Coronavirus is Coming: 6 Ways to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones

There are many ways that you can reduce your risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19, and ways to support your immune function if you do happen to be exposed.
1. Wash your hands

If you are in an especially at-risk group (over 60, immune-deficient or suppressed, or if you have a respiratory condition), consider wearing latex or nitrile gloves when touching public doors, gas-pump nozzles, grocery carts, or any other surfaces in public places. Dispose of these gloves frequently.
2. Eat an immune-boosting diet

Drop the refined sugars, fried foods, and processed foods - all of these actually suppress your immune system and can leave you more vulnerable to germs. Refined sugar, for example, has been shown in multiple studies to depress the immune system for several hours after consumption.
3. Stress reduction

Now is a good time to take a break from anything unnecessary in your life that’s causing you stress. Have an option to add another complicated project to your workload? Maybe it can wait till the summer. Considering having that problematic relative over for a week-long stay? Find them an AirBnB instead. This is not about self indulgence - it's about keeping yourself safe and healthy.
4. Consider immune-boosting herbs

Elderberry works by preventing viruses from attaching to the outside of cells, which reduces a virus' ability to get into cells to make you sick and prevents its ability to replicate itself to make the infection worse. Elderberry is tasty, effective for many types of viruses, and comes in a variety of forms, from syrup to gummies to capsules. It’s an easy herb for kids or people with difficulty swallowing to take and is available in most health food stores or online.
5. Sleep
6. Get support from your holistic provider

Bonus advice
Keep your kids home from school and daycare if they are ill, and if you are not in one of the most at-risk groups but have loved ones who are, please protect them by visiting via FaceTime and other non-infectious channels till this crisis has passed.