Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in her capacity as a medical doctor has a simple advice for people to protect oneself from coronavirus or any virus, “Do Wash your hands frequently before consuming food, or touching any part of the face”.
Speaking to The Hindu , on the sidelines of International Women’s Day celebrations at Raj Bhavan, here on Wednesday, she emphasised personal hygiene.
Dr. Soundararajan also advised people with symptoms of cold and cough to keep distance, avoid going into crowds. If one experiences any symptoms of fever, cold and distress in breathing, one should not hesitate to go to the doctor even if it could be common cold.
It is not only droplets, virus may settle on surfaces at home, workplace or in public places and people have the habit of touching the surfaces and door knobs. The best precaution is, thus, washing hands and avoiding handshake. When one sneezes or coughs, they should use a tissue or handkerchief, she said.
The Governor said awareness on hand wash is poor in general. Recently on the ‘Hand Wash day’ that was celebrated, she visited some schools and found that children were eating food without washing hands. Thus general awareness on hygiene should be stepped up. It is better to restrict travelling abroad to countries at this point of time where many Covid-19 cases were detected.
Emphasising that there is no need to panic, the Governor said when Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called on her at Raj Bhavan, she inquired about the coronavirus as one positive case was detected. The Chief Minister said all necessary steps were being taken. She said the Central and State governments were alert to the situation and taking all possible steps to check the spread of the virus.
