Loved one sick at home with coronavirus? Here’s how to safely take care of them

If a family member or loved one is sick with the coronavirus, you can follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on how to safely take care of them at home.

Those who are infected should keep to their own bedroom and bathroom if possible, according to the CDC. Caregivers should only clean surfaces around the sick person when necessary in order to limit contact. If using a shared bathroom, the sick person should clean and disinfect after using if possible, the CDC said.

“It’s a very small shared environment with a high probability the virus is present,” Dr. Raphael Viscidi, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told USA Today. Viscidi said that viruses are usually spread between people with “the closest and prolonged contact.”

According to the CDC, those caring for infected people should take precautions bywashing hands often and disinfecting and cleaning high-touch surfaces, soft surfaces, electronics, and laundry.

Dishes and utensils should be washed with hot water and while wearing gloves, according to the CDC. Used dishes, glasses, and silverware should be handled with gloves and washed with hot water and soap.

Sick people should also use a dedicated trash can if possible, and garbage should be disposed of while wearing gloves, the CDC said.

The sick person should wear a “cloth face covering” that covers the nose and mouth when they’re around other people at home, according to the CDC.

They should also make sure to drink a lot of fluids, get plenty of rest and take over-the-counter medication for symptoms if needed, the CDC said. Most people have symptoms last a couple of days and feel better after a week.

People can stop isolating at home if they haven’t had a fever in 72 hours, see an improvement in symptoms, and at least a week has passed since their symptoms first started, according to the CDC. For people who have been tested, they can stop isolating at home if they don’t have a fever, their symptoms improve, and they have two negative COVID-19 tests in a row, a day apart.

This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Loved one sick at home with coronavirus? Here’s how to safely take care of them."