Are you the only Covid-19 negative person in the house? Here’s what to do

What if your husband is Covid-19 positive and you are not? An expert shares some safety tactics that you can follow while staying in the same house.
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Stay safe from Covid-19. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Dr Farah Ingale Published: 21 Jan 2022, 20:09 pm IST
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As the world is battling with Covid-19 and its variants, it is important for us to understand the transmission of this disease and how contagious it can get. People who have been tested positive are thought to be most infectious early in the course of their illness. With the current variant Omicron, the spread appears to occur one to two days before people start showing symptoms, and two to three days later.

Are living with family members who have been tested positive and you are the only one who has been tested negative? It is imperative for you to be vigilant and follow precautions during the whole course of treatment of your loved ones.

Covid-19
If you’re the only Covid-19 negative person in the house, then you’ve to be very careful. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

When you’re living with an individual or family member who you think or know has been infected with the virus, you should support them emotionally and physically. But keep in mind that you need to avoid getting in contact with them or close to them, touching them or getting in contact with the things they have touched that haven’t been sanitized or cleaned yet.

You can keep yourself safe and take care of your loved ones who may have caught Covid-19.

Ways to keep yourself safe in a Covid-19 positive house:

1. You can pick a room for them to be isolated in and they shouldn’t step out except if they have to use the bathroom. While you can stay in the living room or a spare room if you have it, so that you can still have access to the kitchen and other spaces while they stay in their room.

2. If the place you currently reside in has two bathrooms, make one of them be used by the sick person and don’t let anyone else use it. If you don’t have two bathrooms, you can open the windows, switch on the ventilation fan if you have one, and clean and sanitize every surface they touch, so you or anyone else you live with can use it. Also, avoid sharing water
cups with them.

3. Serve and help them with food. You can find a big tray in which you can keep the food and drinks. You can place the food outside their closed door and walk away.

4. Keep your laundry separate and keep your clothes out of the sick room if they’re usually kept there.

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Take the right precautions and keep the infection away. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

5. Even if your loved one is in their own room with the door closed most of the time, it is important for ventilation to happen. Keep windows open slightly in other parts of the place to create ventilation

6. Use technology to connect with an individual and may seem silly to send a text message or video call or voice call with someone in the next room, but it can give the sick person a human touch and can help them with recovery.

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PERSONALISE NOW

7. Now that you are currently staying with someone who has tested positive, you could be carrying the virus with you to social gatherings, or to work or to the store, even if you don’t have symptoms and are asymptomatic.

8. You should get a home test done as the infected family member completes 10 days of isolation. If positive, you also need to isolate yourself, inform the local authorities and contact your nearest healthcare provider.

The last word

In conclusion, everyone should exercise ‘precaution over panic’ to ensure that you are safeguarding yourself and those in your close circle. Be judicious to report your symptoms to your healthcare provider, so that appropriate treatment can begin immediately. Do not self-treat.

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About the Author

Dr Farah Ingale Director-Internal Medicine Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi ...Read More

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