Containing Covid patient within multi occupancy house - any tips?

[AlsoNotAGirl]

I don't have anyone in the house with covid yet but we had a scare last week and with schools going back our risk goes up.

We do have more than one bathroom so theoretically it's possible to isolate a patient but I'm unsure what else should be done?

They keep in their room as much as possible. Nearest bathroom is theirs alone. If they need to go in there, they use the kitchen last, after everyone else has made their tea/breakfast etc. They wear a mask in communal areas and wipe everything they touch down with anti bacterial cleaner. Have windows open as much as possible.

Has anyone successfully contained a family member? Or has it always spread to everyone?

I know several people who believed they had Covid in the early days and only one passed it on (to his DW). The others all lived with family members who did not get symptoms, they just slept in the spare room while experiencing symptoms themselves.

We had a Covid scare in the early weeks of lockdown, I'm in the vulnerable category so we took extra precaution and separated me and one DS away from DH and other DC.

It was hard between symptoms and test results, but they stayed in bedroom together, I delivered meals to the room to eat, they played outside in our garden alone too.

When DH used communal areas he wore a mask.We only have 1 bathroom so that was wiped down after they used it.

It was a complete hassle, but it was only for 4-7 days, and it was a negative result.

We would probably do the same again if it happened again and we could though.

Not the same but my mum had it and didn't bother distancing from my stepdad in the same house. He either was asymptomatic or didn't catch it.

If one of your bathrooms is en suite so that the patient can access it without passing through communal areas of the house, that would be ideal, as there does appear to be evidence that virus breathed out can hang about in the air for several hours. If that's not possible, I would say the patient should wear a good quality well fitted mask (not one with a valve as that can let particles out) when passing through communal areas, and those areas should be kept well ventilated by having a window open.

@wafflyversatile

They keep in their room as much as possible. Nearest bathroom is theirs alone. If they need to go in there, they use the kitchen last, after everyone else has made their tea/breakfast etc. They wear a mask in communal areas and wipe everything they touch down with anti bacterial cleaner. Have windows open as much as possible.

This is all great sounding unless they are too ill to do this . When people are I'll they sometimes need help

Ideally you would do as stated above but if the person is very ill, I'd say having a couple of ff3 masks in the house to use if you have to go in and check on the person or leave them food etc is also a good idea . Getting the Ill person to wear a surgical type mask if anyone else is in the room with them also

My BIL had it, negative test result at the time (there have been so many false negatives) so didn't isolate and had a positive antibody test later. SIL had negative antibodies so it's not always spread within households

My husband had Covid and my son and I didn’t catch it. Husband stayed in a separate room the whole time but we had to share the bathroom - he wiped everything he touched in bathroom and also bannisters etc. Also kept all plates and cutlery during the day and brought them down to put through the dishwasher once I was in bed. It still amazes me that we got away with it, but I’m glad as my son is asthmatic and I’m pregnant

Think in advance about what stuff is in the patient's room that others might need during the self-isolation period and be ready to get it out all at once at the beginning to avoid a scenario where there's a temptation for others to nip into the room to get stuff they need.

My cousin had it / shared bed with wife / has 3 kids - no one else got it.

It's like if someone in your house gets a cold//sick bug doesn't mean you will catch it.

With a significant proportion of people who get the virus being asymptomatic, it's often impossible to know whether someone else living in the house genuinely didn't get it or whether they did get it but were asymptomatic.

Thanks all