COVID 19 Home Quarantine Guidelines: Health Ministry Approved

Coronavirus or COVID-19 was first reported in 2019 in the City of Wuhan in China. This disease spread quickly to other parts of China. At present, there are several confirmed cases of COVID-19 all around the world including Italy, the UK, the USA, South Korea, Japan, France, Germany and India. Here are a few COVID 19 home quarantine guidelines you must follow if it comes to that.

A suspect or a case of COVID-19 once detected must be followed by quick isolation. Once the case has been identified s/he has to be isolated in the health center designated by the authorities. All contacts of the suspect case/confirmed case of COVID 19 have to be listed and they have to be home quarantined.

COVID 19 Home Quarantine Guidelines – A Comprehensive Guide

Who Is A Contact?

First things first. A healthy individual who has come into contact with a person infected with a disease or has been exposed to an environment that is contaminated is referred to as a contact.

The novel Coronavirus COVID-19 contact can be identified by considering the following.

Shared the same housing space with the suspect case of COVID-19
Direct physical contact with a suspect/confirmed case
Shared a closed space with the infected/suspect
Came in to contact with secretions that are infected without the required covering/protection (Personal Protective Equipment-PPE)
The possibility of breach of the personal protective equipment while in contact with a suspect/confirmed case
Face to face contact at a distance shorter than 1 meter
Travelled together: be it in a plane/train compartment/taxi/bus
The association with the suspect/confirmed case of COVID-19 could have happened within 14 days before the disease onset.

COVID 19 Home Quarantine Guidelines For Contacts

Given below are some of the important instructions to be followed by a home quarantined contact.

Remain in a single room
The room must be properly ventilated
Use a separate toilet/bathroom
Maintain a minimum distance of 1 meter from the other person if the room is being shared
Stay away from people with other diseases
Stay away from children and the elderly
Stay away from pregnant women
Restricted movement within the house
Do not attend public, religious, social gatherings
This could include a funeral, a marriage, a conference etc

COVID 19 Home Quarantine Guidelines – Health Measures To Be Adopted By The Contact

Use a hand sanitizer that is alcohol-based regularly
Wash your hands as often as you can
Thoroughly wash your hands using soap and water
Do not share your personal/household things with people at home
This includes towels, clothes, plates, cups etc
Always wear a surgical mask
Change it every 6-8 hours
Do not reuse a disposable mask
These masks must be treated as potentially infected
The mask used by the patient/close contacts/caretakers during isolation at home must be disinfected
Use bleach/sodium hypochlorite to disinfect
Dispose of by burying/burning it

COVID 19 Home Quarantine Guidelines – Instructions For The Family Of The Contact

Only one member should be assigned as care-taker
Strictly prohibit visitors
Direct skin contact must be avoided
Clean the linen/surfaces regularly
Use a pair of disposable gloves while cleaning
After removing the gloves wash hands thoroughly

COVID 19 Home Quarantine Guidelines – How To Disinfect The Environment?

The quarantined person’s room must be cleaned regularly
Especially surfaces like bed frames, chairs and tables etc
Disinfect using a solution of Sodium Hypochlorite
Use a bleach solution to disinfect the toilet and bathroom surfaces every day
Linen and clothes used by the patient must be washed daily
Wash it separately using detergents and dry it completely

Duration Of Home Quarantine

14 days if the person was in contact with a confirmed case of COVID 19
A lesser period if the suspect’s COVID-19 laboratory test results turn out to be negative

In case the contact gets symptoms like fever, dry cough, breathing difficulty she/he must get in touch with the closest health care center immediately. The family members have to be quarantined for 14 days. Follow-up must be done for another 14 days or until the COVID-19 test results turn out to be negative.