Protect yourself and others from COVID-19

If COVID-19 is spreading in your community, stay safe by taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. Check local advice where you live and work.

Do it all!

What to do to keep yourself and others safe from COVID-19

1. Maintain at least a 1-metre distance between yourself and others to reduce your risk of infection when they cough, sneeze or speak. Maintain an even greater distance between yourself and others when indoors. The further away, the better.
2. Make wearing a mask a normal part of being around other people. The appropriate use, storage and cleaning or disposal are essential to make masks as effective as possible.

Here are the basics of how to wear a mask:

1. Clean your hands before you put your mask on, as well as before and after you take it off, and after you touch it at any time.
2. Make sure it covers both your nose, mouth and chin.
3. When you take off a mask, store it in a clean plastic bag, and every day either wash it if it’s a fabric mask, or dispose of a medical mask in a trash bin.
4. Don’t use masks with valves.

How to make your environment safer

Avoid the 3Cs: spaces that are closed, crowded or involve close contact.

1. Outbreaks have been reported in restaurants, choir practices, fitness classes, nightclubs, offices and places of worship where people have gathered, often in crowded indoor settings where they talk loudly, shout, breathe heavily or sing.
2. The risks of getting COVID-19 are higher in crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces where infected people spend long periods of time together in close proximity. These environments are where the virus appears to spread by respiratory droplets or aerosols more efficiently, so taking precautions is even more important.

Meet people outside.

Outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor ones, particularly if indoor spaces are small and without outdoor air coming in.

1. Avoid crowded or indoor settings but if you can’t, then take precautions:
2. Open a window. Increase the amount of ‘natural ventilation’ when indoors.
3. Wear a mask.

Don’t forget the basics of good hygiene

1. Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. This eliminates germs including viruses that may be on your hands.
2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and infect you.
3. Cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately into a closed bin and wash your hands. By following good ‘respiratory hygiene’, you protect the people around you from viruses, which cause colds, flu and COVID-19.
4. Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently, especially those which are regularly touched, such as door handles, faucets and phone screens.

What to do if you feel unwell

1. Know the full range of symptoms of COVID-19. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Other symptoms that are less common and may affect some patients include loss of taste or smell, aches and pains, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, red eyes, diarrhoea, or a skin rash.
2. Stay home and self-isolate even if you have minor symptoms such as cough, headache, mild fever, until you recover. Call your healthcare provider or hotline for advice. Have someone bring you supplies. If you need to leave your house or have someone near you, wear a medical mask to avoid infecting others.
3. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention immediately. Call by telephone first, if you can and follow the directions of your local health authority.
4. Keep up to date on the latest information from trusted sources, such as WHO or your local and national health authorities. Local and national authorities and public health units are best placed to advise on what people in your area should be doing to protect themselves.

1. What are the symptoms of Covid-19?

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are

1. Fever
2. Dry cough
3. Fatigue

Other symptoms that are less common and may affect some patients include:

1. Loss of taste or smell,
2. Nasal congestion,
3. Conjunctivitis (also known as red eyes)
4. Sore throat,
5. Headache,
6. Muscle or joint pain,
7. Different types of skin rash,
8. Nausea or vomiting,
9. Diarrhea
10. Chills or dizziness

Symptoms of severe COVID‐19 disease include:

1. Shortness of breath,
2. Loss of appetite,
3. Confusion,
4. Persistent pain or pressure in the chest,
5. High temperature (above 38 °C).

Other less common symptoms are:

1. Irritability,
2. Confusion,
3. Reduced consciousness (sometimes associated with seizures),
4. Anxiety,
5. Depression,
6. Sleep disorders,
7. More severe and rare neurological complications such as strokes, brain inflammation, delirium and nerve damage.

People of all ages who experience fever and/or cough associated with difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, or loss of speech or movement should seek medical care immediately. If possible, call your health care provider, hotline or health facility first, so you can be directed to the right clinic.

2. How can we protect ourselves and others if we do not know who is infected?

Stay safe by taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, especially when distancing cannot be maintained, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds and close contact, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. Check local advice where you live and work. Do it all!

3. What should I do if I have been exposed to someone who has Covid-19?

If you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you may become infected, even if you feel well.

After exposure to someone who has COVID-19, do the following:

1. Call your health care provider or COVID-19 hotline to find out where and when to get a test.
2. Cooperate with contact-tracing procedures to stop the spread of the virus.
3. If testing is not available, stay home and away from others for 14 days.
4. While you are in quarantine, do not go to work, to school or to public places. Ask someone to bring you supplies.
5. Keep at least a 1-metre distance from others, even from your family members.
6. Wear a medical mask to protect others, including if/when you need to seek medical care.
7. Clean your hands frequently.
8. Stay in a separate room from other family members, and if not possible, wear a medical mask.
9. Keep the room well-ventilated.
10. If you share a room, place beds at least 1 metre apart.
11. Monitor yourself for any symptoms for 14 days. 
12. Stay positive by keeping in touch with loved ones by phone or online, and by exercising at home.

4. What should I do if I have Covid-19 symptoms?

If you have any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider or COVID-19 hotline for instructions and find out when and where to get a test, stay at home for 14 days away from others and monitor your health.

If you have shortness of breath or pain or pressure in the chest, seek medical attention at a health facility immediately. Call your healthcare provider or hotline in advance for direction to the right health facility.

If you live in an area with malaria or dengue fever, seek medical care if you have a fever.

If local guidance recommends visiting a medical centre for testing, assessment or isolation, wear a medical mask while travelling to and from the facility and during medical care. Also keep at least a 1-metre distance from other people and avoid touching surfaces with your hands.  This applies to adults and children.

5. What are the preventions and control measures to be prepared and put in place in educational institutions?

There are several actions and requirements that should be reviewed and put in place to prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in colleges and into the community; and to ensure the safety of children and staff while at colleges.

WHO recommends the following:

Community-level measures: Carry out early detection, testing, contact tracing and quarantine of contacts; investigate clusters; ensure physical distancing, hand and hygiene practices and age-appropriate mask use; shield vulnerable groups. Community-led initiatives such as addressing misleading rumors also play an important role in reducing the risk of infection.

Hygiene and daily practices at the colleges and classroom level: Physical distancing of at least 1 metre between individuals including spacing of desks, frequent hand and respiratory hygiene, age-appropriate mask use, ventilation and environmental cleaning measures should be in place to limit exposure. Schools should educate staff and students on COVID-19 prevention measures, develop a schedule for daily cleaning and disinfection of the school environment, facilities and frequently touches surfaces, and ensure availability of hand hygiene facilities and national/local guidance on the use of masks.

Screening and care of sick students, teachers and other school staff: Colleges should enforce the policy of “staying home if unwell”, waive the requirement for a doctor’s note, create a checklist for parents/students/staff to decide whether to go to school (taking into consideration the local situation), ensure students who have been in contact with a COVID-19 case stay home for 14 days, and consider options for screening on arrival.

Protection of individuals at high-risk: Colleges should identify students and teachers at high-risk with pre-existing medical conditions to come up with strategies to keep them safe; maintain physical distancing and use of medical masks as well as frequent hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette.

Communication with parents and students: Schools should keep students and parents informed about the measures being implemented to ensure their collaboration and support.

Additional college-related measures such as immunization checks and catch-up vaccination programmes: Ensure continuity or expansion of essential services, including school feeding and mental health and psycho-social support.

Physical distancing outside classrooms: Maintain a distance of at least 1 metre for both students (all age groups) and staff, where feasible.

Physical distancing inside classrooms: In areas with community transmission of COVID-19, maintain a distance of at least 1 metre between all individuals of all age groups, for any colleges remaining open. This includes increasing desk spacing and staging recesses, breaks and lunch breaks; limiting the mixing of classes and of age groups; considering smaller classes or alternating attendance schedules, and ensuring good ventilation in classrooms.

In areas with cluster-transmission of COVID-19, a risk-based approach should be taken when deciding whether to keep a distance of at least 1 metre between students. Staff should always keep at least 1 metre apart from each other and from students and should wear a mask in situations where 1-metre distance is not practical.