Maintaining physical, mental, social, and economic health amid the pandemic Situations.

A comprehensive guide Introduction, The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has altered our everyday life. Each day, thousands of new cases are confirmed, whereas hundreds struggle with life in ICUs and ventilators. The worst to mention is the failing health mechanisms and shortage of oxygen cylinders at the hospitals.

We are severely hit by the pandemic due to our carelessness, lack of precautions, ignoring the lessons learned from our previous mistakes, lack of preparedness and farsightedness, and more or less due to political power games in the country. It has devastated the public healthcare system, broken down the economy, restricted the necessary public gatherings, intensified mental health conditions, and compelled people to stay indoors.

The concern now is how to keep our physical and mental health conditions sound and prepare for a new normal. All the individuals, families, community, and government should unite and strive against these common problems.

Physical health

1. Cleanliness and disinfection

The primary health precaution we must keep following is wearing masks while moving outside and meeting the children, old and vulnerable.

Touching the mouth, nose, and eyes unnecessarily should be avoided. Hand sanitizers should be used in public places, before entering the house, and before handling food or eating. Touching things in public places should be avoided.

Wearing gloves is a hygienic practice. All the family members should wash their hands with soap and water time and again. Every nook and corner of the house should be cleaned and disinfected.

2. Physical distancing

Physical distancing is vital to remain safe and keep others safe from the infection. One should refrain from social gatherings, parties and remain indoors as far as possible.

Visiting hospitals, markets, and risky places should not be done unless necessary. If any member is tested coronavirus positive, they should remain isolated from other family members or partners.

The infected patient in the family should be given love, care, support, and encouragement to defeat the sickness not just physiologically but also psychologically. The parents also should ensure that the rooms are well ventilated as well.

Special attention should be given to the elderly and vulnerable groups such as the patients with asthma, heart diseases, diabetes, elderly members, and people with weak immunity so that the situation does not become complex.

The adults and young people who have to travel outside should not come in close contact with them. They should be kept warm, and soup should be provided regularly. Likewise, unnecessary travel to the market should be minimized.

The household and kitchen items should be brought for at least a week rather than visiting the market often. However, over-hoarding of essential goods is also malpractice as it might cause scarcity in the market.

3. Nutrition and balanced diet

Likewise, attention should be provided to the family's balanced diet to maintain health and increase the immunity of the body. Particularly, food boosting immunity should be consumed more.

If it is not possible to get them from the market, a balanced diet can also be prepared from locally available food. We can cultivate fruits and vegetables in our garden, yard, or rooftop.

Minors, older adults, and sick people in the family should be provided with enough juices, soups, and water to keep them hydrated, warm, and refreshed. The supplementary medicines can also be administered after consultation with family doctors.

However, cold drinks, junk food, packed and bottled food, and foods containing high sugar, fats, and cholesterol should be minimized. Likewise, storing excessive food in the refrigerator for a longer period can cause a loss of their nutrients. Tobacco and alcoholic products should also be discarded.

4. Exercise and physical activities

During the lockdowns, people are urged to stay indoors, following the instruction of the government. In such leisure, people remain idle at home or spend their time watching television, playing video and virtual games, sleeping, etc.

This can cause physical as well as mental illness. Likewise, the working pattern has also become remote in various professions. The inactive lifestyle increases obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, high blood cholesterol, and many other health problems.

To keep ourselves fit and healthy, we need to perform several physical activities such as going for a morning or evening walk, performing light exercises, gymnastics, yoga and meditation, playing games, and so on.

There are also several other creative and productive ways to burn calories, such as playing indoor games, dancing, gardening, cleaning rooms, farm and yards, playing with pets, grazing animals, and so on. Physical activities will reward us with physical fitness and sound metabolism and fun, peace, satisfaction, and economic gain.

Mental health

1. Peaceful environment

The fear of the pandemic, unemployment, lack of resources, and uncertainty can cause frustrations and conflicts in the family. To minimize and control the possible problems and misunderstandings, all the family members should be cooperative and supportive.

All the members, including the women and children, should be involved in the financial decisions and let to know the finances and management of the family needs. Anger management is a must in this time of difficulty as the guardians of the family are under financial pressure, anxiety, and uncertainty.

The guardians should deal with the problems and conflicts properly. They should go to the source of the problem and deal with it. If possible, they should maintain a sound environment so that such conflicts can be prevented in advance.

Taking long breathes, drinking cold water, taking a break, and remaining isolated during extreme situations (when the arguments begin to develop) can be helpful in anger management and its possible outcomes. As the parents have a huge impact on the children, they should set a good example of speech and action in front of their children.

In addition, it is safe and healthy to refrain from alcohol and other harmful substances. Likewise, weapons, fuel, and sharp objects which are likely to be used to hurt the self or others when anger is triggered should be placed in a safe place and out of easy reach.

2. Fun/entertainment

Children and teenagers may be scared due to the stories heard on the TV, radio, and social media. They may become bored and frustrated, missing their school, friends, and outdoor fun.

Therefore, parents can spend a certain part of the day playing with their children, engaging them in various kinds of indoor games and creative activities. They can involve them in the games, arts, and other activities that initiate movements, develop cognitive power, boost memory, and help them learn lessons with fun.

Storytelling, making TikTok videos, watching movies, playing chess, football, or video games, reading storybooks, singing songs, dancing, acting, cookery, mimicry, embroidery, gardening, cleaning, and decorating rooms, etc. are some of the activities to keep children engaged.

Indoor games and creative activities ensure the children remain safe, enjoy with the family and explore their strength, ability, and interest.

3. Positivity and optimism Currently

Every aspect of life has become disorganized, and uncertainty is hovering around. There are chances of losing hope, temper, and patience due to the fear, mental tension, anxiety, and conflicts caused by financial problems, loss in the business, health issues, and disturbance in the study and career development, family responsibility, and deviation from the plan.

Positivity and optimism, hence, are equally important as vaccines for fighting against this unprecedented situation. If anyone in the family becomes ill, we should offer them care, support, and psychological strength to battle the sickness.

The guardians, children, and spouses should be supportive of each other in the family. We can try to remain optimistic amidst uncertainties, hoping everything will be fine and normal soon.

We can take this as a temporary setback to take a break, rethink, plan, internalize, and come stronger for the breakthrough in the post-pandemic life.

The family members can sit together, dream, and share what they would like to do, whom they would like to meet, where they would like to visit after the lockdown ends, and so on.

Social well-being

1. Communication and social interactions

 To counter the trauma, subdue the fear and develop positivity, the parents should take time to sit and listen to their children and console, love, guide them, and give them hope.

We can even talk to our family members, text/call friends, relatives, or neighbors and inquire about them and encourage and support one another.

Young people should also be allowed to talk to their friends and relatives, and neighbors both online and in-person, maintaining the physical distance.

However, online activities of children and adolescents should be monitored for safety.

2. Quality time with the family

We normally remain busy and focused on our work, travel, study, training, and career development. As a result, we find it difficult to manage our parents, spouse, and children.

This lockdown is an opportunity to spend quality time with them, talk and listen to them, sit and eat together, and enjoy family life.

Guardians and older adults can talk about their memorable events; young people can share their dreams and plans after the lockdown is lifted, help parents in kitchen and farm works, help younger siblings with the study, perform some creative and productive works, and so on.

Family members can make the best memories even in this difficult time.

3. Community feeling and community service

 Currently, many people have lost their jobs and struggling financially to run the family and meet the basic needs of food, housing, drinking water, clothes, medicines, education, etc.

There might be several such people and families in our neighborhood and community. Collaborating with the government, the community leaders can relieve families with difficult situations such as daily wage workers, widows, older adults, marginalized people, and differently-abled persons.

Community members can set up community isolation centers with beds, oxygen cylinders, and ventilators for their community members.

The community groups, institutions, clubs, philanthropists, religious groups, etc., can take bigger responsibilities and collaborate for common welfare during this difficult situation, such as feeding the daily wage workers, distributing groceries, offering ambulance service, donating health equipment, and donating health equipment so on.

Food and cloth banks also can be initiated in the community. Furthermore, over-hoarding of the daily and essential commodities should be avoided, and priority should be given to others rather than oneself.

Community leaders can also take the initiatives to check black marketing. There are several things one can do at the individual level. Maintaining physical dance and safety measures, we can offer meals to the helpless people in our neighborhoods, offer books and educational items to their children, share vegetables from the farm, help the children next door/in the immediate neighborhood with their studies, and so on.

The house owners can waive their tenants' rent fully or partially for the period of the lockdown. As members of the community, we need to follow the government's guidelines and cancel/postpone all kinds of social and religious gatherings.

When the recommended vaccines become available at the community level, we should take them on a priority basis as per the government's plan.

It is also our duty to appreciate the efforts of the frontline workers, particularly medical personnel, police, ambulance drivers, carriers of essential items, and so on.

Conclusion

The government should integrate and strengthen health services to examine, care, manage and treat Covid-19 patients. The number of isolation and quarantine centers should be sufficient to accommodate, manage and care for suspected and proven positive cases.

The ICUs, ventilators, special care units, and oxygen cylinders should be arranged in various parts of the country.

Health personnel in a large number should be deployed to examine and test the people at a rapid rate and then control the spread of the virus in the community by executing various measures.

Moreover, it would be a great relief to the families and small entrepreneurs if the government and banks could lower the interest rates and launch special financial plans for the unemployed and small entrepreneurs to cope with the current situation and possible crisis.

Likewise, the execution of a cheaper internet package for online classes and effective classes via TV/ Radio would ease the teaching and learning process. To sum up, the current pandemic we are facing will surely come to an end.

We will get back to our normal lives and move outdoors fearless. But, reaching that point depends on our present actions.

If we follow distancing measures and control the spread of the disease, we will experience the post-pandemic world soon.