The Super Simple COVID Prevention Tip Most People Forget About, According to Infectious Disease Experts

Bobbi Dempsey
·4 min read
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Woman over 50 recovering from COVID

The weather has been cold and snowy in much of the country recently, forcing many people to spend most of their time indoors. This, in turn, increases your risk of coming in close contact with someone who has COVID (or another contagious virus). 

But there’s a relatively easy way for you to significantly lower your risk of infection even when indoors with a group of people who may not all be completely healthy. Here's what you should know about it.

Related: Here’s How Many People Die of the Flu Each Year

Positive News on the COVID Front

Before diving into the COVID-19 prevention tips, let’s spotlight some good news. Overall, hospitalizations and serious outcomes from COVID were down for much of 2023, and many of the newer variants have been producing fewer severe symptoms. “The nice thing about COVID is, as the new variants develop, for the most part, they seem to be becoming less and less severe,” says Dr. Asha Shah, MD, the Director of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Health.

The downside, however, is that they also tend to become more contagious—although, Dr. Shah notes, that can have a silver lining in that it allows most people to develop immunity without a high risk of serious illness.

While most of the past year or so has seen a welcome decrease in COVID hospitalizations and deaths, doctors saw a (not totally unexpected) spike in late fall and early winter.

“Not as many people were ending up in the hospital for the last year and a half or so until November,” says Joseph Khabbaza, MD, a critical care specialist and pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic. “Then in November through mid-to-late January, we saw COVID, flu and RSV predominating hospital admissions, and flaring up people who have other lung diseases or causing inflammation of the lungs as people gradually improve.”

Related: These States Have the Highest Number of COVID, Flu and RSV Cases Right Now—Is Yours on the List?

Dr. Khabbaza notes that while the winter and holiday surge seem to have subsided somewhat, they typically expect to see some smaller surges in the weeks after the Super Bowl, as a result of many people attending parties and get-togethers indoors.

The Most Effective Strategy for Avoiding COVID

Although the numbers may be going down and the symptoms in many cases aren’t quite as severe, most people would prefer to avoid getting COVID at all. The best way to do that is actually very simple, experts say.

It involves layering multiple basic, proven tactics—an approach known as “the Swiss cheese effect.” The idea is that no single thing can prevent every case of infection, but combining several effective strategies simultaneously will greatly compound your level of protection. “It's easy to get through one layer of Swiss cheese,” says Dr. Khabbaza. “But if you line a few up, each precaution that you add is going to decrease the odds of further transmission.”

He adds that an action like improving the ventilation of an indoor space is “one of the layers of Swiss cheese.”

Related: Is It a Bad Idea To Drink Coffee When You’re Sick? Immunologists Weigh In

With that in mind, experts say reducing your risk of COVID doesn’t need to be complicated—but it does require consistency. “I feel like people need a reminder about the basics which we noticed are not followed very often,” says Dr. Shah. “So I'm a proponent of not just following the basics, but actually sticking to them.”

Dr. Shah says this means being conscientious about following all of the tried-and-true tactics we’ve been hearing about throughout the past four years. “Everything from staying home when you're sick and not sending your kids to school sick. Wearing a mask if you're symptomatic. Wash your hands. Get tested if you're sick. And if you are sick, or getting over your sickness, and you need to go out in public, wear a mask, as simple as that. And then, of course, get vaccinated.”

Dr. Khabbaza echoes that advice. “I don't think we can emphasize enough getting vaccinated as your strongest prevention at minimizing the severity of illness and how bad you can feel if you get infected.”

He also reiterates the “back to basics” approach, explaining, “Everything hinges on the core principles. Masking, hand hygiene, distance from others you don't know who might be sick and then playing with ventilation—like adjusting the thermostat setting [keeping the fan on to circulate air]—that’s part of the improved ventilation part. The less stagnant the air is, the lower the risk of catching not just COVID, but any respiratory airborne process.”

At this point, many people have grown weary of COVID precautions—something medical professionals see every day. “I don’t see a lot of the basic prevention steps going on,” says Dr. Shah. “I think people are just over it.”

Still, she says it is important for everyone to remain diligent about taking precautions – and be ready to pivot quickly if COVID trends should begin to change. “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to be prepared and expect the unexpected.”

Next up, find out how to boost your immune system by adding these 25 foods to your diet.

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