Almost the whole world is in quarantine right now due to the widespread of 255,305 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and is increasing by the time I am writing this article. Because of this, people are advised by their governments to stay indoor for 2 to 4 weeks. Staying indoors and not
allowed to go out anywhere calls for a household plan in order to go through the restricted movement period.
People need to have enough supplies for at least 2 weeks’ supplies at home, but that does not mean hoarding and stockpiling supplies because this will affect many people in the end. So, if you are staying home, there are 8 essentials that ALFA and Friends suggest you to stock up.
1- Fill Your Pantry!
As for our preparation for you to stay at home, you need to focus more on canned foods and dry goods as the foundation of your pantry supplies because the storage period for this kind of food is longer. Examples of dry food are pasta, beans, rice, and oats, fruits, vegetables. As for the canned food, go for those that have liquids such as sardines, chicken curry, anchovies, beans, and tuna because the liquids can be used to cook with the dry foods. However, you need to be wise in choosing canned foods that contain low sodium! If you have some frozen foods in your freezer, that would be excellent as well!
Make sure to finish the frozen food first just in case there will be disruption in electricity during the quarantine period.
2- Check Your Medicine Box
To stay at home for a period, you need to have at least 30-day supplies of medicines, especially those who are dependent on medicines due to their illness. You should have throat lozenges, asthma inhaler refill, cough and flu medicines, antibiotics, fever relievers and stomach remedies in your medicine box, especially for your little ones. You don’t want to have diarrhea for a one weeklong, right? It is better to be safe than sorry. Do not forget your multivitamins, too!
If you need medicines that are not allowed to be bought without prescriptions, it is advised that you ask prescriptions for a month or two from your doctor. They will advise you on this.
3- Hygienic Products
In fighting the pandemic, everyone is reminded from time to time to wash their hands frequently. To do that, it is very important to have enough supplies of hygienic products such as hand sanitizers that contain at least 60% of alcohol, toiletries, tissue papers, feminine-care products and household disinfectants to sanitize your house. You need to have supplies for diapers as well, if you have little children in your house.
4- Board Games
Staying at home could be very intimidating for the children if they have nothing to do. To avoid these, entertainments need to be there to keep the children busy for a few hours. Board games and cartoons are the solutions for this! Scrabble, Monopoly, Uno, Snake and Ladder are some of the board games that can be prepared. The whole family members can play together, too! Spending time at home and bonding with the children are the dreams of working parents out there. Do not waste this opportunity to strengthen your relationships with your family members.
Adults like to binge watch any series that are interesting, same goes to the children, but their preference are a bit different. They prefer animation and fantasy movies. Subscribe to Netflix or to channels that will keep the children entertained throughout the time you need to stay at home.
5- Spark Kit
There are a lot of things that you can prepare for the children including science subscription kit. One of them is Spark Kit. With Spark Kit, you can assure the children’s learning is not halted despite the staying at home period. Staying at home does not stop the children from learning with this kit! Best thing is, you can encourage the children to read because you will get a STEM comic magazine with every purchase of this kit. With this kit, your children do not stop learning after conducting the experiment kit provided in the box, but they also can do DIY experiments! Just follow the instructions in the comic magazine.
Since Spark Kit is available as one of the science subscriptions kits in Malaysia, parents can subscribe and get more boxes at lower price. The more boxes you own, the more fun your children will experience.
6- First Aid Kit
Keeping a first aid kit in your house during the quarantine period could save lives, you know? It is very easy to own a first, it is either you purchase it in the drugstore, or you could assemble your own first aid kit. These are some of the things that you should have in a first aid kit:
- Duct Tape
- Petroleum jelly
- Elastic wrap bandages
- Plaster
- Antiseptic Solutions
- Thermometer
- Catheter
- Medicine cup
- Cold packs
Make sure you store the first aid kit away from the children but are known to all the adults in the house. This will make it easier for them to use it when it is needed.
7- Your Pets!
Do not forget your pets! You need to prepare some supplies for our beloved furballs too. They are our family members, so they deserve the care that we humans need. Make sure you have supplies for their canned food and dry food enough for the quarantine period.
Medications for your pets are also important because, during the quarantine period, veterinaries are usually close. In order to decide what are the medications that you need, consult your vet.
Pets will need to poo-poo daily, so it is important to have enough plastics or pets’ litter to make them feel comfortable and to avoid your houses to be smelly. You wouldn’t want that, do you?
8- Hydration is the Key!
Yes, people! Hydration is the key.
Most probably during the period, you need to stay at home, the source of water will not be affected, especially if you have water tanks at your house. However, if you live around the areas that always have a surprise water disruption, you probably should consider stocking up water bottles enough for the period that you need to stay at home. Again, stocking up water bottles does not mean that you can hoard all the mineral bottles in the supermarket.
Staying at home is bliss but it could be very tiring and boring if we do not fill our time wisely with our family members. Another thing, remember, we are staying at home for a reason. We are doing an important thing. Stay safe and be wise, everyone.
