Taking care of Covid patients at home: Some simple dos and don’ts

What are you expected to do if you have a Covid-positive patient in the family, and are sharing your home space with them? Often, complete isolation may not be possible, and as such, you may find yourself in the same house as your parent, spouse, child, or anyone else who has tested positive for COVID-19, but does not need hospitalisation.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed and panicky, arm yourself with some knowledge. Remember, while it is easy to feel scared given whatever is happening at the moment, it is necessary that you keep your calm, take care of the patient, while also keeping your own health.

Here is a simple home advisory and dos and don’ts for caregivers, courtesy of Dr Behram Pardiwala — Internal Medicine, Wockhardt Hospitals Mumbai Central. Read on.

Dos:

– It is extremely important for all family members to wear a mask all the time in the house.
– Patients’ clothes must be washed separately, but first soaked in disinfectant.
– Disinfect common washrooms all the time, in case there is no provision for separate washrooms.
– Dispose of patients’ disposable material in a separate yellow bag given for biohazard material.

Don’ts:

– Do not enter the Covid-positive patient’s room, as it is proven to be more of an airborne disease than a contact-based disease.

In addition to these, it is also expected that you sanitise your hand, and wash it with soap and water before preparing meals, before eating. etc. Make sure that the patient’s utensils are separate, and they are cleaned thoroughly. Do not step out of the house and interact with other people. Keep calm, and remember this will pass.

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