I wake up without an alarm clock. I’ve done that for years. If I have to catch a plane or train, which is rare nowadays, I set one as back up.

First thing I do is heat water for my hot chocolate. Dependent on the time of year, this is usually around 5 in the morning, before sunrise.

I take my blood pressure, temperature, pulse and oxygen level. If there are leftover dishes from the night before, I wash them, then start a routine I began because of the pandemic – disinfecting the house.

Using diluted bleach on a cloth wipe, I clean all sinks, counters, knobs, buttons, light switches, ground phones, faucets, remote controls, keyboards, mouse and table tops. Takes me five minutes. The nice part: I’m probably not only knocking off coronavirus, but also many bacteria at the same time. Everyone should be doing this.

I open the living room window, let the fresh air in, and drink my hot chocolate as I watch the sunrise.

That’s when I’m ready to start my not-so-routine coronavirus day.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D., is a geriatric house-call physician who serves as president of the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults and Assemblyman to the California Senior Legislature. He has practiced in the Santa Clarita Valley for 32 years.