Amber from California asks:
I'm a grocery store worker in Ventura.
We are still open and operating.
We try to force customers to practice social distancing,
but many of them ignore us.
We are constantly touching stuff on the shelves.
I don't know what I am exposing myself to.
I have a history of anxiety, and since this pandemic
has hit our country, my anxiety is through the roof!
When does my well-being take priority
over being a good coworker?
Do I stay and risk getting sick
because I don't wanna hurt someone's feelings
or make them feel abandoned?
Well, you know, I actually ran into this
about two and a half weeks ago.
So I own a treatment center that's outpatient,
and I had a therapist who didn't feel safe enough
to come into work because of the interaction
with other clients.
And so as soon as she made that decision,
the whole company, we went digital.
We went to completely doing telehealth
for everyone's safety.
And I think it really depends on what your job is.
I think it's incredibly important
to go to your HR director and find out
what the policy is.
And I also think if you're gonna stay in this job,
it's really important that you figure out
what you need to do for your own anxiety
so that you're not bringing it back home afterwards.
Well, you know, so many people are in jobs
that you can't do digitally.
Everything you can do digitally, as you say,
should 100% be done digitally.
But in so many jobs, there has to be somebody there
to hand you the product, to give you
what service that you might need.
And we just have to really rely on employers to say,
I am going to go that extra mile
to protect my employees, here.
I'm gonna make sure that they have their own PPE,
their own Personal Protective Equipment,
where we can maintain barriers,
we can put stuff at the front door for people to pick up,
we can wash hands, we can wear masks,
we can wear goggles, we can do everything we can.
And then when those people get home,
it really is worthwhile to stop in the garage,
take those clothes off, put 'em straight
into the washer and go straight to the shower
before you interact with any family members.
Dr. Sophy, this virus can live on clothes,
can be tracked in by shoes.
It does make a difference to get out
of those clothes, get them in the washer,
and take a shower before you touch anyone in your family.
True?
Before you even touch a doorknob, if possible.
You've gotta wash your hands and you've gotta
really keep that hygiene going,
'cause it is very communicable.
It spreads like fire, as we see.
Yes.
So does it matter, if a person does stop
in the garage, take those clothes off,
go straight to the shower, wash their hands
in the garage after they take their clothes off,
can that actually make a difference?
Does that help with the communicability?
100%, yes.
It really cuts it way, way down.
You've limited now a lot of access.
So yes, the more you can do that stuff, the better.
And always wash your hands.
We have delivery people that are delivering food
to a lot of people's houses now.
It's the only way for a lot of 'em
to get it sometimes.
Do you recommend unpackaging that outside the house
with gloves and then washing the containers inside
but leaving the bags outside?
How do you do that?
What's your advice?
Yes, that's what I've been telling people to do.
Leave the bags outside, bring the containers in,
wash them, and then open them and eat.
But also, again, really washing your hands
is key, as well.
And people don't know how long to wash their hands for.
I tell them to sing "Happy Birthday."
The "Happy Birthday" song is the length of time,
pretty much, that you need to be washing your hands
to kill the germs that are of any threat to us.
So it's about 20 seconds.
Right.
Something like that.
Yep.
And hot soap and water is just as good
as any disinfectant, true?
Yes it is, yes.
So you don't need something fancy,
just hot soap and water.
Nah, you don't need all, right.
You don't need all the PURELLs and all that stuff.
So hot soap and water, "Happy Birthday to You,"
and you're fine.