sanitized, but don’t let it make you feel so comfortable you forget to observe other healthy behaviors. The other problem is that the CDC saw many people using cleaners and disinfectants improperly throughout the pandemic—people were using more disinfectant than was directed, mixing products with chemicals that shouldn’t have been mixed, and applying products in areas with either bad ventilation or without proper personal protection equipment like rubber gloves. Is it any wonder there was an increase in exposure to toxic cleaning products that coincided with the pandemic? The smartest thing you can do is clean frequently touched surfaces in your home once a day and other areas as needed or (as the CDC states) when they’re visibly dirty. If someone in your home is sick—or vulnerable to being sick—you may need to clean more frequently. Always follow the directions on disinfectant products to avoid risk of exposure to dangerous chemicals.
SOCIAL DISTANCING “Social distancing” was a phrase few people had heard before the pandemic—but it’s now part of everyday language, thanks to the CDC’s guidelines that encourage people to keep six feet away from others as a means of lessening the risk of transmission from respiratory droplets. Respecting personal space will continue to prevent the spread of germs even after the pandemic is over, and many people will appreciate not having the person behind them in line at the store close enough to breathe all over them. But in other ways, keeping distance has been unhealthy—and vaccines have made it possible for family and friends to interact with one another again. This is important because physical closeness (and touch) is an important part of our wellbeing. Physical contact prompts our bodies to produce the hormone oxytocin, which can create feelings of connection with other people, boost our mood, improve our appetite, and help us achieve better sleep.
STAYING HOME WHEN SICK Before the pandemic, many people prided themselves on being able to trudge through their regular routine when they were feeling under the weather. But when spreading sickness became a matter of life and death, workplaces and schools started emphasizing that people who were experiencing symptoms needed to stay home. That’s a good thing—during a pandemic or otherwise. Letting an illness spread throughout a place of employment is bad for business because it hinders everyone from working at their full capacity. That means there’s a financial burden as well. The National Partnership for Women and Families refers to the practice of working when sick as “presenteeism” and explains that the spread of sickness and lost productivity that results from it costs the national economy an estimated $160 billion every year. But unfortunately, although the Families First Coronavirus Response Act required employers to provide paid sick leave for employees through December 2020, some American workers still don’t have access to paid sick days—only 64 percent of private-sector employees get paid time off for being sick, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The National Partnership for Women and Families estimates paid sick days could save employers up to $1.8 billion annually by keeping sick employees home and keeping healthy employees healthy.
Still feeling a little wary about how you should be behaving these days from a health perspective? You can find the latest guidelines from health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by going to cdc.gov/coronavirus or the National Institutes of Health at covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov.
C O M IN G U P IN
JANUARY PRIVATE SCHOOL GUIDE!
PLUS:
LE A DE RS IN E DU CATION , CRITICA L RA CE THE ORY, A N D F IN A N CIA L CON SIDE RATION S
whatsupmag.com | December 2021 | What’s Up? Annapolis
193
