Stress and Coping

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations.

How you respond to the outbreak can depend on your background, the things that make you different from other people, and the community you live in.

People who may respond more strongly to the stress of a crisis include

• Older people and people with chronic diseases who are at higher risk for COVID-19

• Children and teens

• People who are helping with the response to COVID-19, like doctors and other health care providers, or first responders

• People who have mental health conditions including problems with substance use

Stress during an infectious disease outbreak can include

• Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones

• Changes in sleep or eating patterns

• Difficulty sleeping or concentrating

• Worsening of chronic health problems

• Increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs

People with preexisting mental health conditions should continue with their treatment and be aware of new or worsening symptoms.

Taking care of yourself, your friends, and your family can help you cope with stress. Helping others cope with their stress can also make your community stronger.

Things you can do to support yourself

• Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.

• Take care of your body. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid alcohol and drugs.

• Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy.

• Connect with others while practicing social distance. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.

Be psychologically ready and Coronavirus anxiety will not get the best of you.

Call your healthcare provider if stress gets in the way of your daily activities for several days in a row, contact the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence on 649-338-3613 in Grand Turk or 649-338-4737 in Providenciales

Should I Wear a Mask?

Only wear a mask if you are ill with COVID-19 symptoms (especially coughing) or looking after someone who may have COVID-19. Disposable face mask can only be used once. If you are not ill or looking after someone who is ill, then you are wasting a mask. There is a world-wide shortage of masks, so WHO urges people to use masks wisely.

WHO advises rational use of medical masks to avoid unnecessary wastage of precious resources and mis-use of masks.

The most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to frequently clean your hands, cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue and maintain a distance of at least 1 meter (3 feet) from people who are coughing or sneezing.

What is Social Distancing?

What does social distancing mean?

Social distancing practices are changes in behaviour that can help stop the spread of infections. These often include curtailing social contact, work and schooling among seemingly healthy individuals, with a view to delaying transmission and reducing the size of an outbreak.

How do you practice social distancing?

As an individual, you can lower your risk of infection by reducing your rate of contact with other people. Avoiding public spaces and unnecessary social gatherings, especially events with large numbers of people or crowds, will lower the chance that you will be exposed to the new coronavirus as well as to other infectious diseases like flu.

Other measures include working from home if possible, organizing meetings via video calls rather than doing them in person and avoiding unnecessary use of public transport.

Social distancing “should be approached sensibly and rationally”. If you do have to be out and about, the World Health Organization recommends maintaining a distance of at least 3ft-6ft between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. It is also recommended that you avoid physical contact with others in social situations, including handshakes, hugs and kisses.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, or having been in a public place.

• If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 70% alcohol.

• To the extent possible, avoid touching high-touch surfaces in public places– elevator buttons, door handles, handrails, handshaking with people, etc. Use a tissue or your sleeve to cover your hand or finger if you must touch something.

• Wash your hands after touching surfaces in public places.

• Avoid touching your face, nose, eyes, etc.

• Clean and disinfect your home to remove germs: practice routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces (for example: tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets, faucets, sinks & cell phones)

• Avoid crowds, especially in poorly ventilated spaces. Your risk of exposure to respiratory viruses like COVID-19 may increase in crowded, closed-in settings with little air circulation if there are people in the crowd who are sick.

• Avoid all non-essential travel including plane trips, and especially avoid embarking on cruise ships.

• Avoid public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.

If COVID-19 is spreading in your community

Take extra measures to put distance between yourself and other people to further reduce your risk of being exposed to this new virus.

• Stay home as much as possible.

• Consider ways of getting food brought to your house through family, social, or commercial networks

Here is what you can do to prepare your family in case COVID-19 spreads in your community.

Know Your Local Information

Know where to find local information on COVID-19 and local trends of COVID-19 cases.

Know the Signs and Symptoms

Be sure to know what the signs and symptoms are and what to do if you are symptomatic:

• Stay home when you are sick

• Call the COVID 19 hotline if you are experiencing signs or symptoms

• Do not visit a health facility

• Limit movement in the community

• Limit visitors

Take Steps for Those at Higher Risk

Know what additional measures those at higher risk and who are vulnerable should take.

Protect Yourself & Family

Implement steps to prevent illness. For example, stay home when sick, handwashing, respiratory etiquette, clean frequently touched surfaces often.

Create a household plan of action

In case of illness in the household or disruption of daily activities due to COVID-19 in the community.

• Consider 2-week supply of prescription and over the counter medications, food and other essentials. Know how to get food delivered if possible.

• Establish ways to communicate with others (e.g., family, friends, co-workers).

• Establish plans to: telework, what to do about childcare needs, how to adapt to cancellation of events.

Stay Informed About Emergency Plans

Know about emergency operations plans for schools/workplaces of household members.

• Stay home and call your doctor or the Coronavirus hotline.
• If you get sick with fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher), cough, or have trouble breathing
• Call the Coronavirus hotline on 333-0911 or 2329444 or call 911 and let them know about your symptoms. Tell them that you believe that you may have COVID-19. This will help them take care of you and keep other people from getting infected or exposed.
• If you are not sick enough to be hospitalized, you can recover at home. Follow the Ministry of Health’s instructions for how to take care of yourself at home.
• People who are mildly ill with COVID-19 are able to recover at home. Do not leave, except to get medical care. Do not visit public areas.
• Know when to get emergency help.
• Call for medical attention immediately if you have any of the emergency warning signs.

Separate yourself from other people in your home, this is known as home isolation

• Stay away from others: As much as possible, you should stay in a specific “sick room” and away from other people in your home. Use a separate bathroom, if available.
• Limit contact with pets & animals: You should restrict contact with pets and other animals, just like you would around other people.
  • Although there have not been reports of pets or other animals becoming sick with COVID-19, it is still recommended that people with the virus limit contact with animals until more information is known.
  • When possible, have another member of your household care for your animals while you are sick with COVID-19. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with them.

Cover your coughs and sneezes

• Cover: Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Dispose: Throw used tissues in a lined trash can.
• Wash hands: Immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 70% alcohol.

Clean your hands often

• Wash hands: Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. This is especially important after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; and before eating or preparing food.
• Hand sanitizer: If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 70% alcohol, covering all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry.
• Soap and water: Soap and water are the best option, especially if hands are visibly dirty.
• Avoid touching: Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid sharing personal household items

• Do not share: Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people in your home.
• Wash thoroughly after use: After using these items, wash them thoroughly with soap and water or put in the dishwasher.

Clean all “high-touch” surfaces everyday

Clean high-touch surfaces in your isolation area (“sick room” and bathroom) every day; let a caregiver clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces in other areas of the home.

• Clean and disinfect: Routinely clean high-touch surfaces in your “sick room” and bathroom. Let someone else clean and disinfect surfaces in common areas, but not your bedroom and bathroom.
• If a caregiver or other person needs to clean and disinfect a sick person’s bedroom or bathroom, they should do so on an as-needed basis. The caregiver/other person should wear a mask and wait as long as possible after the sick person has used the bathroom.

High-touch surfaces include phones, remote controls, counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables.

• Clean and disinfect areas that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them.
• Household cleaners and disinfectants: Clean the area or item with soap and water or another detergent if it is dirty. Then, use a household disinfectant.
• Be sure to follow the instructions on the label to ensure safe and effective use of the product. Many products recommend keeping the surface wet for several minutes to ensure germs are killed. Many also recommend precautions such as wearing gloves and making sure you have good ventilation during use of the product.
• Most common household disinfectants should be effective. A full list of disinfectants can be found

Monitor your symptoms

• Seek medical attention, but call first: Seek medical care right away if your illness is worsening (for example, if you have difficulty breathing).
  • Call your doctor before going in: Before going to the doctor’s office or emergency room, call ahead and tell them your symptoms. They will tell you what to do.
• Wear a facemask: If possible, put on a facemask before you enter the building. If you can’t put on a facemask, try to keep a safe distance from other people (at least 6 feet away). This will help protect the people in the office or waiting room.
• Follow care instructions from your healthcare provider and local health department: Your local health authorities will give instructions on checking your symptoms and reporting information.

Who is at Higher Risk?

Early information out of China, where COVID-19 first started, shows that some people are at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness. This includes:

• Older adults
• Older persons in nursing care homes
• Older persons who are shut in
• People who have serious chronic medical conditions like:
  • Heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • Lung disease
  • Immune compromised persons

Get ready for COVID-19 now

If you are at higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19 because of your age or because you have a serious long-term health problem, it is extra important for you to take actions to reduce your risk of getting sick with the disease.

• Stock up on supplies.
• Take everyday precautions to keep space between yourself and others.
• When you go out in public, keep away from others who are sick, limit close contact and wash your hands often.
• Avoid crowds as much as possible.
• Avoid cruise travel and non-essential air travel.
• During a COVID-19 outbreak in your community, stay homeas much as possible to further reduce your risk of being exposed. If a COVID-19 outbreak happens in your community, it could last for a long time. (An outbreak is when a large number of people suddenly get sick). Depending on how severe the outbreak is, public health officials may recommend community actions to reduce people’s risk of being exposed to COVID-19. These actions can slow the spread and reduce the impact of disease.
• Contact your healthcare provider to ask about obtaining extra necessary medicationsto have on hand in case there is an outbreak of COVID-19 in your community and you need to stay home for a prolonged period of time.
• If you cannot get extra medications, consider using mail-order for medications.
• Be sure you have over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies(tissues, etc.) to treat fever and other symptoms. Most people will be able to recover from COVID-19 at home.
• Have enough household items and grocerieson hand so that you will be prepared to stay at home for a period of time.

Have supplies on hand

• Contact your healthcare provider to ask about obtaining extra necessary medicationsto have on hand in case there is an outbreak of COVID-19 in your community and you need to stay home for a prolonged period of time.
• Be sure you have over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies(tissues, etc.) to treat fever and other symptoms. Most people will be able to recover from COVID-19 at home.
• Have enough household items and groceries on hand so that you will be prepared to stay at home for a period of time.