Coronavirus: shower and change after returning home, authorities say

The updated advice was issued by The Ministry of Health and Prevention

Stickers reading 'stay safe' placed along aisles at a supermarket, marking distances for shoppers to facilitate social distancing. Karim Sahib / AFP

Anyone returning home from work or shopping should shower and change their clothes to better protect themselves against the risk of contracting Covid-19, health authorities have said.

The updated advice said people should thoroughly wash themselves and sanitise their possessions after each trip outdoors.

Shoes should be left at a “designated” point preferably outside the home, a leaflet issued by the Ministry of Health and Prevention, the Department of Health and local health bodies in Dubai and Abu Dhabi said.

Meanwhile, bags, wallets, keys, phones and sunglasses should also be put aside in a box to be disinfected.

“Take off your clothes and immediately place them in the laundry bag,” the leaflet advised.

“Take a shower or clean the exposed areas of your body thoroughly (hands, wrists, neck and feet).

“Don’t forget to sanitise the previously mentioned items with a sanitising solution while wearing gloves.”

On Monday, April 13, the UAE announced 398 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the country's total to 4,521.

Twenty-five people have now died from the infection since the UAE announced its first four cases in late January. A total of 852 people have recovered.

The country has introduced a range of measures to restrict the spread of the virus, including the introduction of a 24-hour stay at home order in Dubai.

In Abu Dhabi, people must stay indoors between 8pm and 6am, and only venture out of the house outside of those times to buy essentials.

The UAE is expected to begin to turn a corner and "flatten the curve" of infections in three to four weeks' time, according to a government doctor.

Dr Sajwani, a family medicine specialist for the Ministry of Health and Prevention and member of the national awareness team for Covid-19, said most people were co-operating with the travel restrictions but others were "not taking the disease seriously".

"Some of them are still gathering, and, as suspected, not sticking to proper quarantine," he said.

“People are still going out from 6am to 8pm, except in Dubai. So if they are still going out, especially to the supermarkets, this will increase the spread of the disease."