Preventing Illness In The Community

There are many things you can to do help protect yourself and others from infectious diseases.

 

Keep your Hands Clean

Keeping your hands clean is one of the most important ways to reduce your risk of illness.

Hands should be cleaned with either soap and water, or with an alcohol-based hand rub.

Key times to clean your hands include

• Before and after preparing and serving meals
• Before and after eating
• Before and after tending to a wound, or caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after touching your eyes, nose or mouth
• After using the washroom or helping someone else to use the washroom
• After changing a diaper
• After handling animals and their food, treats, toys and waste
• After coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose
• Any time your hands may be contaminated

More information on Hand Hygiene for the general Public is available here; The Benefits of Hand Washing - Canada.ca

 

Stay Home when Sick

Staying home when you are sick helps to protect the health of others, like friends and coworkers.

Generally, if you are unwell, you should stay home until you are fever free and your symptoms have been improving for 24 hours (or 48 hours if you have vomiting and/or diarrhea).

Certain diseases have different requirements for how long you should stay home for. This information is available through our Disease Specific Resources.

 

Stay up to Date with Vaccines

Keeping up with vaccinations, including routine childhood immunizations, annual flu shots, and COVID-19 vaccines can help to keep you healthy.

For more information on Immunization, visit our VPD section.

 

Practice Safe Sex

Practicing safe sex reduces your risk of getting an STI (sexually transmitted infection) or experienging unwanted pregnancy. More information on sexual health is available here; Sexual Health page.

 

Keep Food and Water Safe

Many infectious can be spread through contaminated food or water. Information on Food Safety and Water Safety is available on our site.

 

Don’t Share Personal Items like Drug Use Equipment

Sharing needles or other drug use equipment may put you at risk of acquiring infection. Information on harm reduction and safe use supplies is available on our Harm Reduction page.

 

Choose Inspected Service Providers like Restaurants and Personal Service Settings

Certain businesses, like restaurants, public pools, hair and nail salons, and tattoo shops are inspected by Public Health for their compliance with health and safety standards. To see who is inspected, and their most recent inspection results, please see our Check-It Pages below;

Check-it Disclosures After July 10, 2023

Grey Bruce Public Health changed service providers for our inspection platform in the Summer of 2023. For inspections conducted before July 10 2023 please contact us at 519 376 9420 or 1 800 263 3456, or e-mail us for assistance.