what to do if your family member gets covid
Life has greatly inverse for many families since we showtime heard of the coronavirus in early 2020. Dorsum then, things like social distancing, masking, and sanitizing were not on our radar. Now we all know how contagious a respiratory affliction can be, and we need to be prepared if someone in our household gets sick. Here's what to exercise if a family member tests positive for COVID-19.
How Does Someone Go the Coronavirus?
Co-ordinate to the Centers for Affliction Control and Prevention (CDC), you're well-nigh likely to contract the virus when you lot're within 3 to six feet of someone who has it, and they breathe, cough, sneeze, or speak, sending respiratory droplets in your management. You then inhale these aerosol, or they land on exposed mucous membranes in your eyes, olfactory organ, or oral cavity. The disease can as well be spread if you get the virus on your hands or touch on a virus-covered surface (like a doorknob or handrail), and then come up in contact with your eyes, nose, or mouth.
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If you have COVID-19, you lot may non know right away. That'southward because symptoms commonly show up two to xiv days after exposure. New coronavirus variants may create different symptoms, just they more often than not include cough, congestion, fatigue, runny nose, sore pharynx, headache, fever, and/or torso aches; some people likewise develop pare rashes and digestive issues (vomiting and diarrhea). People who haven't been fully vaccinated tend to have more severe symptoms and may develop shortness of jiff. Be enlightened that someone could also exist an asymptomatic carrier of the disease.
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COVID-19 doesn't discriminate; it affects people of all ages, genders, races, and backgrounds. Just certain individuals are impacted more severely—namely older adults and those with compromised immune systems, says Kristopher Richardson, an NCCPA-certified emergency medicine specialist.
What should you do if a parent, child, or other member of the family develops symptoms? Nosotros spoke with the experts to find out.
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My Family Member Has COVID-19 Symptoms—Now What?
Say someone in your household wakes upwardly with a coughing, fever, and runny nose. It's possible they're suffering from allergies, seasonal influenza, or the common cold—but they might also accept COVID-19. The risk increases if you live in an area where the virus is apace spreading, or if the person has had close contact with an infected private. Hither's what to do.
Stride 1: Isolate the individual. "The sooner that you can isolate someone with symptoms, the improve. That'due south because nigh of the transmission is through shut contact," says Gwen Nichols, M.D., main medical officeholder of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The CDC recommends that people diagnosed with COVID-19 isolate for at least five days; after that, if symptoms are absent-minded or seem to be getting ameliorate, they should wear a mask for five more days to protect those in their immediate vicinity.
STEP 2: Contact your doctor for worrisome symptoms. "Unless it is a true emergency, it's critical to not have a sick person to an urgent intendance or the emergency department during this outbreak," says Jim Warren, K.D., a pediatrician with Pomona Pediatrics in Pomona, California. If you show upward at the hospital unannounced, y'all hazard exposing others who are medically vulnerable to the virus. Ever phone call your medico first. Beyond that, it's fine to contact the ER if you are struggling to breathe, have major chest pain or other life-threatening symptoms—just permit them know yous have think that you might accept COVID-xix first.
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Step 3: Become tested, if applicable. Depending on your symptoms, your doctor may tell you to come in for a COVID-nineteen test. If you'd rather stay dwelling, cocky-tests are another good option. Antigen tests come with easy-to-employ nose swabs, take 15 minutes, can be found at a chemist's shop, health clinic, or online, and should exist free or reimbursed through private insurance. They exercise sometimes return false negatives, so if you experience unsure of the results, turn to a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) examination; you lot tin can also get these online or through a doctor. (Labcorp and Walgreens have recently been shipping PCR tests for costless.)
How to Limit COVID-19 Spread in a Household
It might seem impossible when you lot're looking after children and live in close quarters with other family members, but in that location are ways to go along contagion at bay when someone's adult COVID-19. Here's how to practise it.
Exercise social distancing in the house.
"Try to requite the sick family unit fellow member an area where they can recover without exposing others to the illness. This might include providing them with their own bedchamber, as well as a designated bathroom dissever from the rest of the family," says Linda Lee, DrPH, main medical affairs and science officeholder at UV Angel. Respiratory aerosol tin can spread up to six feet (and on rare occasions even further when people are stuck in poorly ventilated spaces for a long fourth dimension). Go along your altitude from each other.
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Designate a contact person.
Cull ane good for you family member not in a loftier-gamble group (that includes older adults and those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and centre disease) to be the contact person for the ill family fellow member, suggests Aimee Ferraro, Ph.D, senior core faculty member for Walden University's public health programme. The CDC recommends people wear a confront mask and gloves if touching any blood, stool, or bodily fluids, and clean their hands for 20 seconds with soap and water afterward. The ill individual should also vesture a mask, unless they are having trouble breathing or under historic period 2.
Wash your hands oft.
"Whenever yous think y'all may have come in contact with respiratory aerosol, either on a surface or through a person, wash your hands with soap and warm h2o for at to the lowest degree 20 seconds," says Richardson. This is peculiarly important earlier eating or touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. If you're unable to practise that, utilise hand sanitizers containing at to the lowest degree lx percent alcohol. "But nada can truly substitute for proper hand-washing," he adds.
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Disinfect common areas.
Co-ordinate to a March 2020 study from the National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA, and Princeton University scientists, the coronavirus might last for up to three hours in the air, 4 hours on copper, 24 hours on paper-thin, and 2 to three days on stainless steel and plastic. New variants last even longer on plastic and skin. That's why yous should thoroughly clean everything the sick person might have touched or coughed on, including "tables, doorknobs, low-cal switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks," according to Dr. Ferraro. Cheque out these cleaning products that meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for use against the virus.
Eat separately
"While waiting for testing, people with possible infections should eat separately from family," says Dr. Nichols. "Have your repast left outside the door so nobody is within six anxiety of you. The person who clears the plate should also clothing gloves, and they demand to do vigorous hand-washing."
Rely on face masks.
"Because the coronavirus spreads through droplets, the person with symptoms should vesture a mask," suggests Dr. Nichols. The mask will foreclose these droplets from spreading to others. Caregivers may as well habiliment a mask when they're within six feet of the infected person.
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Let others handle essential tasks in public.
Those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 shouldn't go out in public to preclude spreading the illness. Instead, designate a healthy family fellow member to shop for groceries, pick up prescriptions, and complete other essential tasks. Anyone in the household who is exposed to that person and remains unvaccinated or boosted should quarantine for at least five days, and wear a mask around others for 5 days later on that. If you've been vaccinated and had a booster shot, wear a mask for 10 days (you don't demand to quarantine unless y'all develop symptoms). Go tested on the fifth twenty-four hours of your exposure to the infected person, no matter your vaccination status.
Teach cleanliness to your kids.
If you live with children, teach them proper hygiene methods, such as roofing their mouth when they cough and washing their hands ofttimes.
Boost your immune system.
Likewise maintaining distance from the infected person, other members of the household should improve their overall well-being. "The all-time way to proceed your immune system healthy is to consume a balanced diet, exercise, and become enough of sleep," says Richardson.
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Give yourself a break.
Dr. Nichols notes that certain people may accept a difficult time isolating themselves from their family unit—including single parents of immature children. If you're a unmarried parent with suspected coronavirus, you should practice the prevention methods listed above (wearing a mask, washing your hands often, etc.) to forestall spreading the virus. At the end of the day, all of u.s. can but practice the all-time nosotros can.
Source: https://www.parents.com/health/what-to-do-if-a-family-member-might-have-coronavirus/
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