Worried about infecting my elderly parents if I become infected

[SunburstsOrMarbleHalls]

I have an 86 year old mum and 73 year old dad with multiple heath issues. They are self isolating for the foreseeable future and going forward I will be the only person they have any kind of contact with.

I usually clean their house every week and will now do their shopping and go and pay their utilities/rent each week at the post office. They have no access to the internet so are not set up for any kind of online payments etc and I'm unable to book home delivery on their behalf as locally all slots for supermarket delivery are full. They have very little experience in any kind of technology and mum is not able to confidently use an ATM as she prefers to go into the bank to draw cash out.

As I will be making multiple essential journeys out for both my family shopping and their shopping (can't do it at same time due to restrictions on number of items per customer) I am worried about the risk of transmission particularly when I have to go in their house to clean for them.

I will of course do everything I can to stay healthy ie hand washing, gloves when cleaning, social distancing. However the thought of inadvertently transmitting this virus to them is making me quite anxious as it would quite likely be fatal. I'm also worried if I have to self isolate how they would cope as they have no body else who could help them.

Any tips or suggestions would be really appreciated.

If you can't completely cut contact, minimalise it. Keep trying for an online delivery slot. Things should calm down soon once panic buying stops. Hopefully supermarkets will get elderly and vulnerable slots better organised too. In case you get ill, try local support groups, facebook, the council. There could be a way of getting food delivered to them. If you really can't get any online delivery, do your shopping separately so you can get enough for your parents without going over any rationing limits.

With the rent and utilities, if your mum must stick to cash could she give you a larger amount upfront? You could pay rent for a month instead of weekly. Try to set up basic online accounts for them. You could handle the transactions for them once it's set up.

I'm sure the house could go a few weeks without a clean. Do one big deep clean and then leave it for a few weeks.

OP

Similar here My parents are 84 and im worried. My 25 year old niece lives with them and is still working in a school environment

Do i go and visit and risk giving it to them?

Do i leave it and never see them again if they (God forbid) catch this via my nieces job.

And i feel fucking horrible saying this as she works with disabled children

im not infected AFAIK but apparently no one can know for sure.

Forget the cleaning. The house won't turn into a pigsty within weeks. Reassure them of that but keep contact to doorstep deliveries only. Set up online accounts for rent utilities. Don't go into the house at ALL.

Helena I know it's not always so easy but could your niece stay somewhere else temporarily? If not, she should change her clothes once she gets in from work and try to stay in a different room as much as possible. Use separate crockery and cutlery. I have the same dilemma about visiting my elderly family. I decided not to visit so we'll keep in touch with video calls. Luckily they're quite good with technology. Can you do that with your parents? If they need your care, visit snd just be extra careful about handwashing, use wipes, gloves if needed, and stay a certain distance from them.

@tryingtoprep Thank You

At the moment there is no where else. I managed to get her some hand sanitizer last week. I hit Superdrug just as a delivery was being unpacked so that was lucky. She uses it before she opens the front door and washes her hands as soon as she gets in. Shes been scrupulous about it. Shes actually pretty anti social and spends a lot of time in her room anyway.

I understand why we are all having to do what we are doing but BJ etc have no idea about how some people are living.
Multi generational families HMOs , shared rooms for under 35s.

Thanks for the responses

tryingtoprep hopefully like you said the supermarket madness may calm down soon and delivery slots for the vulnerable may become more readily available. I will get mum to give me a larger amount of money so I can pay her rent monthly rather than weekly.

HeIenaDove to you too I too worry about the fact that we could be infectious before we know it.

CassidyStone I would love to not go and clean at all but think I will have to go in every few weeks unfortunately. Without going into too much detail if I didn't areas such as the bathroom would quickly become unsanitary due to their mobility and medical issues. I think maybe a deep clean every few weeks would possible option.

Sunbursts all we can do is take as many precautions as possible.