+ What to Know:

COVID-19 is an illness caused by a virus that is primarily spread from person-to-person. This spread can happen when someone who is sick coughs or sneezes near you. It’s also possible to get sick if you touch surfaces that have the virus on them and then you touch your face.

+ Prevention: Keep you and your family healthy!

• Cover all coughs and sneezes (but not with your hands!)
• Wash your hands frequently - after using the restroom, fefore preparing food, before & after eating food, before touching your face, after blowing your nose, etc.
• Wash your hands thoroughly: 20 seconds of scrubbing your hands are recommended. This is about how long it takes to sing happy birthday twice! Be sure to get under your fingernails, between your fingers, and the tops of your hands clean.
• Stay home if you feel sick. No, seriously, stay home!
• Try to maintain a distance of 6 feet between you and other people. This is called social distancing and its aim is to reduce the likelihood of you getting sick from someone who is coughing or sneezing nearby.
• Try to limit visits to public places, but necessary trips are fine. You should still try to maintain a distance of 6 feet between people due to potential spread through coughs, sneezes, or inhalation of respiratory droplets present in their breath.
• Clean surfaces well, especially high touch surfaces like light switches, doorknobs, your phone, etc. Common EPA-registered household disinfectants will work.
• The CDC has more information about cleaning on this page.

+ If you start to feel sick:

• The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and shortness of breath, but some people have had other symptoms such as headache, muscle aches, etc.
• If you are feeling sick enough to call your doctor, do so. (Make this decision based on whether or not you would normally call your doctor when experiencing your current symptoms.) Call your clinic/doctor BEFORE you physically go in. They will likely have specific guidelines for you to follow when you arrive.
• Testing is done through your doctor. At the time of this writing, there is a testing shortage. Tests for health care workers, hospitalized patients, and nursing home residents are being prioritized. From the Minnesota Department of Health: “If you have symptoms of a respiratory disease(these include fever, coughing, muscle aches, sore throat, and headache), you should stay home for at least 7 days, and for 3 days with no fever and improvement of respiratory symptoms—whichever is longer. (Your fever should be gone for 3 days without using fever-reducing medicine.)”
• If you have symptoms that you can manage at home, you do not need to seek healthcare or be tested for COVID-19. But stay home! If your symptoms get worse (e.g. difficulty breathing), call your doctor.
• If you come into contact with someone who has had contact with someone else who has COVID-19, you are not considered to be at a higher risk for illness.
• If you have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, the Minnesota Department of Health will contact you directly about guidelines and recommendations.

+ Above all:

Above all, remain calm and take a deep breath. Reach out to a friend with a phone call or a text (or a letter!). We will get through this together. Our God is sovereign and still in control. He is a God of peace and hope, and we can look to Him for guidance and comfort. More resources can be found at the following links: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/index.html