Practical Ways To Stay Healthy During A Severe Flu Wave

The flu wave sweeping through workplaces, stores, and schools isn’t “just a cold,” and we’re not sugarcoating it. We lay out a practical, judgment-free plan to protect yourself and your family in the real world—where people still need to work, run errands, and pick up dinner on the way home. This is a grounded guide to staying healthy when symptoms vary, lines are long, and many of our neighbors can’t afford a sick day.

We start with what makes this flu feel different: stomach issues for some, classic sore throat and fever for others, and a draining weakness that can knock anyone down. Because you can’t spot risk at a glance, we focus on reliable habits that cut exposure across your day. That means a mask when you’re shoulder to shoulder with strangers, sanitizer after doors and payment screens, and a pause before you reach into that takeout bag in the car. We talk about cooking at home for more control, and when you can’t, how to handle pickup without grabbing germs along the way.

Faith shows up here too, not as a debate but as a companion to common sense. You can pray over your food and still wash your hands. You can trust and also take precautions that honor the health of kids, elders, coworkers, and the cashier who’s clearly pushing through symptoms to cover rent. We touch on weather swings that tempt people to underdress, easy layering that helps your body cope, and the compassionate reality that many are working sick. The goal is not fear—it’s steadiness. Small choices, repeated daily, make a big difference.

If this helped you rethink your routine, share it with a friend who’s out in public all day. Subscribe for more straight-talk health tips, leave a review to help others find the show, and tell us the one safety habit you’re committing to this week.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Flu Warning
• 3:29 How This Flu Shows Up
• 4:11 Masks, Hands, And Food Safety
• 6:29 Faith, Common Sense, And Respect
• 8:47 Crowds, Sick Workers, And Risk
• 11:29 Cook At Home And Limit Exposure
• 13:24 Weather Whiplash And Covering Up
• 15:49 Germs On Doors, Lines, And Bags

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:11

Hello everyone, good evening. I'm Regina Sworn. Welcome back to another bonus episode of Regina Soren audio series presents. I um my last bonus podcast was talking about a public service announcement about this very dangerous flu that's taking the nation by storm. And I think a lot of people think it's just some little coal or something that you get and it's just gone. But it's very serious. I still see a lot of people out in public public not necessarily um practicing safe precautions. Like, you know, people would look at me with my mask on and think that's not necessary, that makes no sense to wear a mask or whatever. Well, it may not be for you, and to each on, I'd say that, but I do know this this latest strand is very, very serious. Um don't know what it is, I just know it's the flu. It's a sp it can affect you in so many different ways. Um four different ways that I know of. You know, you could have like a bad stomach ache and you're you're pooping all over the place, or then you got one where you got the sore throat, just regular flu symptoms, and then you got one where you just completely all of them totally make you weak. Body is weak, you can don't seem like you could do anything. If you are going to be out in public, and I tell people this all the time, if you are a person who are a person who gotta be out in public, then definitely it's so important that you practice safe measures. Like, you may not want to do this, wear your mask or or wash your hands frequently. I'm not saying be go crazy with it, but at least practice safe habits uh to protect yourself and your family. Um, because I see from what I can see, friends I've talked to and people I've known, uh, some people are dying from this. And so it's very important to practice the safe habits, even if other people don't want to do it, then maybe you kind of isolate yourself a little bit. And I'm not saying that you can't go anywhere because you gotta go some somewhere, but do it with safe practices, washing of the hands, using sanitizer in your car. If you can't get to wash your hands, if you just gotta eat that bag of cookies or chips, or you gotta eat because people are going to do that right away. If you gotta do that, then please practice the safe measures, wash your hands, sanitize your hands when you get your food, when you go and order your food, and again, I prefer to cook my own food at home because I don't know if the person who's fixing your food is someone that's at work and need the hours and can't afford to be off, so they're at work working sick. So I choose to fix my own food, but say if you cannot do that or you do not want to do that, then by all means practice safe measures. When you get that food in your car, if you go to the window, if you get that food, don't just open that bag up and just start eating that food. Of course, pray over your food first. I'm gonna say that because a lot of people have been coming at me like, well, you know, I'm covered, God got me covered. And ladies, look, gentlemen, I'm not out here to argue people's religion. That is not me, okay? That just is not me. I'm just giving a public service announcement. That's it. Because of what I see every day at the hospital. So I'm not here trying to tell you what or what not to do. These are just some safe practices to that will hopefully help you and your family. It used to be that if you're older, and it still applies to if the elderly is you have to take even more precaution. But this right here doesn't matter if you're elderly or not. It it doesn't matter if you're young, old kids, babies, adults, old people, young people, it doesn't matter. Safety comes first, guys. So practice safe habits. Try to practice safe habits. I don't look or listen to what people are saying as far as um when lady she she tried to make me feel bad. She said, Oh, I got the Lord and I'm and I'm okay and I I God has got me covered, God, God got my back. And I I thought to myself, how ignorant, because it's about having common sense or using common sense, and I know that the Lord would approve this message because it's about using common sense. So all I'm saying is be safe. Safety. Practice safety. That's all I'm saying. And again, I'm not here to combat this one or that one over their faith because I'm not like that. My god, I am a person of faith. I believe in the word. I was brought up through faith with my mother's teaching, pastor's teaching, so it's not even about that. It's about just practicing safe habits and being safe. If you're going to be in crowds of people where you're, God forbid, around a whole lot of people, you definitely need to take precaution because you are probably around a lot of people who are not practicing safe habits. They're just out and about. A lot of people are out and about with this this uh flu. They're trying to work. As I was saying in my last podcast, one lady just had her head in her hands, she was waiting on people through the line at one of the very popular uh grocery stores. She she the lady was definitely sick. You can look at her and tell she was sick. She said she had the flu, but she had to work because she could not take any more time off or else she wouldn't be able to make enough money to pay her rent. So sad. So sad. Only thing I'm advising you to do, and I'm not telling anybody to do anything, these are just advice tips. If you want to take them, do that. If you don't bypass this podcast like a good many people do that don't know me. A lot of people support this podcast that know me, but some of them just pass right on by it. Oh, it's just Gina. And my family's one of them. They look and listen, oh, it's just Gina. But I'm telling you right now, these tips that I'm sharing with you are extremely important. You may or may not want to follow them. Um, I was trying to reach a childhood friend the other day. Nikita, how are you? I was trying to reach her, and I've been trying to reach that lady back to back to back to back to back. Not so much to get on there and laugh, chit-chat about childhood memories, but to warrant her and let her know about all of the uh flu strands and stuff that's out there right now, and to be careful because I know she worked out in the public around people as well, and that's what it was for, Nikita. So if you are listening to this, it was about that. It wasn't about you being on the podcast or doing the podcast. See, I had to bring that up, and I hope she hears this, and I'm saying this with all love. Please speak practice caution. You know, with the weather the way it is, it's weird, it's totally weird. You know, I see people with shorts on, with shirts on, with their chests out. I and they think that's okay to do that, but they don't know that I'm not saying walk around in a meek coat or a fur coat, but still cover yourself when you're out. Don't just think that this weather is okay, it's hot today. I'm gonna go out there and I'm just gonna have my tank top on. I'm just gonna go out in a shirt. I'm just gonna go out. You still gotta be careful, you still gotta practice safety measures and be safe. But if you don't have to be out and around people, I have to be, because I do work in a medical facility. But if you don't have to be, I'm not saying hi to yourself in your house, but try to practice cooking your own food for a change. Just do it do it sometimes. If you're not used to that, prepare your own meals. Try to do that, try to do that. And I know a lot of people like eating out, they like ordering their Doordash and things like that, but try fixing your own meals at home and and I think that'll help a lot. Again, you don't have to take these uh measures that I'm advising you to to do. You don't have to do it, but it will help some people if they would you know check it out anyway. I'm not gonna even say if they would just listen, just listen to me. No, it's not about you listening to me, it's about checking out the podcast and saying, okay, she might, she might just have a point there. So just be careful because this new flu, it doesn't care that you got a flu shot. It doesn't care about all that. It's about practicing safe habits when you're out and about. Because there's so many people who are sick, who are working sick. There are so many people who are out touching things. A lot of people quickly they they do things, they touch a door, they touch a knob, they touch the car, they go to restaurants where people are sick, and just that quick you got that germ. I'm just asking you, I'm just giving you a little advice to be safe, because I know of a lot of people who has fallen ill, extremely deadly ill, some has died. So just be careful. I'm not here trying to scare anybody, trying to say, see, I told you so. I'm not trying to do any of those things. Just a little bit of safe practice would take you a very, very, very long way if you would listen. And that's all I got that's all I can ask you to do. That's for those who will listen, because there are some out there who don't even know me that will listen to me before some of my own family members will, before some of my own friends will. As I was just telling you, a friend, a childhood friend who I've been trying to reach, just to say, hey friend, be careful. This this flu strand is taking the the world by storm. Be careful. I know you're out there, I know you you work amongst a lot of people. Be safe, be safe. But sometimes when people make it so difficult for you to contact them when you know, I know that I'm a busy person, but I'm never ever too busy to have conversation with my friends, even if it's just for a moment. This is what I want you to hear. Be safe. Safety matters, and that's all that I gotta say for that. I don't want to go any further. I'm Regina Swaren. Contact me at SwarinRochina at gmail.com. And again, this is not to scare anybody. I want to say that it's just to practice safe measures. If you are a wife or a mother or a husband, if you can cook at home, I mean that would be really wonderful. To you can save you some money too. So yeah, that's all I'm gonna say because I'm sure somebody some letters even behind this. Can you believe it? People will write me letters and say, Well, like, who does she think she is? You know, like I'm just a normal human being. This is just a normal caring human being. Take care.