If you are caring for a person who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, here is some advice from the Government of Canada that discusses how to protect yourself and others in the home, as well as those in your community.
Limit contact
- Only one healthy person should provide care.
- Do not share personal items
- Use a separate bathroom from the ill person if possible.
Protect yourself
- If possible, people who are at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19 should not care for someone with COVID-19 (such as elderly persons)
- If you need to be within 2 metres of the ill person, wear a mask, disposable gloves and eye protection.
- Wear disposable gloves when touching the ill person, their environment and soiled items or surfaces.
- Do not re-use masks or gloves.
- Clean your hands often for at least 20 seconds
- Dry your hands with disposable paper towels.
- You can also remove dirt with a wet wipe and then use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
Keep your environment clean
- Place used masks, gloves and other contaminated items in a lined container, secure the contents and dispose of them with other household waste.
- Place possibly contaminated laundry into a container with a plastic liner and do not shake.
- At least once daily, use household disinfectants or diluted bleach (1 part bleach and 9 parts water) to clean and disinfect surfaces that people touch often (e.g., toilets, laundry containers, bedside tables, doorknobs, phones and television remotes)
Monitor yourself for symptoms
- If you have always used the recommended precautions, then monitor yourself for symptoms for 14 days following your last contact with the ill person.
- If you have had direct contact with body fluids of the ill person (e.g., were coughed or sneezed on when you weren’t wearing a mask), contact your local public health authority for further instructions.
- If you develop symptoms, isolate yourself as quickly as possible and contact your local public health authority for further instructions.
Maintain these supplies
- Surgical/procedure masks (do not re-use)
- Eye protection
- Disposable gloves (do not re-use)
- Disposable paper towels
- Tissues
- Waste container with plastic liner
- Thermometer
- Over the counter medication to reduce fever (e.g., ibuprofen or acetaminophen)
- Running water
- Hand soap
- Alcohol-based sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol
- Dish soap
- Regular laundry soap
- Regular household cleaning products
- Bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite) and a separate container for dilution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water)
- Alcohol prep wipes
For more information, or a translation of this information, please visit https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/how-to-care-for-person-with-covid-19-at-home-advice-for-caregivers.html
