Cooperave Extension Service Clark County 1400 Fortune Drive Winchester KY 40391-8292 (859) 744-4682 Fax: (859) 744-4698 extension.ca.uky.edu Shonda Johnston County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Please keep a lookout on our Facebook page for Brown Bag Projects. These bags will have everything you need to complete the activity and learn a few new things. The bags will be available outside the Extension office from 8:00- 4:30 on weekdays while supplies last. We will update our Facebook page when we are out of bags. Please be courteous to your neighbors by taking only one project bag per family. Also, if someone is there getting a bag when you pull in, stay in your car and kindly wait until they return to their car to maintain appropriate social distancing. We are very excited to start these projects so let’s make sure we are looking out for our fellow Kentuckians as we stay #healthyathome. Like the Clark County Cooperative Extension Facebook page to get great information during this time. This will be our main form of programming and method to get information out to the public. Check it out! Brown Bag Project I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and well. So much has changed since the last newsletter. I’ve heard the word ‘unprecedented’ so much in these past few weeks, but that seems to be the best word to describe our current situation. I hope your families, like mine, have tried to follow the recommendations of our governor to reduce our contacts and stay #healthyathome, only going out for essential business. I hope this newsletter provides you with some good information and ideas during these stressful times. Our office is still open, though we are not allowing public access to the building. You are able to call the office or feel free to email me [email protected] if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to reach out. Make sure to check out the Facebook page where we are hoping to provide even more info and programming. As our governor says every night at 5pm, we will get through this together. So hang in there!
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Cooperative Extension Service
Clark County 1400 Fortune Drive Winchester KY 40391-8292 (859) 744-4682 Fax: (859) 744-4698 extension.ca.uky.edu
Shonda Johnston County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer
Please keep a lookout on our Facebook page for Brown Bag Projects. These bags will have everything you need to complete
the activity and learn a few new things. The bags will be available outside the Extension office from 8:00-4:30 on weekdays while supplies last. We will update our Facebook page when we are out of bags.
Please be courteous to your neighbors by taking only one project bag per family. Also, if someone is there getting a bag when you pull in, stay in your car and kindly wait until they return to their car to maintain appropriate social distancing. We are very excited to start these projects so let’s make sure we are looking out for our fellow Kentuckians as we stay #healthyathome.
Like the Clark County Cooperative Extension Facebook page to get great information during this time. This will be our main form of programming and method to get information out to the public. Check it out!
Brown Bag Project
I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and well. So much has changed since the last newsletter. I’ve heard the word ‘unprecedented’ so much in these past few weeks, but that seems to be the
best word to describe our current situation. I hope your families, like mine, have tried to follow the recommendations of our governor to reduce our contacts and stay #healthyathome, only going out for essential business. I hope this newsletter provides you with some good information and ideas during these stressful times. Our office is still open, though we are not allowing public access to the building. You are able to call the office or feel free to email me [email protected] if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to reach out. Make sure to check out the Facebook page where we are hoping to provide even more info and programming. As our governor says every night at 5pm, we will get through this together. So hang in there!
Now, more than ever, it is important to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces including doorknobs, handles, chair backs, faucets, light switches, etc. Cleaning simply means to remove germs or dirt from a surface. Cleaning does not kill germs. It lowers the amount of germs present on a surface by removing them. Disinfecting means to kill germs by using chemicals such as bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol, or other EPA registered household disinfectants.
People can lower their risk of getting sick by first cleaning surfaces and then disinfecting them. When cleaning, use soaps or detergents and water to physically remove dirt and germs from surfaces. Follow by disinfecting. If you don’t have an EPA-registered household disinfectant on hand, you can make your own. Start with regular, unscented bleach, and wear protective gloves. Mix 5 tablespoons bleach to one gallon of water or 4 teaspoons bleach to one quart of water. Only use bleach solutions if appropriate for the surface. Do not use on soft surfaces such as carpet, furniture, drapes, or clothing.
Best practices include cleaning all visible dirt from surfaces or objects and following with disinfection. EPA-registered household disinfectants are commonly available in sprays and wipes. You can find them at large retailers including grocery stores, hardware stores, drug stores, and many convenience stores. Be sure to follow all instructions on the label. The label will tell you whether you need to dilute the product, what surfaces you can use it on, drying time, and any precautions such as wearing gloves and making sure there is good ventilation when using the product.
Reference: Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/ cleaning-disinfection.html#How%20to%20Clean%20and%20Disinfect
Source: Annhall Norris, Extension Specialist for Food Safety and Food Preservation
We have all been asked to be #healthyathome and work from a remote location if our jobs allow. This a very difficult transition for some, as it means your one space now becomes the everything space, work, home, school, etc. Try to hone in on these skills as best you can given your specific situation so that you can boost productivity.
Keep a routine Structure your day w ith time to get ready and set “office” hours, no matter where your physical office is located. Having a dedicated workspace is important as well. If others are home during your work hours, it can help keep boundaries between working time and off time.
Make a list of your daily tasks, both large and small Prioritize urgent items as well as important items. Schedule blocks of time to complete similar tasks. Checking email or answering phone calls in a block of time allows you to focus your attention on the task, rather than splitting your attention between two things at once.
Make sure to schedule breaks W hen working from home you may miss cues from your workplace, such as taking a lunch break. If you normally walk during part of your commute, you may want to work that exercise into a break during the workday or after work hours.
Make sure to manage distractions. Use noise-canceling headphones if your environment is distracting, or close the door to your workspace. Don’t be distracted by phone calls or messages, or by clutter or people around you. That is very difficult when working from home with children at home as well. Schedule times to check in with them or manage their schedules during set times if at all possible.
When you work alone, isolation can be an issue. Utilize technology to stay in touch with colleagues, such as video conferences or chat tools. Consider making a phone call instead of sending an email, or touch base with coworkers throughout the day.
Are you wondering whether you can get sick by touching the clothing or bedding of a person who is sick? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some viruses “may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials.” The good news is that normal laundering will clean your clothing and textiles well enough, making them safe to wear or use. However, if you would like to take extra precautions in cleaning clothing and textiles worn or used by someone who has been ill, here are some tips:
Wear disposable gloves when handling laundry that has been exposed to someone who has been ill, or wash your hands after handling the dirty laundry. • Place dirty laundry in a plastic laundry basket that can be cleaned afterward, or line your laundry basket with a disposable trash bag.
You may choose to wash clothing and textiles belonging to a sick person separately from other household laundry. However, with proper handling, you may safely wash those items with other laundry. When combining laundry, read the care label on the item, and take the following steps to sort it for the best results.
If your washer has a “steam,” “sanitize,” “extra rinse,” or “2nd rinse” cycle, use these for added cleaning.
Use the warmest possible setting that is appropriate for your laundry, and dry thoroughly in your dryer.
You may also add a chlorine bleach to the wash cycle. But check the care labels of your laundry first. The chlorine bleach should have a concentration of sodium hypochlorite between 5.25% and 6.15%. Follow the directions for laundry purposes, and remember never to pour bleach directly onto your clothes or textiles. Oxygen bleaches offer some disinfecting properties but are not as effective as chlorine bleach. Please note that some popular laundry sanitizers only kill bacteria, not viruses. You add them to the fabric softener dispenser or during the rinse cycle, not in the wash cycle with the detergent.
Be aware of laundry sanitizing myths. Distilled white vinegar is a useful multipurpose cleaner and offers many laundry benefits. It removes odors and dissolves detergent residues. However, there is no evidence that vinegar will kill viruses. The same holds true for pine oil-based products. Pine oil products with at least 80% pine oil will help remove some germs from the laundry. But the CDC website does not recommend these products for killing viruses.
Source: Jeanne Badgett, Senior Extension Associate for Clothing, Textiles, and Household Equipment
Do not “shake” or “snap” your dirty clothes to prevent the dispersion of germs.
Keep similar colors together.
Separate “heavy” clothes such as jeans from “light weight” clothes such as blouses.
For best results, do not wash sheets and towels with clothes, nor with each other.
Wash sheets only with other sheets and towels only with other towels — this is be-cause of their water absorption and the way sheets and towels affect the agitation and cleaning of other items included in the load. • Wash excessively dirty or soiled laundry separately — this prevents soil transfer onto cleaner items.
Follow the manufacturer’s directions to measure detergent.
As we are focusing on staying #healthyathome, keeping our immune system running well is extremely important. A question people seem to be wondering about is what kinds of foods best to “boost” the immune system, to help our body fight sickness better than others. In reality, we don’t want to “boost” our immune system because it will overreact. This can actually put more stress on the body. Instead, we want to choose foods and healthy lifestyle behaviors that support the immune system to respond appropriately when under stress. As we age, our immune system function declines. However, there are steps you can take to support a healthy immune
system so that it can respond appropriately when faced with illness. Adding fruits and vegetables of any kind will help ensure your body receives the nutrients — vitamins, minerals, and fiber — it needs to work properly. Vitamins A, C, D, E, and zinc are nutrients that will help support the immune system when it needs to work hard. Choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables that match the rainbow will be the best source of these nutrients. By getting enough nutrients, you improve your body’s ability to fight sickness. Here are some foods that you can choose that are good sources of the nutrients our bodies are looking for and easy to grab when we go to the grocery store:
Vitamin A: carrots, rom aine lettuce, sw eet potatoes, cantaloupe
Vitamin C: bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, potatoes
Vitamin D: salm on, fortified m ilk, eggs, fortified cereal (the sun is a great non-food source too)
Vitamin E: sunflower seeds, alm onds, red bell peppers, peanut butter
