As we all know by now, any kind of unnecessary touching needs to be avoided as that is one of the main reasons for the spread of the coronavirus. This includes touching your eyes too, as the virus can enter the body via your eyes. Thus eye hospitals in Dubai have issued certain tips and precautionary measures that are crucial to stop the spread of the infection:
1.“Avoid wearing contact lenses.”
It’s better to avoid wearing contact lenses in the current scenario for obvious reasons. You will have to be very cautious at all times if you want to use your lenses. Is it worth the trouble and risk? Because this means touching your eyes as well as other external surfaces more often, thus increasing the chances of contamination.
2. “Use spectacles instead!”
As compared to contact lenses, specs are much easier to maintain. In fact, they can also protect you from getting infected. If you go outside wearing your spectacles and are exposed to droplets from an infected person sneezing or coughing, these droplets will land on your specs rather than your eyes, thus shielding you from the virus.
3. ”Have a backup of your medicines.”
Maintain a backup or surplus of your eye medications. This, in fact, applies to any medications. Due to the current scenario requiring social distancing and various other norms, companies are working at a reduced capacity. Hence, there will be a shortage of supplies, including essential items like medicine. So it’s better to maintain a surplus, at least one extra batch of your medicines.
4. “Keep your nails short at all times.”
A very basic thing to keep in mind, but still, most of us forget the danger they possess. Nails are one of the dirtiest parts of our body, as innumerable germs are trapped under them from various places and surfaces. Dirt from various sources gets accumulated under our nails, which is like an easy invitation of the COVID-19. It’s a bigger problem if you’re not maintaining the right hand-wash hygiene. Thus this is no time to maintain long nails.
5. “Frequently disinfect all sets of spectacles.”
Prevention is better than cure. Especially in times of a global pandemic! Always make it a point to disinfect your spectacles once every day and every time you step out, as there could be contaminated droplets present on the spectacles. It’s always better to use an alcohol-based wipe to disinfect them, according to the best hospital in Dubai.
6. “Avoid sharing your cosmetic products.”
In fact, avoid sharing anything! You should definitely avoid sharing your cosmetic products, such as kohl, mascara, eyelash curler, eye makeup- brushes, etc., with other people. Even in the absence of a global pandemic like COVID-19, there’s the possibility of spreading other infections while sharing such personal products.
7. Rinse Your Eyes Regularly:
Just like with hands, it would be good if you took a step further and rinsed your eyes with plain water or a saline solution. This will ensure they are free of harmful particles. You should especially practice this if you use contact lenses or suffer from an eye infection.
“Is there a connection between COVID-19 and Conjunctivitis?”
Some COVID-19 patients have reportedly suffered from conjunctivitis. Commonly known as ‘pinkeye’, conjunctivitis is the inflammation of the layer that covers an eyeball. Although the chances of contracting COVID-19 via eye secretion is low, a recent study in China suggested that only 9 out of 1099 confirmed COVID-19 positive patients suffered from ‘conjunctival congestion.’ Hence, it’s better to visit the doctor under any circumstances.