Best Practical steps to take as a family about Coronavirus?

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I know that there are several very good videos and information out there. However I’d be really interested in what is going to be most effective? I’ll be honest I am not going to be able to enforce extremes e.g. shower whenever someone gets back in the house - e.g. my teenage son pops out 5x a day sometimes.

I have a teenager who is highly social. DH works for a huge multinational company and can’t work at home. A primary school child. I have immunocompromised parents and asthmatic in the family too.

Obviously:

• Washing hands throughly with soap and water. But when? How often?

(I am making everyone wash hands and clean phones as soon as they come through the door. And changing their tops. Washing hands Before eating. After work or school).

• Remembering not to touch our faces. How do we help kids do this?
• Coughing or sneezing - have everyone well trained and small child coughs into his elbow. No time for tissues in classroom.
• Cutting down on social interactions. I am still taking small child to activities but cutting down and washing hands immediately after. Will probably stop next week.

I am not going out myself except shopping and walks. I cannot stop other family members socializing however, and teenager takes the bus a lot, unfortunately but there you go. No meals out as a family, no invites for people to visit, FaceTime with parents only for the next few months. Not going to use face masks. Cannot get hold of hand gel. Could I be more effective?

Links:
www.bbc.com/news/health-51711227 basic safety information
edition.cnn.com/2020/03/05/health/coronavirus-how-to-talk-to-children-trnd/index.html how to talk to children about it
www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-51764846/coronavirus-vietnam-s-handwashing-song-goes-global Vietnam’s hit handwashing song

Dr John Campbell is a long standing nurse educator. He made a useful video called protect self and family

I think every child should have a box of tissues ( not the little pocket ones which aren't easily accessible) on their desk in school for easy access.

Good advice both above!

Think about how you will manage if one of you falls ill. If it’s you or your DH, can you sleep in separate rooms?
Who will make meals?
Do they know where everything is?
Do you all use your own hand towels?
For shared bathrooms have cleaning materials easily available to use after the person who is ill.
Try and think about making it as easy as possible for someone to be isolated from the rest of the family if they become ill.

You're doing the best you can, OP. I mean this, really.
DH is a GP and we are very cautious as can be, but at the same time, DS is in Sixth Form and is sociable (but very aware) and the younger ones are at primary school. DH said to me the other day that it is highly likely we will get this virus- not in a doom and gloom sort of way, but it's very likely.
The thing is, if schools aren't regularly promoting handwashing and if the teachers are not wiping surfaces and leaving it to the cleaners (who may not be doing anything differently than the usual clean), then it is safe to say that handwashing and gels will not be enough. Every surface out there needs an alcohol wipe taken to it- I carry Clinell alcohol wipes (the red and white packet) with me everywhere. Who knows if it's enough.
The best thing you could do is SLEEP. Get your sleep. Keep your immune system very, very strong. Take your zinc, your C, your vitamin D. If you can walk, cycle, or drive instead of bus or train, do it. If you drive, get an alcohol wipe on that steering wheel and basically take that wipe to everything you touch in the car. I wipe my bike handlebars when I come back home, even if I've washed my hands before hopping on it. Keep rubbing doorknobs and surfaces with alcohol or hot water and bleach. Stair rails, toilet flusher, the knobs on your cabinets at home, the button on the kettle, the handles of everything, etc. Just keep your home as safe as possible from the germs you bring home. Alcohol wipe your shoes if you want (I do this with the kids shoes and bags as well as my own). I am entirely aware that I could be doing too much or too little. I sound paranoid, but actually, I am really calm about it. Life keeps going and hopefully, this virus will give us the swerve, but who knows. It's novel. So the HUGE takeaway here is to keep your immunity up. And sleep is THE BEST way of doing this.

Good advice, yes everyone can have a bedroom each and lucky enough to have two bathrooms.

With hand washing. Is it most effective to wash as soon as you get in the house? I’ve got difficult family members who take no notice of me, so I’ve focused on this as number one!

Also, my parents have been asking, well when do we wash our hands? There is some general confusion out there. They think walking to the local shop is as bad as taking a bus to church. I’ve told them drop the church but carry on going to the shop.

@TheVanguardSix love that advice. I guess I do hope that we don’t get it, I have a SN child and we are both over 50 parents! So really don’t want to even contemplate a long hospital critical stay let alone worse. I’m calm but want to look back and say, I did my absolute best. However I just cannot stop my family living their lives either and want to get a good balance!

I’m figuring out how to put some gel by the door for the reluctant hand washers.

I know that sleep is the best thing you can do for your immune system but I’m really struggling with that at the moment because of anxiety. I’m stuck in a vicious circle at the moment - can’t sleep because I’m anxious and anxious because I can’t sleep.

I’ve put big signs by the door @Neome

@MissPoldark so sorry you are having trouble sleeping. Those meditation apps are very good, I use the calm one (but there are loads) - we all get enough sleep in my family luckily.

I like My sleep button when I remember to use it 🙂

I normally sleep really well but this is keeping me awake. I’m stuck in permanent “fight or flight” and I know it’s not healthy but I can’t break the cycle.

Lots of good advice already. I have given both children little bottles of handwash and they do seem to be using them. If you can't get it you might still be able to get surgical spirit. Use online deliveries if you need anything rather than going out and mixing. Use the gloves at the petrol station when you fill up and using the pay at pump option rather than going into the kiosk, try to encourage the children to wear gloves when they're out and about (just normal ones) since the mere fact of wearing gloves means they are less likely to put their fingers in their mouths. No eating when out and about, particularly snacks where someone might for example open a bag of crips and just start eating.

We've stopped non school related social activities for the kids at the moment. Worth thinking about activities to do at home in case we get locked down and so things like craft kits, lego or mechano that can keep children occupied for a long time or teaching them something like knitting. Good supply of books to occupy them. If you have a garden use that too. Fresh air is important. Smaller children might enjoy planting fruit and veg which is also potentially useful if access to food becomes restricted.

Make sure they're bringing their stuff home from school each night just in case they end up not going back in. Not easy for children to carry on doing physics at home for example if they've left their text book at school. Likewise things like coats, trainers etc which mine certainly frequently leave at school.

Great advice. I like the gloves idea!