Covid-19 - The Facts
We’ve now been told that the single most important thing people in the UK can do to protect the NHS, fight coronavirus and save lives, is to stay at home.
Reducing day-to-day contact with other people, reduces the spread of the infection. That is why the Government has introduced three new measures:
- Requiring people to stay at home, except for very limited purposes.
- Closing non-essential shops and community spaces.
- Stopping all gatherings of more than two people in public.
Staying at home means you should only leave the house for one of four reasons:
● shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible
● one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household
● any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
● travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home
These four reasons are exceptions - even when doing these activities, we’ve been told to minimise time spent outside of the home and ensure we are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of our own households.
During this time of isolation and social distance individuals may experience negative effects on their mental health. Please read our article: ‘Covid-19 - Your Mental Health and Wellbeing’ for tips on how to manage this.
Covid-19 - Your Mental Health and Wellbeing
Whether you're social distancing or self-isolating you may be feeling anxious or stressed during this time, and that's completely normal. Covid-19 is causing feelings of worry and anxiety for many people, all over the world, and these feelings may get more intense for some people over the next few weeks and months. Although you have to maintain physical distance from friends and family, you still keep up social contact by phone and video calls.
If you experience any feelings of hopelessness or depression it’s important to talk to someone. This can be someone you know, or you don’t feel comfortable opening up to a loved one about your worries, there are many organisations who have people ready to listen.
If you’re in crisis please reach out to Samaritans for free on 116 123
If you have a mental wellbeing concern about yourself or someone else you can submit it through our online Report + Support system and, if you choose to leave your contact details, a member of the University will contact you.
There are a number of other online resources available, to equip you with the right tools for managing your mental wellbeing at this time. Here are a few places you can look for information:
● Calm - https://www.thecalmzone.net/
● For COVID-19 related enquiries, please contact our dedicated team at covid19@essex.ac.uk
● Please direct all non COVID-19 related queries to: askthehub@essex.ac.uk
● HR queries should be directed to: staffing@essex.ac.uk
Currently, we are able to go out for one form of exercise a day (for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household). We advise you to take advantage of this opportunity to get some fresh air, whilst maintaining social distancing at all times.
If you are in isolation and cannot leave the house, there are a number of online resources to help you stay active at home, here are some links to workouts from the NHS website to start with:
Remember, you are not alone, we’re all in this together.