Coronavirus can stay in the air for up to 2 hours indoors after being breathed out. This means that the virus may stay in the air in your home even after an infected person has left the room. 

There are several things you can do to help protect yourself. The ideas below may feel a bit strange in your home, but they can really help stop the virus spreading.

Using these ideas as often as you can will protect you more, and even small changes can make a big difference. You can decide what works best for you and the people you live with. 

You may want to do these things more often if the number of virus cases in your area increases, or you think you, or someone in your home, has been near someone who is infected.

If you want to keep infection levels as low as possible...

A man reading a book alone in a room by an open window

It helps to spend time in your own space so that you are less likely to pick up the virus from other people. This could be a room that other people do not come into.

Can you arrange for one room in your home to be just for you - and try to spend more time there? This could include eating or sleeping. 

A man opening a window

Opening windows often is an easy way to stop the virus collecting in the air. If it is cold outside, you could open a window in one room if you’re planning to spend time there with someone else you live with, or a visitor. Shutting the door to the rest of your home will reduce the amount of heat lost. 

You could choose a room that is easier to heat up after or that you don’t spend much time in, such as the kitchen.

Two household members relaxing in the living room 2 metres apart from each other

Keep 6 feet/2 metres away from other members of your household as much as possible. The more distance you can keep between you, the fewer viruses will be shared between you. 

Can you organise your room so that you have more space between seats? Is it possible to arrange using shared areas of your home at different times, so that only one person is there at a time?

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