How to Social Distance in an Apartment Community
Living in an NJ Garden Community has incredible perks: spacious rentals, luxury amenities, convenient public transportation… but with the Covid-19 pandemic, how do you social distance when your neighbors are just a door away? Here are 5 tips to help you social distance in an apartment or condo community…
1. Clean Your Hands
Although you might not be coming into direct contact with other residents in your community, wearing disposable gloves will help protect you and others from illness. Viruses can live on surfaces for several hours—surfaces like door handles, elevator buttons, and stair railings. Even if you have to touch these surfaces, you can still protect yourself by washing your hands for at least 20 seconds or using hand sanitizer. The sooner you do so after touching common objects in your apartment community, the better your chances of staying healthy and illness-free. This is especially important to remember to stay healthy if you take public transportation to work each day.
2. Change Your Daily Routine & Habits
Changing your daily routine doesn’t mean that you have to change much. Rather, this means choosing to go out at times when you are less likely to encounter other residents of the rental community. For example: instead of going to the grocery store first thing in the morning, like you usually do, go mid-afternoon instead. If you usually used the fitness center in your community (now closed for the safety of the residents), go for a run on a park trail or do floor exercises in your luxury apartment or condo. Changing your routine to better social distance doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice what you enjoy doing. It simply means doing what you enjoy in alternative ways. *If you’re feeling some cabin fever, try traveling virtually!
3. Always Wear Masks in Common Areas
According to the CDC, wearing a facemask is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infection. By wearing one at all times in the common areas of your rental community, you are prepared in the event that you run into another resident. With both the mask and practicing courteous social distancing, you give both yourself and other residents the best chance of staying healthy.
4. Wait for the Next Elevator
Best social distancing means that individuals keep at least 6ft away from those who are not members of their immediate households. But not everywhere in your luxury rental community will be as open as a courtyard or lobby. Certain spaces like elevators and staircases can put residents in close proximity with one another. If you see another person in the elevator or waiting before you arrived, catch the next one. If you see someone coming down the stairs you’re about to climb wait until they’ve descended before going up yourself. Little things like this will help everyone to stay as healthy as possible.
5. Get Tested for Covid-19
If you are showing any symptoms of Covid-19, including coughing or fever do the following:
- Get tested at your local center. Learn how to get tested and find a testing site closest to your NJ Garden Community.
- Quarantine and stay home until the test is proven negative. In the event that you are positive for Covid-19, it’s imperative that you stay in quarantine for at least 2 weeks.
Garden Communities is taking every measure to ensure that all common areas are thoroughly sanitized and that personnel are following proper social distancing protocol. After all, the definition of community is “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” You live together with those in your community, but by staying apart, we work with another towards a common end: the health and safety of all residents.
Every Garden Community is a safe and secure place, even during Covid. If you’re looking for a rental community you can trust for yourself and your family to call home, then look no further!