03/03/2020
Please read this post in its entirety.
People are rightly concerned about how to safeguard themselves against the COVID-19 virus. Massage therapists will not only want to protect themselves, but be able to honestly assure their clients that their facility and services are safe. Properly handled, a massage therapy office should be one of the safest public places to be, for infection control, and for everything else. Where else do people practice standard precautions for health care providers while working with well people, rather than sick people? Standing on line at the store behind a coughing person for ten minutes, and then exchanging money with a clerk who touched all the items in your bag, is a significantly greater risk than giving or receiving a massage. The guidelines below, adapted from Ruth Werner, the author of your pathology textbook, are a common sense place to start.
Since the COVID-19 virus is most contagious at the height of symptoms – unlike other viruses that are most contagious before the onset of symptoms – avoiding interacting with symptomatic people is the simplest form of prevention. The most likely way to contract the virus is to spend ten minutes or more within six feet of a symptomatic, coughing, infected person. If you are conscientious about never working with even the slightest sign of an oncoming infection, and avoid working with clients who exhibit symptoms of being sick, you will protect your clients and yourself.
Reading these procedures might make you paranoid. Don’t panic. These are commonsense precautions, and the risk of COVID-19 infection, at the moment is low. Developing these habits now, may prove vital if the infection spreads, as it is expected too. Also remember that most people who become infected have a mild reaction and recover. While the death rate is expected to be between 1 and 2%, 80% of deaths, like the flu, are in people over 80. The younger you are, the more likely you will not have complications. For those under 80, the death-rate will be less than a third of 1%. And most of those will be people in their 70’s. So don’t panic.
Here are the guidelines.
1. Wash your hands. Then wash them again. Use liquid soap. Get between your fingers. Use a nail brush for your nails and cuticles. Now do it one more time. Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and to touch the door to exit the bathroom. That’s why we have a waste basket outside the bathrooms.
2. Greet people without shaking hands. A nod, and a smile, and “pleased to meet you” does the job.
3. If you have a fever (typically the first sign), cough, or shortness of breath, then stay home. If anyone in your house has them, stay home. If you come to school with any of these signs or symptoms, you will be sent home.
4. Tell your clients if they have these signs, or if anyone in their house has them, stay home.
5. Regularly swab doorknobs, light switches, countertops, and anything else you touch in your office. Wash your hands after touching any surface before touching your face, eyes, nose, or mouth. Better yet, wash your hands, and then still refrain from touching your face, eyes, nose, or mouth.
6. Clean your cellphone daily. Wipe down your computer keyboard. If you use antiseptic wipes, READ THE DIRECTIONS – some require prolonged contact to be effective.
7. Face masks, unless they're the N95 filter type, are not helpful against COVID-19. They do nothing to protect you from the virus. If a viral particle lands on your mask, you will inhale it right through the mask. HOWEVER, if you are sick, they may help reduce the chance of you spreading the virus to others. Much of the saliva and mucous that you would send into the air will be captured by the mask, preventing it from landing on others. They can also help you remember NOT to touch your face.
7. Use disposable tissues when you cough or sneeze. Dispose of them immediately, and wash your hands again.
8. If you think you've been near someone who might be infected, avoid touching your face, eyes, nose, or mouth until you can wash your hands. If you don’t think you’ve been near someone who might be infected, avoid touching those areas anyway.
9. Consider using nitrile gloves when you have to touch items that hundreds of other people have touched—gasoline dispensers, ATM machines, the PIN pad on the credit card machine at the grocery store, etc.
10. For more information, visit the CDC FAQ page: [https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Ffaq.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3prOnw22el-TcM6kxD2AuAIJhq_t8etZLPCC88a31luf9yG7GwiNG2Agw&h=AT3u1S37_yLgB7TxZFOH_RfEZmIz39N4YH6XGlMiNMgmryvhPFojOiIeoiw419ogy-HgMZNS-QCgVXmfua9MlPnLK-7EjBz3yGM9ujyCQ84mhFw2RhDdbMQJcgUmDnLYFU7lomp4gzgAeyC2Ks5n_vJCf1XhTotHv3o)
Remember, places where massage occurs should be among the safest public places to be. We deal with well people, not sick people, and we follow standard precautions regularly ignored in most of the rest of the community. Let’s insure that we do it right.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.
