Fight Pandemic Fatigue: Take Care of Yourself and Stay Vigilant About COVID-19 Safety
COVID-19 has been in our lives for more than half of a year. We’ve learned about the importance of social distancing, cleaning our hands often and wearing masks. After many months of COVID-19 updates, these basic safety measures start to seem like old news, and many of us are experiencing “pandemic fatigue” – feeling overwhelmed, tired or frustrated about everything related to coronavirus.
While pandemic fatigue is a natural response to this stressful situation, it’s still essential to practice COVID-19 safety basics. Right now, coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations are increasing in our community. To protect our loved ones, our communities and ourselves, we need to fight pandemic fatigue and commit to keeping each other safe while also taking care of our mental health. Here’s how.
Remember COVID-19 safety basics and make sure you’re practicing them correctly.
Don’t let pandemic fatigue prevent you from keeping yourself and others safe. Practice the 3 W’s every day:
- Wear a mask. Make sure your mask fits over your mouth and nose. If your mouth or nose aren’t covered, then the risk of transmission is increased.
- Wait 6 feet apart. Think of 6 feet as a minimum distance – leave as much space as possible between yourself and others to minimize transmission risk.
- Wash your hands (or use hand sanitizer). Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds using soap and water. If you don’t have access to soap and water, then use hand sanitizer with 70% ethyl alcohol content.
These simple actions are the biggest steps we can take to slow the spread of COVID-19 and get our children back to school safely.
Get information from trustworthy sources and check them only a few times each day.
It’s important to stay up to date on trustworthy facts about COVID-19. It’s equally important to care for your mental health. Avoid information overload by choosing 2-3 trusted sources and check them only once or twice each day.
These sources offer COVID-19 information backed by science for those living in North Carolina:
Understand your risk based on where you live.
The Cone Health Enterprise Analytics team has built an online tool to help you make sense of COVID-19 numbers in your county. This tool can help you:
- View current cases and trends over time.
- See if spread is increasing or decreasing.
- Assess your risk based on gathering size.
Click here to access the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, reach out for help.
Stress and anxiety are a natural response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve been dealing with COVID-19 for many months. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or are experiencing the symptoms of depression, stress or anxiety, reach out for help from your primary care provider or your behavioral health provider. Click here to find a doctor.
>> Learn more about managing COVID-19 stress and anxiety.
