These precautions will protect you and your loved ones at home. Our goal is to lessen the spread of the virus.
Close contacts should also follow these recommendations:
- Monitor the symptoms. If the person is getting sicker, call their healthcare provider and schedule an appointment or setup a tele-health visit. Make sure to tell them that the patient is sick. This will help the facility plan appropriately. Try and get a mask for them to protect others.
- Household members should stay in another room or be separated from the patient as much as possible and possibly use a separate bedroom and bathroom.
- Prohibit visitors who do not have an essential need to be in the home.
- Shared spaces in the home have good airflow, consider opening a window.
- And of course, perform hand hygiene frequently. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95% alcohol… It may seem obvious but cover all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. It is well known that we unconsciously touch our faces often. Be AWARE of this.
- As emphasized in an earlier video, The individual with symptoms should wear a facemask when they are around other people. If the person is not able to wear a facemask , you, as the caregiver, should wear a mask when you are in the same room.
- Avoid sharing household items with the sick person. You should not share dishes, glasses, towels, or bedding. Make sure to wash them thoroughly after
- Clean all “high-touch” surfaces, such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, phones, EVERYDAY.
- Use a household cleaning spray or wipes
- If you have been in contact with an ill person, take a shower and put on a fresh set of clothes on. Wash laundry thoroughly.
- Immediately remove and wash clothes or bedding that have bodily fluids.
- Wear disposable gloves while handling them, do the best to keep them away from your body.
- In general, normal laundry detergent is fine and dry them at the warmest temperatures recommended for the material
Warm Regards,
Dr. Praveen V Arla