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Original poster

Are you preparing your home in case of Covid?

179 replies

QueenBlueberries · 23/09/2020 09:06

The Government is now saying that most of the contagion happens in the home, so I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind sharing any tips on how to try and prevent Covid from spreading from one member of the family to others.

I have prepared a small box (shoe box) with gloves, masks, Dettol, an old baby monitor (my kids are teenagers now but I somehow kept a baby monitor all those years at the back of a cupboard), paracetamol, face masks and a face shield. We have two bathrooms so I know how we will use the bathrooms in case someone gets infected. We also have good neighbours and we have all agreed to get food for each other if one of us get ill.

Any other tips??

OP posts:
Friendsoftheearth · 23/09/2020 10:48

madame That is a little too harsh. People like to feel ready for anything. We live in the country, and prepare in the same way for winter! We will get cut off with snow easily, the roads here become impassable. If you know something might be a problem, then you prepare. Maybe you are surrounded by family ready to support you at a moments' notice, but not everyone has that, and they can very vulnerable when ill.

2020notfun · 23/09/2020 10:53

Lots of people round here ( London) almost certainly had it in March/April. Many of my friends were the only ones in their household to have symptoms despite no isolation within their homes ( as didn’t know what it was etc). Had all been going to school, work (often in hospitals), using the tubes and buses, going to theatres, cinemas etc. Most of us did NOT get it despite huge numbers of cases here at the time.
It is certainly not a given that if one gets it, you all will, and certainly not a given we will all get it.
I feel like I live in a parallel universe to mumsnet sometimes. Been on the tube and bus today- everyone wearing masks ( although one kept taking it off to drink his beer at 8.30am..), people keeping their distance etc etc.

Deux · 23/09/2020 10:53

I’ve got grocery slots booked for the next 4 weeks and always have plenty of cleaning stuff in. Also well stocked up on analgesics.

We decided at the start of the pandemic that we’d let it run through us all as we wouldn’t want to isolate anyone in their room and would rather get it over and done with. That said, my medic friend said that the last research she looked at showed that transmission in the home was 50% at best.

Locally and anecdotally lots of people (inc medics) in our borough seem to think that we had our peak in March as so many people were ill. Impossible to know though without testing. People were dropping like flies after the February half term. Some days only 8 students in school out of a class of 30. Our infection rate is lower now than it was 3 weeks ago. Maybe there’s more immunity/t cell immunity here. We’re in the SE.

LadyCatStark · 23/09/2020 10:55

Not really. DS (11) is the most likely to catch it at school and he has his own en suite bathroom so he’d be fine in there. He tends to call me on FaceTime from his room anyway 🤨. DH and I are in the attic room with an en suite so I guess if one of us got it, one of us could decamp to a spare room and use the family bathroom. To be honest, I’d rather catch it and get it over with.

My main concern is that DH would expect me to just carry on regardless even if I was really ill. I was last properly ill in bed 7 years ago and he made a right fuss because I couldn’t get up to make dinner 😡 of course he’d take to his bed immediately...

emptyshelvesagain · 23/09/2020 10:57

@hamstersarse

I honestly think you have lost your minds

This.

I'm struggling with the teen years old baby monitor being better then the actual Wi-Fi in your house. How? Just how?

emptyshelvesagain · 23/09/2020 10:59

We have one bathroom so if anyone gets covid they will have to leave their rooms to use shared bog. I suppose I could leave some dettol wipes so the offender could give it a scoot over

Jrobhatch29 · 23/09/2020 11:04

I actually have more Xmas supplies in than covid supplies Grin

Baaaahhhhh · 23/09/2020 11:08

OP you need a wifi booster. We get wi-fi at the bottom of our garden (it's a very large garden).

SoUtterlyGroundDown · 23/09/2020 11:09

My children are all under 6 so I’m obviously not going to distance myself from them if one of them get it, or them from each other.
We’ve got food and paracetamol.

Mcmole · 23/09/2020 11:10

My daughter is 6 and likes to sleep in the same bed as me, there's no way I could kick her out if she was ill, so there's not much hope if she gets it. Although saying that, she had some kind of bug which included a cough and a temp in March, just before the schools shut. DH got it and was quite ill with it, but other than a very slight cough I was fine. Maybe that was covid back then, we'll never know. But I guess it shows that even sleeping next to a sick child you won't necessarily catch their illness.

IrmaFayLear · 23/09/2020 11:12

The thing is -as with other diseases too - you are actually the most infectious before you are displaying any symptoms. You have already given Covid/norovirus/bubonic plague to people before you’ve holed up in the spare room with a portaloo.

Pollypockett23 · 23/09/2020 11:16

Why wouldn't they call you on their phone?

Also, if someone in your house has it, you are going to get it.

Your are contagious pre symptoms.

My husband gave it to me and our baby. He was isolated on the top floor for a week. We had been exposed some how.

Pollypockett23 · 23/09/2020 11:18

@Jrobhatch29

I actually have more Xmas supplies in than covid supplies Grin
Same 🤣
AlexaShutUp · 23/09/2020 11:18

Good thinking, OP. We have Alexa devices that can be used to communicate around the house, and we already have masks/gloves/face shields. However, we only have one bathroom so will need to clean effectively between uses if someone gets sick. I should probably invest in some extra cleaning products as we'd go through them much faster than usual in that scenario!

Original poster
QueenBlueberries · 23/09/2020 11:20

Our wifi doesn't reach the loft where one of my DS' bedroom is. He has a pay-as-you-go phone. Him calling us would cost money. I will get a wifi booster, but they are not cheap.

OP posts:
Friendsoftheearth · 23/09/2020 11:20

I have also preordered christmas food that is arriving in the next few weeks and will be frozen. My reasons are not solely to do with covid, but if there are big delays or real problems with transport we want to at least have a turkey ready just in case!

tootyfruitypickle · 23/09/2020 11:21

@hamstersarse agree also!

I find these threads entertaining though !

Is everyone bleaching their shopping again then?

Original poster
QueenBlueberries · 23/09/2020 11:21

I will do my absolute best to try to not to get it as I have a heart condition.

OP posts:
Friendsoftheearth · 23/09/2020 11:22

I also remember threads like this the first time around, and the people scoffing at those preparing where the same ones moaning that they had run out of everything and the shelves in the supermarket shelves were bare.

tootyfruitypickle · 23/09/2020 11:22

Maybe we need to bring back the ww2 bunkers at the bottom of the garden

christinarossetti19 · 23/09/2020 11:23

In all seriousness, it might be worth investing in a cheap oximeter.

A friend of mine had covid May/June time and said that it was incredibly reassuring to be able to see that her oxygen saturation levels were fine even though she felt like she could hardly breathe.

tootyfruitypickle · 23/09/2020 11:23

Nope I ran out of nothing , I’m quite a prepared person as a single parent so it’s all on me. But that also means if dd gets it I will get it as although she’s a teenager I will be caring for her if she feels rough.

Funkypolar · 23/09/2020 11:24

I’ve asked the housekeeper to open up the East Wing.

DominaShantotto · 23/09/2020 11:27

@QueenBlueberries

Our wifi doesn't reach the loft where one of my DS' bedroom is. He has a pay-as-you-go phone. Him calling us would cost money. I will get a wifi booster, but they are not cheap.
We use a combination of powerline ones and plug in ones to extend our wifi and they're pretty low cost as a fix - worked wonders in my mum's house where they could only get internet in one corner of the living room - think we paid about £20 to sort her wifi woes out.
Jrobhatch29 · 23/09/2020 11:28

@Funkypolar

I’ve asked the housekeeper to open up the East Wing.
😂😂😂😂😂