Prepping for Flu Season During COVID: 5 Tips to Stay Healthy

The colder seasons are upon us! With this comes soup, sweaters, warm drinks, and the flu. Flu season is expected to be worse than last year due to the pandemic restrictions lifting worldwide. Studies showed that last year’s precautions not only prevented COVID from spreading, but the seasonal flu as well. It’s important to continue adhering to the previous precautions set in place, as they just might prevent you from catching and spreading the flu.

Gather Essentials

Having the flu is uncomfortable, but there are ways to ease symptoms. It’s important to make sure you have essentials for maintaining health and monitoring symptoms. Get a thermometer to monitor your temperature, a humidifier to help manage overnight discomfort, a water bottle to make hydration easier, pain management medicine with fever management medication, soft tissues to minimize nose irritation (seriously, treat yourself and go for the lotion ones), a heating pad to manage aches and pain, disinfectant wipes to keep surfaces clean, and lotion to help soothe dry hands.

While these may not be essential, you may also want to consider investing in a slow cooker or pressure cooker to have healthy, low effort meals and an electric kettle to ensure you have lots of nice chamomile tea.

Keeping Yourself Healthy

It’s important to know how to effectively arm yourself in the defense against both COVID-19 and the flu. The best way to fight the flu and coronavirus is to prevent them. Continuing to take the same precautions you were taking last year is essential to preventing sickness. This includes washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

Get Vaccinated

The best step to protect yourself and your loved ones from the flu is to get vaccinated! Vaccinations are safe and effective. They have been proven to not only reduce your chances of catching the flu, but it also helps to prevent complications that could cause hospitalization or death. Getting the flu vaccine could mean freeing up hospital resources. It’s also recommended to get vaccinated against COVID-19, if you haven’t already.

Wear a Mask

Both the flu and COVID are infectious diseases, spreading through human contact. Knowing this, it’s important to continue to wear a mask, even if you are vaccinated against the flu. Masks help to protect us from a lot of respiratory illnesses, not just COVID. They can also serve as a reminder to not touch your face before you wash and/or sanitize your hands.

Social Distance

Last flu season, scientists and doctors noticed a decline in flu outbreaks. This was due in part to social distancing. Social distancing is essential when avoiding getting sick from viral outbreaks. Avoid crowds and stand at least 6 feet apart while out and about.

What to Do if You Get Sick

The flu and COVID have many similar symptoms, including a sore throat, fever, and cough. It can be difficult to determine what you are experiencing, and you may need to receive tests to know what treatment you may need. If you develop these symptoms, it’s important to call your doctor and ask how you should proceed. They will instruct you on what to do and tell you whether or not you should get a COVID test. Make sure you stay home if you’re feeling sick. Even if your symptoms are not coronavirus, the flu is very contagious and deadly.

Learn More

At BASS Primary Care, our team takes patients’ health seriously. If you are concerned about your symptoms or want to know what you can do to prepare for flu season, give us a call at (925) 962-9120 to set up an appointment and let one of our amazing staff members help you!