The pandemic has posed a number of challenges for everyone, especially for people that have jobs require them to be on-site. Of course, in order to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic, it has been recommended that everyone stay inside as much as possible. However, there is still a need and demand for interpreters who can be on-site. The need for on-site interpreters mostly comes from patients in hospital or for meetings where privacy and security are necessary. So what can you as an interpreter do to make sure that you are as safe as possible while being on-site besides wearing a mask?

Most work environments that need to be on-site have taken precautions to make sure that they make as safe an environment as possible. Most of the times, they will take your temperature, have an interpreter fill out a COVID-19 form in advance, supply hand sanitizer, indicators for safe distance, and sometimes even gloves that you can use. Even so, it is up to you to make sure that you stay safe. Here are some small tips to remind everyone.

First, keep in mind that anyone and everyone could be a potential carrier of the virus. This is not to say that you should be completely paranoid, but if you keep that mind, then that will help you to exercise caution and not let your guard down. This means that you will remember to avoid shaking hands, keep a safe distance from everyone around you, and carrying around hand sanitizer gel. However, this does not mean that you should treat people poorly just because you are scared of infection. They are most certainly just as worried as you. Remember, we are all in this together, so treat each other with compassion, respect, and kindness.

Next, though it is common courtesy to shake hands of the people you are working with, it is not advisable to shake hands during the pandemic since the virus could possibly be transferred to your hand and infect you if you accidentally touch your eyes, mouth, or nose. Instead of shaking hands, you can just wave your hand and greet them warmly.

When you can, make sure you wash your hands. Though hand sanitizer can do the trick of quickly cleaning your hands, it will not completely keep you safe from the virus. Put simply, the water will neutralize and wash away the virus while the hand sanitizer will only neutralize it. While hand sanitizer is a good way to quickly clean your hands, it is not the best way to stay completely safe.

Also be sure to avoid touching surfaces in general. The virus can survive on surfaces, and then be transmitted to you if you touch your face. So try to be extra careful about what you touch in the area that you are working. Alternatively, you could also bring gloves so that you avoid having to touch anything with your hands altogether. Or you could carry around a bottle of hand sanitizer so that you can clean your hands whenever you touch something.

Speaking of bottles, you should avoid bringing bottles of water or food to assignments. Whenever you put them down, they have a chance to pick up the virus, so it is better to just eat your food and drink how much ever water or liquid you want in your car and leave it there so that you don’t accidentally get infected.

Finally the best way to avoid being infected is to boost your own immune system, meaning to take care of both your health. For example, consider going on walks every day to stay active. The walks can be as short as half an hour. The important part is just to take time to move around and get your heart rate up. Next, make sure you have a balanced diet. Eating out and ordering delivery has become much more prevalent during the pandemic, but cooking for yourself or ordering healthier options is a great way to give your body the proper nutrition it needs. Having a healthy balance is important to make sure that you keep yourself in a good condition and avoid any problems that might arise from the new pandemic lifestyle.