Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance by WHO Home care for patients with COVID-19 | Page 2

Home care for patients with COVID-19 presenting with mild symptoms and management of their contacts
comprehensive information about COVID-19 and its
transmission is required to define the duration of home
isolation precautions.
•
Patients and household members should be educated about
personal hygiene, basic IPC measures, and how to care as
safely as possible for the person suspected of having COVID-
19 to prevent the infection from spreading to household
contacts. The patient and household members should be
provided with ongoing support and education, and monitoring
should continue for the duration of home care. Household
members should adhere to the following recommendations.
•
Place the patient in a well-ventilated single room
(i.e. with open windows and an open door).
•
Limit the movement of the patient in the house and
minimize shared space. Ensure that shared spaces
(e.g. kitchen, bathroom) are well ventilated (keep
windows open).
•
Household members should stay in a different room or,
if that is not possible, maintain a distance of at least 1
metre from the ill person (e.g. sleep in a separate bed). c3
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Limit the number of caregivers. Ideally, assign one
person who is in good health and has no underlying
chronic or immunocompromising conditions. 3 Visitors
should not be allowed until the patient has completely
recovered and has no signs or symptoms of COVID-19.
•
Perform hand hygiene after any type of contact with
patients or their immediate environment. 4 Hand hygiene
should also be performed before and after preparing food,
before eating, after using the toilet, and whenever hands
look dirty. If hands are not visibly dirty, an alcohol-based
hand rub can be used. For visibly dirty hands, use soap
and water.
• When washing hands with soap and water, it is preferable
to use disposable paper towels to dry hands. If these are
not available, use clean cloth towels and replace them
frequently.
• To contain respiratory secretions, a medical mask d 4
should be provided to the patient and worn as much as
possible, and changed daily. Individuals who cannot
tolerate a medical mask should use rigorous respiratory
hygiene; that is, the mouth and nose should be covered
with a disposable paper tissue when coughing or
sneezing. Materials used to cover the mouth and nose
should be discarded or cleaned appropriately after use
(e.g. wash handkerchiefs using regular soap or detergent
and water).
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Caregivers should wear a medical mask that covers their
mouth and nose when in the same room as the patient.
Masks should not be touched or handled during use. If
the mask gets wet or dirty from secretions, it must be
replaced immediately with a new clean, dry mask.
c
An exception may be made for breastfeeding mothers. Considering
the benefits of breastfeeding and the insignificant role of breast milk
in the transmission of other respiratory viruses, a mother could can
continue breastfeeding. The mother should wear a medical mask
when she is near her baby and perform hand hygiene before and after
having close contact with the baby. She will also need to follow the
other hygiene measures described in this document.
d
Remove the mask using the appropriate technique – that
is, do not touch the front, but instead untie it. Discard the
mask immediately after use and perform hand hygiene.
Avoid direct contact with body fluids, particularly oral or
respiratory secretions, and stool. Use disposable gloves
and a mask when providing oral or respiratory care and
when handling stool, urine, and other waste. Perform
hand hygiene before and after removing gloves and the
mask.
Do not reuse masks or gloves.
Use dedicated linen and eating utensils for the patient;
these items should be cleaned with soap and water after
use and may be re-used instead of being discarded.
Daily clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently
touched in the room where the patient is being cared for,
such as bedside tables, bedframes, and other bedroom
furniture. Regular household soap or detergent should be
used first for cleaning, and then, after rinsing, regular
household disinfectant containing 0.1% sodium
hypochlorite (i.e. equivalent to 1000 ppm) should be
applied.
Clean and disinfect bathroom and toilet surfaces at least
once daily. Regular household soap or detergent should
be used first for cleaning, and then, after rinsing, regular
household disinfectant containing 0.1% sodium
hypochlorite should be applied.
Clean the patient’s clothes, bed linen, and bath and hand
towels using regular laundry soap and water or machine
wash at 60–90 °C (140–194 °F) with common household
detergent, and dry thoroughly. Place contaminated linen
into a laundry bag. Do not shake soiled laundry and avoid
contaminated materials coming into contact with skin
and clothes.
Gloves and protective clothing (e.g. plastic aprons)
should be used when cleaning surfaces or handling
clothing or linen soiled with body fluids. Depending on
the context, either utility or single-use gloves can be used.
After use, utility gloves should be cleaned with soap and
water and decontaminated with 0.1% sodium
hypochlorite solution. Single-use gloves (e.g. nitrile or
latex) should be discarded after each use. Perform hand
hygiene before putting on and after removing gloves.
Gloves, masks, and other waste generated during home
care should be placed into a waste bin with a lid in the
patient’s room before disposing of it as infectious
waste. e5 The onus of disposal of infectious waste resides
with the local sanitary authority.
Avoid other types of exposure to contaminated items
from the patient’s immediate environment (e.g. do not
share toothbrushes, cigarettes, eating utensils, dishes,
drinks, towels, washcloths, or bed linen).
Medical masks are surgical or procedure masks that are flat or
pleated (some are shaped like a cup); they are held in place by
strings that tie around the back of the head.
e The local sanitary authority should adopt measures to ensure that
the waste is disposed of at a sanitary landfill and not at an
unmonitored open dump.
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