A house fit for a pandemic

[eeeyoresmiles]

I would be interested to know what others have done or are planning to do to get their home ready for dealing with a local outbreak of coronavirus.

Not what you've bought - more how you've organised it, how you'll deal with possibly having to keep one family member in isolation, and so on. Eg:

• Make sure important things like meds aren't all stored in a room that might suddenly have to be turned into an isolation room.

• Have a small stash of hand gel, tissues, and antiseptic wipes (and a bin) somewhere in every room not just somewhere central?

• Wipes near the front door so phones can get cleaned as soon as adults walk in (which also gives their hands a first go, in case they forget to wash them).

• Work out who will have what bedding if someone has to be kept isolated.

• Oh fuck [I'm sick] rucksack(s) somewhere central and easy to pick up, with the basics in for a trip to hospital or isolation, as discussed elsewhere.

• Get fully up to date with washing and cleaning.

• Charge power banks.

• Check all windows open easily in case you suddenly have to improve ventilation.

• Similar emergency bag, hand cleaning stuff, snacks and water in all cars, in case anyone who's out can't get home for some reason.

• loads of things I haven't thought of which is why I'd like to hear from other people!

Well, I've seen US suggestions about taping off an area using plastic dust sheets for housing anyone in your house that is poorly. But I doubt that is sustainable in our little house and if one of us gets poorly, chances are we all will.

If one of us suddenly shows symptoms the rest of us will already have been exposed. So, while I will of course isolate them while cleaning a lot and taking precautions, I am not concerned enough to feel I need to stash stuff in separate rooms. Most meds are in the kitchen and stocks of prepping foods are under the stairs. Three DCs in two bedrooms so if one of the boys was sick I'd have to put one in our room.

I did start a big clean/tidy today though, as I want the place to be easier to clean if we do have an infection in the house. So surfaces and floors clear to make disinfecting easier.

I am planning grab bags for the cars but haven't done it yet. Especially important for me as I work in healthcare so I am most likely to be caught up some. Need to buy more socks and knickers!

I don't think we could do that either really, and any isolation is bound to be imperfect. Good ventilation and separate rooms are probably still sound principles though.

Maybe plastic sheeting would work for people with spare rooms which they could get ready in advance and then move an ill person into, and which wouldn't otherwise have to function as part of the house in normal life.

I suppose there are two types of isolation to consider:

• ill person (so the rest of the family has probably already been exposed, as you say, and also some degree of home nursing will be needed)

• exposed person, eg someone whose work colleague has just tested positive (so the aim is to avoid anyone else being exposed if they do develop symptoms, but that might not have happened yet)

We probably need slightly different plans for each scenario.

Our flat has three rooms, plus kitchen and bathroom. We each sleep in one of the rooms. We are fucked.

If one of us gets ill and it isn't me, I would isolate them in one room (we have two plus the bathroom upstairs. I do have a camping loo to use as a commode as a last resort - my late mum had a commode in her last years so not a totally alien concept to me- but, to be honest, I think it's more likely they would use the bathroom and I would maniacally clean everything all the time. Better for morale.
I have disposable gloves and things to put over shoes. I wear glasses when I'm at home. I have a few masks but I'm not sure how useful they are. They might upset dd if it's her I'm caring for. All a bit lame to be honest. I saw an idea about cutting up clear plastic wallets and fashioning face shields out of them for use in the home. Comically, I once did this many many years ago when using an angle grinder. Much to everyone's amusement. Ok, you had to be there

If I'm the only one standing, we would probably manage. I'm quite good at palliative nursing during others' illness. Dh has mild asthma so any respiratory problem is an extra concern. Dd is generally robust and went through flu in November so has recent experiences of that kind of poorliness.
My worry is that I have MS and am in my fifties. If I get poorly that's more of a challenge for the house because I won't be on top form to manage things. Dh is good but a worrier and has a lot of work stress just now so I tend to keep my prep stuff to myself.
Bless him , he muttered to me yesterday "I've ordered some surgical masks ". I didn't lecture him on them being a bit pointless as actual protection and more for show. But he's clearly moved from "not talking about it" to " being prepared to talk about it".
I need to get my stuff out in dh's sight and give him the opportunity to familiarise himself with it and think about what I might have missed.

And what I didn't mention was my generally "robust for their age" in-laws two miles away - in their 70s. I think they'd rather stay at home rather than bunk in with us. And vice versa But ....
and they have a dog and we have a cat so merging our two households for practicality would be a challenge. They actually have one more bedroom than we do so we might all end up there.
MIL is, like me, fiercely independent. We mostly get on but not always. So that would be fun.

Is it really worth isolating within your own family? Surely by the time you realise a family member has it, you have all been exposed already so might as well stay together (inside of course!)

That's the reality of the situation ,@Pegase . If one gets it in our house, we'll all get it. But given my MS, I'd like to try to at least stagger the impact on us so that someone in the house is well enough to take care of someone harder hit.
My having MS (I'm in my 50s) and dh having mild asthma (he's in his 40s) we both fall into that "other " category of older people or people with underlying conditions. Rather disgusted frankly by the way people who are the "other " are talked about. But that's another thread.

We have had a trial run the last couple of weeks, not for fun but because everyone had flu.
The children were brilliant (though given they were limp little bunnies wracked with fever, they weren't getting out of those beds!) but husband was terrible. If he'd sorted his shit out, they wouldn't have even caught it
Isolation doesn't mean joining us at table for meals!

Absolutely not suggesting herbal remedies over western medicine but there are different teas etc that help alleviate respiratory problems. Ages ago an Indian born colleague (an older woman) suggested her mum's "remedy" of a pinch of turmeric in hot water for colds. Have always used it and it has helps alleviate symptoms. You can buy tumeric tea as well.
I stress : absolutely not a cure but a possible symptom alleviator to consider.

We only have one toilet, so I don’t think isolation is possible. One has it, we all do.

This is making me panic, I don't know how I would isolate, we have a small baby and a small house.

@maa1992 Don't panic. None of this is going to be necessary.

@maa1992 , sorry you feel like this. See it as like a batch of bad weather and you are forced to stay in. Be as kind to yourself as possible.
Or just hide MN threads if it really upsets you.

@maa1992

Please don't worry about how to isolate people in different rooms in a small house. It's a bloody ridiculous idea and couldn't possibly work in practice.

For anyone without underlying health issues, it sounds as though the symptoms are very mild and pose no risk to health.

I am a little concerned because I'm asthmatic, DD gets viral wheeze with every cold and my mum has COPD. I still have no plans to shut my DD in a plastic sheeted room if she gets Corona...

I've done fúck all.

I have spoken to a specialist nurse and she has clearly stated to me not to worry as the press are making this all sound a lot worse than it is and if you follow good hygiene risk is very minimal. So people can calm down and just carry on with their lives,

Primarily I think hygiene and limiting contact with other people is the way to go if you're really worried. If you've got a small house, then one in the bedroom and one in lounge, lots of soap, handgel, gloves, perhaps a bottle you can spray disinfectant onto shared bathroom surfaces, lots of ventilation .

Think we're lucky as lounge has an extension so person in isolation could primarily be in that area with tv and access onto patio, which would mentally important as they'd be cut off. Also downstairs toilet. Ensuring the plates, cutlery used by the isolated person are not touched with your own hands and only that person uses them.

@sotired2 sounds like the things I say to my dd and dh.
Doesn't stop me quietly prepping- I'm an immunocompromised general prepper so this is just another thing for me. That is "keep calm and carry on" as far as I am concerned.
Rather than "keep calm, put your head in the sand and sneer at anyone who buys extra soap".

@bellinsurge my dd has immune system issues hence calling nurse for advice

Well the press are enjoying all the fun and games, I agree. Not the same as , "there is nothing to be concerned about".
I'm glad you are reassured by the nurse. But as this has had a more negative effect on older people, forgive me for remaining concerned. Calm. But concerned.

I don't think it's realistic or desirable to isolate small children from a parent!

However, if one parent has just been told a work colleague has tested positive and sent home for a fortnight, say, then that parent might want to try to stay apart from the rest of the family as much as possible during their quarantine. Thinking about where they will sleep and how to organise things in advance might make that easier.

Similarly if one parent is ill and the other parent and any kids are well, you might be glad you've had a bit of a think in advance about how to create a bit of distance within the home.

We know social distance and hygiene are going to be important so it's worth us all thinking about how we can use them if we have to. None of these things are perfect protections, it's just about doing the best we can.

We have a flat over the garage that we'd use to isolate one of the adults if we became ill or knew we'd been exposed.