We continue to take our advice from the government website Coronavirus – what you need to know
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can help to reduce the risk of yourself or your child catching Coronavirus
Make sure you and your children follow these general principles to prevent spreading any respiratory virus:
- Wash your hands often – with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or an alcohol-based sanitiser if soap and water aren’t available.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- If you feel unwell, have a new continuous cough or high temperature stay at home and don’t attend work or school.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in a bin.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces in the home.
- Only call NHS 111 if symptoms become a concern – don’t go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment.
How to Protect Your Mental Health
Coronavirus plunged the world into uncertainty and all of this is taking its toll in people’s mental health.
Being concerned about the news is understandable, but for many people it can make mental health problems worse.
Recommendations include:
- Avoid watching, reading or listening to news that could cause you to feel anxious or distressed
- There is a lot of misinformation swirling around – stay informed by sticking to trusted sources such as government and NHS websites
- Have breaks from social media
- Mute key words which might be triggering on Twitter and unfollow or mute accounts
- Mute WhatsApp groups and hide Facebook posts and feeds if you find them too overwhelming
- Wash your hands but not excessively
- Stay connected with people – agree regular check-in times to help you feel connected to family and friends
- If self-isolating strike a balance between having a routine and making sure your day has some variety
- Continue to access nature and sunlight wherever possible. Exercise, eat well and stay hydrated
Talking to your children about the Coronavirus: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51734855
Child Friendly Explanations
Coronavirus – it gives you a very nasty cough and makes you poorly. Most of us will just be poorly for a short time and then we’ll get better.
Because this illness is very new, we haven’t got a cure for it yet. This means that some people will get very ill. This is most likely to be people who are older or already poorly.
We want to stops as many people as possible getting the virus. It is spread by people coughing when they have it. It can be killed by washing your hands with soap. It is important that we wash our hands properly with soap whenever we go to the toilet, or before we eat, or when we come home. This will help to keep us well.
To help stop people catching it, lots of places in the world have closed until things begin to get better. Some people will be asked to stay at home. School might close as well.
Further Information
www.norfolk.gov.uk/coronavirustoolkit
www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Some of our previous correspondence over the pandemic period:
Providing Remote Education to children – information for parents and carers
Emergency INSET day – 4th January 2021
