How Japanese People Can Stay Physically & Psychologically Healthy During the Pandemic

The infection with the COVID-19 has continued to spread in Japan. As the situation worsens, there are many people who are frightened by the threat and influence of the infection. In order to prevent the spread of the infection and restore our daily life as quickly as possible, it is significant to protect ourselves from infection and maintain a healthy mental state. How can we maintain physical and psychological health?

The first and a very important way to maintain physical health is, as we all know, to prevent droplet infection (*1) and contact infection (*2) which are the routes of coronavirus infection. For instance, avoiding physical contact with people and things which are outside (staying at home), wearing a mask when going out, maintaining social distance, and,  of course, washing your hands and gargling. In order to prevent the spread of the infection, it is very important to avoid going out and staying home unless you have to work or need to get food. If you need to go out, please avoid public transportation and use a car. When going to a supermarket, etc., keep 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) away from people and thoroughly wash your hands and mouth when you get the opportunity.

Another important thing to stay healthy physically is to maintain a regular routine and exercise moderately. Because staying home is recommended in Japan, people tend to spend time at home. It leads to their rhythm of routine to be disturbed such as by making their sleeping patterns backward and causing them to become lethargic. People also tend to lack exercise when they stay home. Irregular routine and lack of exercise reduce immunity. So it is like putting a cart before the horse, so to speak. Therefore, it’s very important to maintain good health by focusing on routine; early to bed, early to rise, eat 3 meals a day, and getting moderate exercise at home such as yoga, stretching, and muscle training to maintain immunity and a healthy body. 

There are four significant actions you can take to maintain good mental health.  Avoid watching too much news, and being sure that the news you do receive comes from a reliable source, keeping in touch with your family and friends, and thinking positively about the stay home order. Watching news about coronavirus too much can have a negative effect on people because it sometimes causes people to feel threatened, so getting information moderately is important. In addition, there is a lot of misinformation about coronavirus on the internet. Getting correct information, such as officially released by governments and the CDC prevents people from becoming confused and developing unnecessary worries. By communicating with your family and friends through cell phones and video chats, you can still make a connection with others. Social life is important to maintain, especially during this time in isolation. It prevents feelings of loneliness and helps you maintain a good mental state. The longer you stay at home, the more likely people tend to feel depressed or bored. You could also view this time as an opportunity for growth. There are hundreds of new hobbies you can spend time on that you did not have the opportunity to do in the past.

(*1) Droplet infection means that the virus is released together with the droplets (sneeze, cough, brim, etc.) of the infected person, and the other person inhales the virus through the mouth or nose to become infected.

(*2) Contact infection means a virus that occurs when an infected person holds his / her sneeze or cough with his / her hand and then touches the surrounding objects with his / her hand. When another person touches it, the virus attaches to the hand, and when touching the mouth or nose with the hand, the virus is transmitted from the mucous membrane.