15 RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING RESPONSIBLE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN PREVENTING COVID-19

Protect yourselves, stay away from direct contact!

• Avoid crowded areas where you can be exposed to direct contact and interaction with a high number of people such as intense traffic areas, public gatherings, leisure areas, etc.
• Protect children from those playgrounds that entail the touch of a high number of surfaces and items.
• Limit to maximum any direct contact with other persons, other than those from your family, through gestures such as: shaking hands, kissing cheeks, touching faces with hands.
• In respect to people you live with, it is recommended that you only come into direct contact with them after you have sanitized your hands.
• Avoid touching surfaces that are frequently touched by other people such as door handles, lift buttons, stair rails etc.
• In case you need to touch these surfaces, please protect yourselves by using disposable napkins.
• Keep a significant distance of about 2 m from other persons you meet. In case you are in public transport do not stay face-to-face with other people.
• After using public transport, make sure you sanitize your hands before you touch your face, mouth, eyes.
• Use alternative routes or means of transport in order to avoid crowded places. If your schedule allows it, try and commute at times where the volume of people is lower. In urban areas, it is recommended that you use alternative means such as bicycles, walking, rollers/scooter.
• Avoid travelling to countries that are confronted with a high number of infections with COVID-19 and discourage the return to Romania of people in risk areas.
• If you have travelled in a country exposed to high numbers of infections there is the possibility that you enter quarantine or isolation at home for 14 days together with those that live with you.
• It is mandatory for Romanians returning from risk areas to enter self-isolation at home which involves that everyone they live with does the same.
• Limit the use of cash (bills and coins) and opt for payments online, with phone, or card.
• Transmission of viruses is significantly realised through the usage of cash which are touched, statistically, by a high number of people.
• Choose to work from home if the employer can offer this option. There are recommendations issued by the Ministry of Labour in order to offer more flexibility in the work schedules of employees and present legal alternatives which they can access.
• Strictly respect all hygiene rules recommended by authorities to protect yourselves and other people. Use the face mask only if you have flu or cold symptoms to protect others.
• Wash your hands with water and soap for at least 20 second after contact with any surface potentially contaminated.
• Use paper towels to wipe your hands.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth without washing hands.
• If you sneeze or cough cover your mouth and nose with a disposable napkin which you throw in the bin immediately after use.
• Disinfect frequently with a solution based on alcohol and chlorine all the surfaces you encounter at home and at work.
• Freshen the air in the room in which you work/live several times a day.
• Take antiviral medication and antibiotics only after a doctor’s prescription.
• Do not drink liquids from the same bottle/glass and do not use the same cutlery as other people.
• Do not come in direct contact with people in self-isolation at home regardless if they present with coronavirus symptoms or not.
• The face mask protects those around you in case you present symptoms of cold or flu. The mask should completely cover the nose and mouth.
• Please bear in mind that not all cases of infection with COVID-19 present symptoms (fever, cough, difficulty breathing). People that are apparently healthy can carry and spread the virus without knowing it.
• Inform yourself about the COVID-19 pandemic only from official sources.
• For general information about COVID-19, call 0800.800.358. This is not an emergency hotline.
• For emergencies call 112!

Protect your loved ones, do not expose them!

• Avoid, with priority, the exposure of people over 65 and those with a diminished immune system to COVID-19.
• According to statistics, the people most prone to infection with the new Coronavirus are elderly people with numerous associated comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic lung disease, cardiovascular diseases or cancer.
• In Italy, the most deaths have happened in patients over the age of 63!
• Young people and children are less vulnerable to the new Coronavirus but they are not fully protected from getting sick. Even when they do not manifest specific symptoms, they can pass on the virus to other people without knowing it.
• Inform the authorities about any case that comes to your knowledge that might involve a person confirmed with Coronavirus or which has been in contact with a confirmed patient or someone who has returned from an affected area and is not in isolation.
• Demonstrate a preventive attitude in regards to any case because shedding the virus and transmitting it is also possible in people with no specific symptoms.
• Inform your health practitioner immediately if you have travelled to areas affected by COVID-19 even if at the time of the trip this area was not in the red zone.
• In case you cannot contact your health practitioner, inform the Public Health Direction and call 112 if there are no other alternatives.
• Stay at home if you have symptoms of cold or flu and inform your health practitioner first via phone for advice. Do not go to a hospital’s emergency ward as a first option.
• There is a risk of transmission of the virus to other people if you are only a carrier.
• It is preferred that you stay in your homes and any possible hospital transfer happens in an organized way, respecting all isolation measures.
• If you are isolated in your home strictly respect the recommendations of authorities, DO NOT leave your home for the duration of the 14 day isolation period, DO NOT have guests and DO NOT enter into close contact with people that bring you food or other items.
• If you ignore these recommendations and any decisions regarding mandatory home isolation you are risking being fined upwards of 20.000 RON and criminal charges if it is proven that you have spread the virus through your actions.

SOURCE: Group For Strategic Communication