How One Should Care For A COVID Positive Family Member: Here's A Step-By-Step Guide

If you are caring for someone with COVID-19 at home or in a non-healthcare setting, follow this advice to protect yourself and others. Learn what to do when someone has symptoms of COVID-19 or when someone has been diagnosed with the virus. This information also should be followed when caring for people who have tested positive but are not showing symptoms.

*Note: Older adults and people of any age with serious underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for developing more severe illness from COVID-19. People at higher risk of severe illness should call their doctor as soon as symptoms start. The following guidelines are as per ICMR and WHO.

Provide support

• Help the person who is sick follow their doctor¡¯s instructions for care and medicine.
• Keep oxymeter handy, and track their oxygen levels from time to time. Ideally, it should be above 94.
• Make sure the person who is sick drinks a lot of fluids and rests.
• A cough or sneeze should be covered with a flexed elbow or a disposable tissue that is discarded immediately after use.
  
• Ensure the sick person wears a mask when in the same room as anyone else.

iStock

Watch for warning signs

• Have your doctor¡¯s phone number handy.
• Use your state govt's self-checker tool to help you make decisions about seeking appropriate medical care.
• Look for emergency warning signs for COVID-19. If someone is having trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, inability to wake or stay awake or have pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, depending on skin tone, seek emergency medical care immediately.

Getty Images

Limit contact

• If possible, have the person who is sick use a separate bedroom and bathroom.
• If possible, have the person who is sick 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 and improving ventilation helps remove respiratory droplets from the air.

BCCL

• Avoid having any unnecessary visitors, especially visits by people who are at higher risk for severe illness.
• Caregivers and anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 should stay home, except in limited circumstances.
  
• 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.
  

Getty Images

Stay separated

• Eat in separate areas.
• 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.

Unsplash

• Do not share dishes, cups/glasses, silverware, towels, bedding, or electronics (like a cell phone) with the person who is sick.
• Frequently touched surfaces by the ill person should be cleaned and disinfected at least daily.