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This year’s Navratri is going to be both special and totally different since it is going to be celebrated amid a worldwide pandemic. Even though we all want to celebrate and enjoy after being locked down for the past few months, there is an apprehension in our hearts of getting infected. If you’re confused about what to do, we have a few tips to help you protect yourself and your loved ones during Navratri! 

How To Stay Safe During Navratri 

1. Have enough calories from healthy food, including lots of different colored vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, dairy, pulses, and legumes in small and frequent meals at regular intervals. Also, make sure that you eat food items that are easy to digest.
2. Stay hydrated: Water intake can be challenging during fasts. Water cleanses our body and adequate hydration levels can help maintain the health of mucous membranes and decrease irritation while coughing, sneezing, and even just breathing. It helps flush out toxins/pathogens. So, hydrate yourself with plain water, coconut water, lemon water, kokum water, lukewarm milk, buttermilk, fruit smoothies, etc.
3. Get enough sleep: Lack of sleep can affect how fast you recover from illness and your susceptibility to infections. Throughout our sleep, the immune system releases proteins known as cytokines that have protective properties against infections/inflammation, and sleep deprivation can decrease the production of these protective cytokines. Hence never miss 7-8 hours of sleep.
4. Continue with physical activities like walking and yoga. It increases blood circulation which also expedites the circulation of antibodies or WBC’s and facilitates their reach to the site of infection efficiently and facilitates recovery. Regular physical activity also helps reduce stress, which can be a major contributor to compromised immunity. 

How To Prevent Exposure to the Virus (As per WHO)

If I am attending a small gathering or an event, what precautions should I take to protect myself and others from getting infected with covid-19?

• Always check local regulations before attending an event.
• Stay at home if you are feeling unwell.
• Always comply with the following 3 basic preventive measures, 
• Maintain at least 1-meter distance from others, and wear a mask at all times.
• Cover a sneeze or cough with a tissue or bent elbow and immediately dispose of the tissue in a closed-lid bin. Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, or with a hand sanitizer.

If I am organizing a small gathering or an event, what precautions should I take to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among guests?

• Always check local guidelines before planning your event.
• Brief guests about precautions before the event starts; during the event, remind guests of these precautions and ensure they are followed.
• Choose outdoor venues over indoor spaces – if indoors, ensure the area is well-ventilated.
• Minimize crowding by staggering arrivals and departures, numbering entries, designating seats/places, and marking the floor to ensure physical distancing between people of at least one meter.
• Provide all necessary supplies to attendants/participants – hand hygiene stations, hand sanitizer or soap and water, tissues, closed-lid bins, distance markers, masks.

What You Must Avoid Doing 

1. No calorie-dense fried, sweets, gravied foods  
2. No starving: Do not stay hungry for long as starving releases the stress hormone cortisol, which can suppress some immune responses. So, if you are planning a fast, it is important to take care of your health and plan your meals at frequent intervals.
3. People who are ill and with certain chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiac disease, kidney disease, breathing difficulties/asthma/sinusitis, etc., and including those with Covid-19, must be exempt from fasting.
4. Avoid the 3 Cs: Spaces that are Closed, Crowded or involve Close contact. Outbreaks have been reported in closed, crowded indoor settings where people talk loudly, shout, breathe heavily or sing. In such environments, the virus appears to spread by respiratory droplets or aerosols more efficiently, hence, taking precautions is all the more important.

This year, because of the global pandemic sweeping across all the globe, we will have to do our part, to curb the spread of coronavirus. Hence, enjoy the celebration of the festival responsibly and judiciously!

We hope this article helps you! To further track and mitigate the spread of infections, get the GOQii Smart Vital which measures vitals such as blood oxygen (SpO2), body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure – all of which could help you flag out any possibilities of an infection. 

#BeTheForce of good health during Navratri!