Everyone take care as below
If you have chronic illness of: HIV, lung, kidney, heart, high blood pressure, diabetes:
get advice from your health facility doctor or nurse about coronavirus (also called COVID-19).
do these with even more care:
- Get some months supply of your medicines (don’t run out) and Paracetamol for fever or aches.
- Eat a healthy diet: high in fruit, vegetables, brown bread or rice – and low in sugar, fat and salt.
- Keep active eg cycling or walking – in non-crowded places
- Keep socially active with phone calls to family, friends, neighbours and carers.
- Make joint plans on what to do if ill with COVID eg keep enough food for 2 weeks isolation.
Wash your hands with soap and water or, if not available, use an alcohol hand sanitizer:
- Before eating, after using the toilet
- After blowing your nose or coughing
- After being in public places
- After touching surfaces in public places, or other people.
Avoid contact with sick people, in particular those with a cough.
Avoid touching your face, nose and eyes.
Avoid crowded places, eg churches and mosques, markets and social gatherings
Socially distance – 2 metres (5 feet) from other people. Get food when shops are quiet
Isolate – if ill with fever, cough, difficult breathing or lose taste or smell (possible COVID):
- Visit or phone call your health facility, and tell them about your chronic disease condition
- Use masks or face coverings, wash hands with soap often
- If very difficult breathing – go urgently to hospital.
Quarantine – isolate because you are a close contact (> 15 minutes) to COVID-19,
-but who are currently healthy and do not show symptoms, usually at home – for 14 days
COVID test: Call your ministry of health/ National CDC number, who will arrange for a sample to be collected and sample transport to the lab.
Other tests: Fever may COVID or other eg malaria – so will also need a malaria test. Cough or difficult breathing may be COVID or another chest infection – contact a health worker.
What is Isolation at Home?
There are two reasons you may be asked to isolate at home:
1: Symptoms of COVID-19 are mild-moderate and it is not necessary to be hospitalised
2: Contact with someone with COVID-19 and have been asked to ‘quarantine’
General measures everyone should follow when home isolating for either reason:
- Stay at home- do not go to public places such as work, school, religious centres, shops, public transport or parks
- Do not allow visitors to enter your household
- Ask your friends, family or neighbours to help you run errands to allow you to stay at home such as food shopping. Avoid direct contact with these people e.g. groceries can be dropped at your door.
- Monitor your symptoms. If become unwell or more unwell, follow the advice of your doctor/nurse
1: Symptoms – isolating due to symptoms of COVID-19
- If others in your household also have COVID-19 you should all stay at home together
- If some of your household members do not have symptoms of COVID-19 you should:
- Separate from others in the household as possible, ie stay in a separate room
- Stay 2 metres away from other household members at all times
- Use separate toilets/bathrooms where possible. If not possible, clean after each use.
- Use a facemask or covering when in the same room with other people
- Open windows and doors to improve ventilation
- Use separate towels, eating utensils, drinking glasses and bedding- avoid sharing as best you can
- Everyone in the household should wash their hands regularly. Wash your hands before and after interaction with others.
2: Contact with a case of COVID-19
- It is not always necessary for everyone in the household to isolate, unless you have been told to do so by your doctor/nurse
- Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough or difficulty breathing or loss of taste or smell.
- If you become ill then: call your local health care services for advice, and
- isolate from other household members (see above) and if
- difficult breathing go to hospital urgently – you may need oxygen/ treatment.
