Care Guide

This home care guide is prepared for those assisting someone that is at home recovering from COVID-19. And also for individuals taking care of themselves at home. Please follow this advice to protect yourself and others. This guide also should be followed when caring for people who have tested positive for the virus; but are not showing symptoms. Information is in part from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Learn what to do when someone has symptoms of COVID-19 or when someone has been diagnosed with the virus.

Some are at a higher risk for the virus. This includes older adults and people of any age with underlying medical conditions. And they are at higher risk for developing more severe illness from COVID-19. They should call their doctor as soon as symptoms start.

Watch for warning signs

• Have their doctor’s phone number on hand.
• Use CDC’s self-checker tool to help you make decisions about seeking appropriate medical care.
• Call their doctor if the person keeps getting sicker. For medical emergencies, call 911 and tell the dispatcher that the person has or might have COVID-19.
• From HMI: if someone is uninsured, consider identifying health services including ambulance that participate in the “Covid Uninsured Program”.

Make sure the person who is sick drinks a lot of fluids and rests

• Help the person who is sick follow their doctor’s instructions for care and medicine.
  • For most people, symptoms last a few days, and people usually feel better after a week.
• See if over-the-counter medicines for fever help the person feel better.
• Make sure the person who is sick drinks a lot of fluids and rests.
• Help them with grocery shopping, filling prescriptions, and getting other items they may need. Consider having the items delivered through a delivery service, if possible.
• Take care of their pet(s), and limit contact between the person who is sick and their pet(s) when possible.

Protect Yourself

Keep a separate bedroom and bathroom for a person who is sick

COVID-19 spreads between people who are in close contact (within about 6 feet) through respiratory droplets, created when someone talks, coughs or sneezes. Staying away from others helps stop the spread of the virus.

The person who is sick should isolate

The sick person should separate themselves from others in the home. Learn when and how to isolate.

• If possible, have the person who is sick use a separate bedroom and bathroom. And if possible, have them stay in their own “sick room” or area and away from others. Try to stay at least 6 feet away from the sick person.
• Shared space: If you have to share space, make sure the room has good air flow.
  • Open the window to increase air circulation.
  • Improving ventilation helps remove respiratory droplets from the air.
• Avoid having visitors. Avoid having any unnecessary visitors, especially visits by people considered high risk.

Caregivers should quarantine

Caregivers and anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has the virus should stay home. Learn when and how to quarantine. And when it is safe for a person who has been sick to be around others.

Deciding when it is safe to be around others is different for different situations. Find out when someone who is sick can safely end home isolation. Eat in separate rooms or areas:

• Stay separated: The person who is sick should eat (or be fed) in their room, if possible.
• Wash dishes and utensils using gloves and hot water: Handle any dishes, cups/glasses, or silverware used by the person who is sick with gloves. Wash them with soap and hot water or in a dishwasher.
• Clean hands after taking off gloves or handling used items.

Avoid sharing personal items

• Do not share: Do not share dishes, cups/glasses, silverware, towels, bedding, or electronics (like a cell phone) with the person who is sick.

The person who is sick

• The person who is sick should wear a mask when they are around other people at home and out (including before they enter a doctor’s office).
• The mask helps prevent a person who is sick from spreading the virus to others.
• Masks should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is not able to remove it without help.

Caregiver

• Put on a mask and ask the sick person to put on a mask  before entering the room.
• Wear gloves when you touch or have contact with the sick person’s blood, stool, or body fluids, such as saliva, mucus, vomit, and urine. Throw out gloves into a lined trash can and wash your hands right away.
  • Practice everyday preventative actions to keep from getting sick:  wash your hands often; avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; and frequently clean and disinfect surfaces.

Note: Clean your hands often:

• Wash hands: Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Tell everyone in the home to do the same, especially after being near the person who is sick.
• Hand sanitizer: If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
• Hands off: Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

• Clean and disinfect “high-touch” surfaces and items every day: This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets, faucets, sinks, and electronics.
• Clean the area or item with soap and water if it is dirty. Then, use a household disinfectant.
  • Be sure to follow the instructions on the label to ensure safe and effective use of the product. Many products recommend keeping the surface wet for several minutes to kill germs. Many also recommend wearing gloves, making sure you have good air flow, and wiping or rinsing off the product after use.
  • Use products from EPA’s List N: Disinfectants COVID-19 according to manufacturer’s labeled directions.
  • To clean electronics, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products. If those directions are not available, use alcohol-based wipes or spray.
  • Learn more about cleaning and disinfecting:

Bedroom and Bathroom

• If you are using a separate bedroom and bathroom: Only clean the area around the person who is sick when needed, such as when the area is soiled. This will help limit your contact with the sick person.
  • If they feel up to it, the person who is sick can clean their own space. Give the person who is sick personal cleaning and disinfection supplies and cleaning products.
• If sharing a bathroom: The person who is sick should clean and then disinfect after each use. If this is not possible, wear a mask and wait as long as possible after the sick person has used the bathroom before coming in to clean and use the bathroom.

Wash and dry laundry

• Do not shake dirty laundry.
• Wear disposable gloves while handling dirty laundry.
• Dirty laundry from a person who is sick can be washed with other people’s items.
• Wash items according to the label instructions. Use the warmest water setting you can.
• Remove gloves, and wash hands right away.
• Dry laundry, on hot if possible, completely.
• Wash hands after putting clothes in the dryer.
• Clean and disinfect clothes hampers. Wash hands afterwards.

Used only lined trash bags. Wear gloves when handling trash.

• Place used disposable gloves and other contaminated items in a lined trash can.
• Use gloves when removing garbage bags, and handling and disposing of trash. Wash hands afterwards.
• Place all used disposable gloves, masks, and other contaminated items in a lined trash can.
• If possible, dedicate a lined trash can for the person who is sick.

• Caregivers should stay home and monitor their health for COVID-19 symptoms while caring for the person who is sick.
• Caregivers can leave their home 14 days after their last close contact with the person who is sick or 14 days after the person who is sick meets the criteria to end home isolation.
• The best way to protect yourself and others is to stay home for 14 days if you think you have been exposed to someone with the virus. See our testing guide for information about options in your area to possibly shorten this quarantine period.
• Use CDC’s self-checker tool to help you make decisions about seeking appropriate medical care.
• If you are having trouble breathing, call 911.
  • Call your doctor or emergency room and tell them your symptoms before going in. They will tell you what to do.