11/07/2020
One person in your home with COVID-19?
How to keep your body negative, and your mind positive for 14 days of ISOLATION
Dr Daniel Israel
We each treat our family as the safe zone. What a blessing this is, that in today’s world fraught with risks, influences and unhealthy environments, there is a space that exists where we can demask, expose and let be.
The surge of COVID-19 in our communities now places so many families in the difficult quandary of how to protect family members from getting COVID from a newly diagnosed loved one. It's the threat to our safe zone that makes this quandary all the more challenging.
If my husband has COVID-19, and we’re all young and healthy, why don’t we just quarantine at home and get it?
As we address this question, it is a given that if an elderly grandparent or a person with a comorbidity lives in the family, this wouldn’t be a consideration.
Let’s examine a step further: how about a family that has no obvious ‘risk factors’? Once a member contracts the virus, can they just cocoon together and take the knock? Unfortunately, international data has shown that 5% of deaths from coronavirus are in young healthy people with no risk factors. For morbidity statistics on a disease entity, 5% is high – a risk we would never consider. So, the challenge is set: how do you remain coronavirus negative while you live with someone who is positive?
What precautions do I take with our home quarantine?
Members of the household who have been in contact with the positive patient should be even more vigilant in terms of social distancing. They are obliged to quarantine for 2 weeks since their last close contact with the patient. This means they should stay home and have necessities delivered. To make this even more complicated, the infected family member needs to be isolated from the rest of the family. This is the tough part. In essence it means staying in a different living area and not sharing anything with the rest of the family. The practicalities of this are outlined below.
THE BEDROOM
In an attempt to reduce close contact and transmission through surfaces, where possible, the patient should sleep in a separate room. Create a ‘sick room’ in your home. This room should be cleaned daily by wiping surfaces with a bleach solution (1 part of 5% bleach to 9 parts of water.) Whoever cleans the room must wear a mask and sanitize their hands after the cleaning.
THE BATHROOM
A study in Wuhan in April 2020 printed in the bioRxiv journal showed significant positive Sars-cov-2 swabs from bathrooms in a hospital. Where possible, the COVID positive patient in your home should have their own bathroom. It is important to close the toilet seat before flushing. The bathroom must be cleaned down daily with disinfectant (containing bleach as above). If you need to share a bathroom, the surfaces need to be wiped down between each user.
THE LIVING ROOM
Few homes have separate living rooms that can sustain pockets of isolation. Furthermore, families find it emotionally straining, having NO contact with an infected family member over this time. The WHO recommends sharing living space at a distance. If you are going to spend limited time together, do it in the garden or in a ventilated room, at a distance of more than 2 metres with all members of the family wearing masks. Don’t be tempted to share food.
MEALS
Meals promote viral shed because we are used to sharing dishing up spoons and condiments and because masks cannot be worn . Families who eat together, get corona together. Ideally, the infected patient should eat in his/her room. If this is emotionally straining, the patient should at least eat on the other side of the room with no sharing of food or utensils. Cutlery and crockery must be washed in hot soapy water or in a dishwasher on a hot setting.
LAUNDRY
Laundry from the infected person must be handled carefully and washed in hot water. The person handling the laundry should wear gloves or thoroughly sanitise their hands after touching it. Hot water removes coronavirus from clothes, so clothes can be reintroduced into the family after washing.
PARENTING
Young children may not be understanding of the rules of social distancing. We are encouraged by the evidence, thus far, that children don't spread coronavirus. The important goal should be to at least treat the coronavirus patient as 'sick' to the young child and encourage keeping a distance 'to stop germs.' Explain to the child that this will just be for a while and once Mom or Dad has fought off the virus, they will be able to hug again.
So now that I know how to remain negative, how do I keep my mind positive?
This is all a little overwhelming…
YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO BE RESILIENT
Remember, your loved one is probably more scared than you are. Scared of complications or death (even if they are unfounded). Scared of infecting you. It’s important that in the milieu of madness in your home, you are able to provide a framework of support. The patient’s focus is on resting and recovery. This is your opportunity to dig deep into your resources of resilience, and lead from the front. You may find this challenging, given your own concerns. Reach out to your GP or a mental health worker to help you process your own anxieties.
COMMUNICATE TO DESTROY STIGMA
The societal fear of coronavirus has led to its stigma. You may be afraid that if you disclose that your family has been affected, your children may be stigmatised and you may be avoided for months. However, cases are rapidly rising, and hiding away from COVID is not sustainable. The best approach you can take is to be open and honest from the outset. This builds empathy in the community. It prevents spread by making contacts aware of their possible retroactive risk and helps others understand why you are in quarantine. Most importantly here, it gives those who care for you, the opportunity to offer you support.
LOOK AFTER YOURSELF
For the next fourteen days, you are likely to be caring for a COVID patient, implementing measures to prevent spread and fielding electronic communication about your family’s well-being. Try to set limits on these. You may still have a parental role which is likely to now be largely alone. You may still have a job, and you still need to exercise. Make sure you get enough rest and make time for the activities that feed your soul. If the children’s home schooling falls slightly behind, or your house turns into a tip, don't be too hard on yourself.Try to consider your family’s coronavirus ordeal as a project that will come and go – albeit a project you didn’t choose.
Human beings are resilient. The fourteen days ahead may seem endless as you enter them but think of how many past fourteen-day periods of the last year stick out in your mind. This time will pass and make you stronger. Contact your GP should you require guidance navigating this process. Go forward and conquer it.
- Dr Daniel Israel & Associates
