03/04/2020
Protect yourself and others
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Overview
- Symptoms and causes
- Protect yourself and others
- Testing
- Treatment
- Restricted movements and self-isolation
- At-risk groups
- Cocooning
To protect yourself and others from coronavirus (COVID-19), think about how the virus is spread.
Coronavirus is spread in sneeze or cough droplets. To infect you, it has to get from an infected person's nose or mouth into your eyes, nose or mouth. This can be direct or indirect (on hands, objects, surfaces).
Keep this in mind. It will help you remember all the things you need to do to protect yourself and others from the virus.
Stay at home
Everyone needs to stay at home to help slow the spread of coronavirus. You should only leave your home to:
shop for essential food and household goods
attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products
care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits
exercise outdoors - within 2 kilometres of your home and only with people from your own household - keeping 2 metres between you and other people
travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing
There is separate advice about:
restricting your movements if you live with someone who has symptoms, a confirmed case or has returned to Ireland from another country
self-isolating if you have symptoms of coronavirus
taking extra care if you're in an at-risk group
cocooning for people who are over 70, are extremely medically vulnerable or live in a residential home or long-term care
Avoid non-essential travel overseas and follow the DFA's travel advice.
Social distancing
Social distancing is important to help slow the spread of coronavirus. It does this by minimising contact between potentially infected individuals and healthy individuals.
You should:
keep a space of 2 metres (6.5 feet) between you and other people
avoid communal sleeping areas
avoid any crowded places
not shake hands or make close contact with other people, if possible
There is very little risk if you are just passing someone. But try to keep a distance of 2 metres as much as possible.
Good hygiene and hand washing
Follow this advice as strictly as possible and encourage others to follow this advice too.
Do
Wash your hands properly and often
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve when you cough and sneeze.
Put used tissues into a bin and wash your hands.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
Don't
Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.
Do not share objects that touch your mouth – for example, bottles, cups.
Wash your hands properly and often
You should wash your hands:
after coughing or sneezing
before and after eating
before and after preparing food
if you were in contact with someone who has a fever or respiratory symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing)
before and after being on public transport if you must use it
before and after being in a crowd (especially an indoor crowd)
when you arrive and leave buildings including your home or anyone else's home
if you have handled animals or animal waste
before having a cigarette or va**ng
if your hands are dirty
after toilet use
Keep your hands in good condition, moisturise them often. Any basic product that is not perfumed or coloured is OK.
Disposable gloves
Do not wear disposable gloves instead of washing your hands. The virus gets on them in the same way it gets on your hands. Also, your hands can get contaminated when you take them off.
Disposable gloves are worn in medical settings. They are not as effective in daily life.
Wearing disposable gloves can give you a false sense of security.
You might:
sneeze or cough into the gloves - this creates a new surface for the virus to live on
contaminate yourself when taking off the gloves or touching surfaces
not wash your hands as often as you need to and touch your face with contaminated gloves
Read a step-by-step guide on how to properly wash your hands and avoid infection.
