How to Prepare for a Pandemic to Avoid Potential Crisis

A life-threatening disease can break you both physically and financially. The seriousness of the disease can hamper the quality of life and public health at large. The outbreak of such diseases often turns uncontrollable and becomes a pandemic. It disrupts normal life; there is country-wide lockdown, closed schools, restrictions on regular activities, unavailability of essential items, and unreasonable price of commodities because of the potential spread of the disease. 

The question is how to prepare yourself for this critical situation. If you are a family man, think about the wellness and safety of your wife, children, and other family members including pets during an emergency. If you are clueless about how to prepare for a pandemic, here is everything you need to know. 

What is a Pandemic and Why Take It Seriously? 

Before we think about preparing ourselves for an epidemic, we must know the intensity and the severity of the outbreak of a particular disease. An outbreak of a disease is known as a pandemic, especially when the disease has transmitted or infected an extensive region, over one country or continent. A disease with the potential of turning out to be a pandemic can come in many forms and we can hardly predict them. We have seen how the world suffered from the outbreak of killer diseases like influenza or flu, Zika virus, HIV/ AIDS, and Coronavirus. 

Rapid transmission and unavailability of essential medicines for the disease are few reasons for which a disease often becomes a pandemic. Now, the question is why you need to be serious about this. Let us talk about how difficult your life can be during a pandemic. 

The Effect of Pandemic on People’s Life 

The consequence of a pandemic is the rise in the number of deaths. Infectious diseases can cross the boundaries of countries and continents and damage global socio-economic stability. Along with the immense casualties across the world, a pandemic can hit a country socially, economically, and politically. 

SARS (2003), H1NI (2009), Ebola (2013), and Covid19 (2020) are some examples of the pandemic that caused deaths in huge numbers and ruined the social and economic structure of many countries. A pandemic can be a serious challenge for everyone. It does not matter how established you are, a pandemic can affect your life in many ways. Have a look at the consequences you may have to face during a pandemic.  

  • Country-Wide Lockdown:  To curb the spread of a disease, different countries may adopt the strategy of Lockdown. A lockdown can be described as an emergency protocol that prevents people from leaving a given area. The mundane routine hits a standstill. A country-wide lockdown means closure of shops, industries, educational institutions, government offices, no public transport is common during pandemic. In most cases, people who know how to prepare for a pandemic stay inside their homes unless there is an emergency.  
  • Destabilizes your Economy:  It does not matter what profession you belong to, a pandemic can stall your source of income. People prefer to stay home during a pandemic to avoid being infected, and this affects their regular activities. Businesses and services across the world face the heat and draw huge losses during a pandemic. 
  • Psychological Effect:People tend to panic during a mass scale outbreak and news of death can affect their mental well- being. Fearing for the unknown or any personal lose can be a cause of anxiety. Feeling stressed and fearful can take a toll on health and psychological well being. During this time, there is a steep rise in the number of cases of depression. The lockdown can make people live in fear of losing their jobs, savings and even basic needs. 
  • Unavailability of Essentials: A pandemic can lead to an area or nation-wide lockdown. In such a state, there can be a dearth of essential items including foods and drugs. During a pandemic, you may find everything around you closed like shops, markets, and eateries. 
  • Confusion and Panic: During a pandemic, you will never know when the emergency will end. The good news is something you will rarely get. People spend days in confusion and panic, and you will never know what will happen. Preparing for a pandemic can save you from paranoia and anxiety about the future.  

These are some of the effects of a pandemic on an individual’s life. The outbreak of a deadly disease can impact your personal and professional life negativity, hence preparing for the pandemic is always a wise decision. Taking adequate preventive measures before the pandemic becomes worse, can help you to better deal with the situation. Here, we will highlight some ways to get ready for the key challenges thrown by a pandemic. 

Ways to Get Ready for the Pandemic Challenges 

The term pandemic sounds scary for many people and they often take wrong steps in a hurry. Remember, a pandemic is a time when you need to be calmer to fight the situation. There are certain ways to lessen the level of difficulties in your life. Let us talk about the things you can do before the outbreak of the disease worldwide.. 

1. Think for Tomorrow 

Don’t wait till the fag end; take necessary precautions before a greater outcry. You must have some plans for preparing for the pandemic. The rapidly spreading disease or infection can touch your family at any time. Hence, it is better to make a plan and work accordingly. Your plan must include the steps you will take if you or any of your family members fall sick. Necessary preventive measures and guidelines by WHO or CDC or doctors should be followed to avoid risks.  

2. Go for the Essentials

This is the next step you should take to get ready for the pandemic challenges. Think about the essential supply of food, medicines and water,for the next two weeks. Store sufficient food and water that will suffice for your family during an emergency.  

If you have seniors in your family, head to the medical shops, and purchase all the important medicines they might need to stay well. You can also store medicines and first aid kits for the entire family to fight the pandemic. If possible, talk to a physician and make a list of the medicines; you may need to protect your family from the pandemic. 

3. Store Hygiene Products 

Hygiene is one of the most important things you need to take care of when preparing yourself to fight against a pandemic. If the disease for which the pandemic is about to be declared infectious and certain types of virus is responsible for it, you must be careful about the hygiene of your home and family members. Store sanitary or hygiene products like hand soap, hand sanitizer, laundry detergent, diapers, toilet papers, female hygiene products, surgical masks, latex gloves, bleach, wipes, garbage bags, etc. you can reduce the possibility of getting infected by taking care of the hygiene. 

Preventive Measures during Pandemic

Till now we have discussed about important measures to be taken before your state or WHO declares the outbreak of a pandemic. Now, let us shift our focus to the measures that need to be adopted during pandemic. Here are some points you can do during a pandemic. 

1. Maintain Hygiene  

It is important to take care of your hygiene from the very onset of the pandemic. For example, Coronavirus (CoV) belongs to a large family of viruses that can lead to respiratory illnesses, ranging from common cold to more severe diseases. This dreaded virus can spread through saliva or direct contact with someone with this disease.. Hence, to prevent spread of disease, maintaining hygiene, using protective face masks is advised by CDC. Likewise,  washing hand for 20 second with soaps or usage of alcohol sanitizer is also encouraged. 

2. Wash Your Hand 

To avoid any unwanted situation, washing hand is important, Since it will not take too much time to enter your body through the mouth. Scrub and rinse your hand and dry them with a clean towel. You should specially wash hands after going to the bathroom, cooking, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. Hence, take extra precautions to keep them clean and hygienic. If you go outside for valid reasons during the pandemic, you must use latex gloves to keep your hand safe from contamination. If you do not use gloves, make sure you wash your hands frequently with sanitizer. 

3. Stay in Quarantine  

  If you have become infected, keep yourself in complete isolation. Pandemic is the mass outbreak of a particular disease and you can get infected anytime. If you are an infected person, you must take measures to stop it transmit to other persons around you. You have to think about your neighbors, friends, colleague, community members, and family. If you cannot isolate yourself, then try to maintain a minimum of 10 feet from a person. Always wear a protective mask to keep others safe.  

4. Follow the Advisories 

If it is a pandemic, your state must issue some advisories for its citizens. The advisories may include the restrictions in daily activities, travel advisories, advisories to prevent the spread of the virus, informing health officials on finding anything suspicious, etc. As a responsible citizen of the country, you must follow the guidelines issued by the authorities. Avoid visiting places described in the advisory. You can also help authorities in the process of contact tracing by informing them about the persons who might have been infected by the deadly virus. Remember, by following the advisories, you will keep yourself safe and help others to stay safe during the pandemic. This is one of the most important tips for those who want to know how to prepare for a pandemic. 

5. Work Online  

Safety should always be a priority. Work from home is an option during pandemic. Different sectors like IT, finance, insurance, education, accounting, or anything that can be done online, allows their employees to work from home in these situations. If you have kids at home, you can allow them to take some lessons online, as many schools and personal tutors can arrange online classrooms during such an emergency. It is better to remain isolated than contracting infection. 

6. Stay Motivated  

A pandemic can lead to countless difficulties and you may find it tough to stay motivated during that period. Here, you must remember that it is not time to panic or get confused about how to prepare for a pandemic. It is rather a time to be strong and help others to stay motivated. You can stay motivated by spending time reading books, physical workouts, cooking foods, playing with your kids and pets, spending some quality time with your dearest ones, etc. You can also talk to others or publish some effective information about the pandemic on social media. 

7. Eat Healthy to boost your Immunity 

You need to eat healthy to boost your immunity system. It will also help in fighting diseases. It is better to opt for green leafy vegetables, whole grain foods such as nuts and seeds, and a whole range of fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly for things like Vitamin C. You can put on a lot of weight because of binge eating and no physical activity. Do regular exercise at home and be careful that you stay away from overeating. Stick to healthy eating. A person with low immunity has greater changes of getting infected. So, go for healthy food.  

Preparing for a Pandemic – Conclusion 

This is how you can prepare yourself to deal with the challenges thrown by a pandemic. Remember, a pandemic can have a negative impact on your life, hence, you must learn how to prepare for a pandemic. Do not panic in this situation; rather follow the useful tips in this article. The preventive measures will help you  deal with difficulties successfully and keep you and your family safe from the deadly disease.