COVID-19 Malaysia: Tips and Strategies To Stay Safe Leave a comment

Omicron, the “variant” of COVID-19 Malaysia virus, which is more contagious than previous variants (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta) that require more effective prevention and control, is spreading all over the world now including Malaysia.

Countries around the world are taking more aggressive prevention measures against this COVID-19 pandemic.

In Malaysia, another 186 Omicron cases were reported between Jan 14 and Jan 18 2022.

Thus, the cumulative number of cases of the variant of concern in Malaysia increased to 439.

We should do everything we can to protect ourselves, our families, friends, and those around us.

In this article, I will talk about how the COVID-19 spread along with tips and strategies to stay safe from COVID-19 in Malaysia.

How Does The COVID-19 Spread In Malaysia?

First at all, before going into the topic of tips and strategies to stay safe, we need to know how COVID-19 spreads so that we are able to take steps to protect ourselves and others.

COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness that is able to largely spread via droplets in the air and is mainly transmitted via the respiratory route when people inhale the droplets.

These droplets are usually generated when an infected person exhales as they sing, cough, sneeze, breathe, or talk.

If these droplets get into the eyes, nose, or mouth of a nearby person, when they are physically close, particularly indoors, and might lead to transmission of infection.

The virus inside the infected person’s body will become less infectious after the symptoms develop, so that the person’s viral load decreases steadily.

However, infected persons might keep shedding the virus after they recover from COVID-19 for around 2 weeks in their droplets.

For those infected persons with a little or no symptom can have a very high viral load in their upper respiratory tracts.

Although the droplets will not be suspended in the air for long after exhaling by an infected person, COVID-19 has also been found to persist for days on various kinds of surfaces.

Contact with such contaminated surfaces and subsequent touching the face with contaminated hands may also cause transmission.

In conclusion, the most common ways in which Coronavirus can spread are:

• Infected person exhalation without covering the mouth.
• Coming into contact with a person who’s already carrying the virus at a close distance.
• Contact with contaminated surfaces, then touching nose or mouth.

Base on research by the CDC ( Centers for Disease Control And Prevention ) the Omicron variant likely will spread more easily than the original COVID-19 virus.

They also expect that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or don’t have symptoms.

What Can I Do To Prevent COVID-19 ?

Nowadays, there is no single step or strategy that can stop the spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia.

Instead, we need to follow multiple tips and strategies to stay safe including:

• Wash Your Hand Frequently
• No Handshaking Or Kissing On The Cheeks
• Avoid Touching Your Face
• Cover Your Mouth And Nose When You Are Coughing Or Sneezing
• Ensure Good Indoor Ventilation
• Practice Social Distancing And Avoid Crowded Places
• Don’t Share Object With Other People
• Maintain Healthy Diet
• Avoid Eating Or Drinking In Public Places
• Wearing A Face Mask
• Wearing A Face Shield
• Use Hand Sanitizer
• Pay Attention To COVID-19 Symptoms
• Get Vaccination
• COVID-19 Malaysia: Tips and Strategies To Stay Safe Conclusion

Wash Your Hand Frequently

One of the most important COVID-19 prevention methods is handwashing.

Below are five easy steps to make sure you’re effectively washing your hands to protect yourself and your family from getting sick:

1. Wet the hands first with tap water and apply the soup.
2. Lather the hands by rubbing with the soup, including lather between fingers, under finger nails and the backs of the hands.
3. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds.
4. Rinse your hands under tap water.
5. Dry your hands with a clean tower.

Rewash your hands several times a day, especially when returning home from outside or after touching anything or surface, including your phone or laptop.

If you have children, teach them to wash their hands frequently during the school day. 

No Handshaking Or Kissing On The Cheeks

Avoiding touching other people was important COVID-19 prevention too, as due to skin-to-skin contact, one can transmit COVID-19 easily from one person to another.

Since person-to-person greetings such as handshaking or actions such as hugging or kissing were better avoided, why not try out new ways of greetings?

In the video above, instead of shaking hands, the two men greet each other by kicking feet – quick right kick, quick left kick.

As you can see there are many other ways to greet people without touching that we can try to apply in our daily life.

In Iran, people have applied a similar greeting called “butt bump”.

Besides the foot kick, butt bump and elbow touch.

In Japan, a deep bow with both hands kept down to the sides is a traditional greeting.

By applying contactless greetings, we may have an easier time avoiding person-to-person contact.

Avoid Touching Your Face During COVID-19 Malaysia

From picking up objects to turning doorknobs, we’re constantly touching surfaces that might be contaminated with the COVID-19 virus.

Thus, as COVID-19 prevention, keep your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth.

This is because our mucous membranes are a portal of entry for germs that cause respiratory infections.

Cover Your Mouth And Nose When You Are Coughing Or Sneezing

As mentioned before, the virus can be carried by air droplets to other people, especially when you cough, sneeze, or talk.

It can also survive on hard surfaces for a few days.

When coughing, “hand over mouth” is well intended, but you need to know that in doing so you catapult a large amount of viruses out which then stick to your hands.

This might also cause surface contamination when you are touching around without cleaning your hand. 

Thus, use a tissue or sneeze into your elbow to keep your hands as clean as possible and minimize surface contamination.

Discard the tissue immediately after use, preferably into some container with a disposable bag that you can close tightly and dispose of regularly.

Ensure Good Indoor Ventilation

An important COVID-19 prevention is to increase ventilation.

In general, the greater the number of people in an indoor environment, the greater the need for ventilation with outdoor air.

By ensuring proper ventilation able to reduce the risk of indoor health concerns including preventing the virus that causes COVID-19 from spreading indoors.

Proper ventilation also reduces surface contamination by removing some virus particles before they can fall from the air to the surface.

Thus, make sure your property has good ventilation to lower the chances of indoor contaminants.

Practice Social Distancing And Avoid Crowded Places

Another important COVID-19 prevention is to stay at home and away from others as much as possible was the practice of social distancing.

Social distancing was also another effective prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

We should use online video and phone communication rather than in-person contact to minimize the risk of getting infected.

As communities reopen in Malaysia and people are more often in public, the term “physical distancing” is being used to reinforce the need to stay at least 6 feet from others.

Moreover, it is better that we avoid staying in crowded places, especially crowded indoor spaces like restaurants, bars, fitness centers, or movie theaters puts you at higher risk for COVID-19.

It might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation and the virus spreads more easily in these kind of spaces.

Don’t Share Object With Other People During COVID-19 Malaysia

Sharing is good practice that allows you to make friends and find resources and referrals more easily.

But, we better avoid this action during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since it is very hard to identify how a patient is infected by COVID-19, by avoiding community sharing able to prevent the spread of coronavirus, be it pen, page, phone or paper.

If you think an object may be infected, contaminated, clean it using a surface disinfectant followed by washing your hands.

When staying at home, do not share dishes, glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people in your home.

Maintain A Healthy Diet And Food Hygiene

Eating a healthy diet is very important during the COVID-19 Malaysia pandemic.

This is due to the nutrition acquired by eating and drinking that can affect our body’s ability to prevent, fight and recover from infections.

While no foods or dietary supplements can prevent or cure COVID-19 infection, healthy diets are important for supporting immune systems for us to fight the COVID-19 virus.

Even though there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread through contact with food or food packaging in Malaysia.

It may be possible that people can become infected by touching a surface or object contaminated by the virus and then touching their face.

As always, good hygiene is important when handling food to protect us from any food-borne illnesses. 

Follow World Health Organization ( WHO ) five keys to safer food:

• Keep clean
• Separate raw and cooked
• Cook thoroughly
• Keep food at safe temperatures
• Use safe water and raw materials.

Avoid Eating Or Drinking In Public Places

As you know Malaysia’s restaurant are already open for dine-in.

It’s important to realize that eating out will increase your risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

Two of the most important public health measures for minimizing the risk of infection are nearly impossible to apply in these situations.

First, we need to take off the face mask before eating or drinking.

Second, social distancing is difficult in tight spaces filled with crowded customers.

Thus, the COVID-19 virus can be easily transmitted through the air, food, utensils, dishes, and cups.

In a safer way, you can choose food delivery service or takeaway food.

Choose foods that are thoroughly cooked and can be reheated also able to decrease the chance of getting infected.

Wearing A Face Mask

Wearing the most protective mask you can consistently is one of the best preventions of COVID-19 spread, protect yourself and others.

The appropriate use, storage and cleaning or disposal of masks are essential to make them as effective as possible.

Below are four easy steps that cover the basics:

• Wash your hand before putting on the mask, as well as before and after taking it off or after you touch it at anytime.
• Make sure the mask covers both your nose, mouth and chin. 
• When you take off a mask, store it in a clean disposable bag, and every day either wash it if it’s a fabric mask, or dispose of a medical mask in a trash bin.
• Don’t use masks with valves.

Wearing A Face Shield

Face shields are primarily used to protect your eyes; that it should be used in addition to a mask, but not as a substitute for a mask.

The face shield will protect the mask from being contaminated and then block additional droplets from your whole face, including your eyes.

Below are three easy steps to make sure the face shield is clean after every use:

1. Submerge the protective panel in soapy water first to get any possible surface contaminants off.
2. Clean the surface with a soft sponge or cloth and rinse it.
3. Dry the face shield with a soft tower.

You can clean the headpiece separately if the headpiece and shield can be separated.

It’s possible to clean the face shield with antibacterial wipes, but be careful because they can leave a residue.

You can also sanitize the face shield with 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes that able eliminate the virus on it.

Use Hand Sanitizer

If soap and water are not available, the hand sanitizers able to clean your hand easily and prevent the spreading of COVID-19.

Below are three easy steps to use the sanitizer:

1. Coat your palms and fingers with hand sanitizer.
2. Rub the hand sanitizer all over your hands.
3. Keep rubbing until hands are thoroughly dry.

If you use alcohol-based hand sanitizers, be especially careful not to get hand sanitizer in your eyes because it can cause burning and damage to the surface of the eye.

Pay Attention To COVID-19 Symptoms

Monitoring symptoms is especially important when you are running errands, working at workplace, or going into some crowded building to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Most of the time it may be difficult to keep a physical distance of 6 feet in this kind of place.

Thus, monitor the symptoms before entering such building to reduce risk of spreading COVID-19 virus.

Separate yourself from other people immediately when you find a symptom develops and quickly search for medical support.

Get Vaccination To Stay Safe From COVID-19 Malaysia

Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a key part of prevention.

Once you receive the first shot, your body will start to produce antibodies to fight coronavirus.

These antibodies help your immune system fight the virus if you happen to be exposed and significantly reduce your chance of getting the disease.

Although there is still the possibility of becoming infected after being vaccinated, once more of the population is vaccinated, those chances are further reduced thanks to something called herd immunity.

Thus, getting vaccinated not only reduces your chance of being infected; it also contributes to community protection, reducing the likelihood of virus transmission.

There are studies that have found that expectant mothers who receive the COVID-19 vaccine create antibodies to the virus and pass those to their unborn baby through the placenta.

Mothers were also shown to pass antibodies to their newborns through breast milk.

This suggests those newborns have some immunity to the virus, which is especially important as young children cannot get the vaccine.

COVID-19 Malaysia: Tips and Strategies To Stay Safe Conclusion

In this article we already discussed tips and strategies that able to help you stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I hope that this knowledge may be helpful to you.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a part of our daily lives nowadays in Malaysia.

With about 3000 new cases a day in Malaysia, it remains as important as ever to stay vigilant and know how to protect yourself from coronavirus.

Have you already used any tips and strategies to protect yourself from COVID-19 Malaysia?

Share your thoughts with us by commenting below.

Any comments, suggestions and corrections are most welcome.

Attention

Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with your personal healthcare professional or other medical professionals.

References

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