been. Fortunately for us, this is something homesteaders are ready to handle. After all, widespread illness is one of the many things worth preparing for when building a self-sufficient home.

As a homesteader, here’s a complete run-down of how your whole family safely practice social distancing to limit the spread of infection into your home.

Avoid Highly Populated Areas and Buildings

Anywhere that people gather like transport stations, stores, and schools have become infection hubs. Stay away from them whenever possible. Travel alone or only with members of your household, with whom you already share most immunities and illnesses by default. Avoid grocery stores, markets, schools, community centers, and even busy intersections where people pass close enough to potentially brush shoulders. This is the overarching concept for the Guide to COVID-19 Social Distancing.

Cancel or Postpone Social Events

Unfortunately, community and team events will need to be canceled until the epidemic passes. Talk to your whole family about canceling and not attending events. If you are a host or part of a planning committee, it’s your responsibility to protect everyone else by sending out cancellation messages. If hosts of an event you know about haven’t canceled yet, get in touch to help everyone keep a safe distance for now.

Organize No-Contact Grocery and Supply Deliveries

Of course, you still need groceries and other supplies, and so do your neighbors. It is no longer safe for people to come to stores and markets to stock up. But no-contact deliveries are safe. If someone comes to your gate and leaves a crate of groceries, you can retrieve that crate after they have gone. If both of you use gloves and/or disinfectant, you will be safe. Even families in quarantine can receive supplies this way.

To organize a network of no-contact supply deliveries. Use plastic crates at some distance on your porch or by the front gate and arrange for digital payments, whether you’re buying from neighbors or local shops. Anyone healthy and available can take first-responder contributions by in-store order shopping and driving deliveries, wearing masks and gloves to limit contact.

Disinfect Shared Surfaces Before (& After) Use

Any shared surface, at home or out in public, should be constantly disinfected between uses. It is important to limit even indirect contact between two people. Even in your household, if one person brings it in but the strain is weak, limited contact can keep the rest of the family safe. And, of course, disinfecting before touching anything outside the home will prevent you from picking up COVID-19 and bringing it into the family.

Consider wearing a mask and gloves if you need to visit a place where there are many shared surfaces or people must gather during this pandemic.

Keep All Your Animals On-Property and Do Not Accept Outside Animals

On rare occasions, coronavirus can spread to animals, and animals can give it to people. So as a homesteader, it’s important to also keep your animals isolated from those on other properties. Because the transfer is rare, it is unlikely your animals have already been infected. However, if an animal has recently visited another property, you may want to isolate it and limit contact for 14 days. Do not allow your animals to leave the property intentionally or unintentionally, and do not allow outside animals to enter your property.

Secure Your Fences and Post Property Warnings

Speaking of unintentional property wandering, secure your fences. Make sure every fence and gate is doing its job properly and is secured shut. If you haven’t already, place signs letting any human wanderers know that they have reached your property line and to turn back. This will help maintain the mild quarantine that is currently limiting the spread of COVID-19 infection.

Stand 3+ Feet Away from Others

Finally, when you do have to meet others and at home with family, stand at least three feet apart. This is the range that the virus can travel in small particles off of the body. Limit physical contact, if possible, especially with at-risk family members like the young, elderly, or immuno-suppressed.

Here at House & Homestead, we know that keeping your family safe is a top priority. Social distancing is currently the best way to do that, by completely limiting your family’s physical contact with others who might be infected. Fortunately, the internet provides us with ways to organize and stay connected, though we cannot currently meet in person. Get in touch with your community and make sure everyone is getting supplies and knows how to social-distance safely to limit the spread of this infection. Thank you for reading this Guide to COVID-19 Social Distancing, if you found it valuable please share with your friends, family, and loved ones.

Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Recipe

One thing that we try and keep around the house is a good hand sanitizer. Second, to a good old fashion hand-washing, hand sanitizer is a perfect way to keep your hands clean when you are on the go… and trying to avoid germs, at all costs.

Unfortunately, at least in my town, it is all but impossible to find any hand sanitizer on the shelves right now. As the Coronavirus spreads into communities, and hand sanitizer slowly makes its way into the hands of price gougers, I thought it would be a wonderful time to share my personal hand sanitizer recipe.

The ingredients are simple, and many of you will have most of them around your home already. I am meaning the essential oils and not the grain alcohol, but who am I to judge?

So without further adieu, if you’re finding yourself in a situation where you need hand sanitizer and do not have it, get to work. And if you can make enough to share with your friends, they will truly appreciate it especially if they have little ones running around.

DIY Hand Sanitizer

DIY Hand Sanitizer

You will need the following:

  1. Preferably in an empty pump bottle, but any glass container will do; add about 30 drops of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil has a long list of health benefits and sanitizing properties.
  2. Add in about 5 to 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Lavender also has some wonderful properties, but personally, I think it smells good and can be a very calming scent.
  3. Okay, so here’s the fun part, add in 3 ounces of a high proof vodka. I’m not talking the good stuff, I’m talking the college party stuff. Don’t skimp because the alcohol volume needs to be high, go with Everclear, for a safe bet.
  4. Next you want to go with about an ounce of aloe vera gel. This is a great moisturizer for your hands and a great way to mix in all the ingredients without them becoming too harsh. If you want to make a spray just substitute witch hazel for the aloe vera gel and you are good to go.
  5. Lastly I would say to add about a quarter of a teaspoon of vitamin E oil, as this will help moisturize and soften your hands.

We all know how important having clean hands is to keep you healthy and to keep germs from being spread.

With hand sanitizer being harder and harder to find this is a great alternative that is just as effective when you are in a pinch.