Protecting Myself From Coronavirus

Many people are asking me what I’m doing during this

coronavirus pandemic. I’m certainly overly cautious,

especially given my background in microbiology, physiology

and epidemiology. Now, in New York City, we have to social-distance, and notgo out of the house, except for necessities. Given that I live in a distant NYC suburb without a car, I have to venture out on foot to buy groceries. Here’s 
what I do.

Whenever I have access to soap and water, I thoroughly

wash all the surfaces of my hands.

I carry Purell in my pocket and use it liberally when soap and

water is not available.

I don’t touch my hands to my mouth, eyes or nose.

I also carry Lysol wipes and use this on any surface I will be

touching.

I don’t get within six feet of anyone. 

Whenever I have to open a door or touch a handrail, I do

so with a Lysol wipe in my hand or I wear one cloth glove.

But the glove, of course, becomes contaminated and, once

I get home, I disinfect it by rinsing in chlorine. (I don’t let

the glove touch my bare hands or anything else I will be

touching.)

I use a diluted solution of alcohol on my iPhone if it was

somehow set on a surface that I neglected to wipe down with Lysol.

While I’ve seen people reusing N-95 masks or surgical masks

-- the latter are not effective against the coronovirus -- most

are single-use masks and are not to be reused. In addition,

if you are wearing a mask and you take it off, you have to properly

clean your hands that touched the mask.