Self-isolation: How to keep family safe in squeezed environment

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Self-isolation: How to keep family safe in squeezed environment
Self-isolation: How to keep family safe in squeezed environment

Africa-PressUganda. As Covid-19 penetrates into the deep corners of the country, families with small houses are finding themselves in a fix, after infected members are advised by doctors to undergo home-based isolation and care.

The government is directing most Covid-19 patients who do not have serious illnesses to be treated from home due to limited capacity in designated management centres.

Ms Prudence Atukwatse, a resident of Mukono District, on Thursday told Saturday Monitor, that upon testing positive for Covid-19 last year, she sent children under her care to the village as she was advised to be treated from home.

“It was not easy at the beginning, especially for those who were close to me, including children under my care. By the time I contracted Covid-19, the children were set to return for holidays in only a few weeks. So I wouldn’t allow them to come home,” Ms Atukwatse said.

Dr Jackson Amone, the commissioner of Clinical Services at the Ministry of Health, said home-based care is specifically for Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic, have mild illnesses and have the space to isolate themselves at home.

However, Mr Jackson Onyango, a resident of Kampala, another Covid-19 survivor who tested positive on June 3, admitted his family size and the space at home couldn’t allow for self-isolation as the government had directed.

“Some measures were hard to observe because our rooms are not very big. It is difficult but as a parent with three children, I would sanitise surfaces such as the door handles and the dining table after eating. I was often wearing masks but for children, it was hard to ensure they wear,” Mr Onyango said.

Owing to difficulties in observing Covid-19 preventive measures, complacency among people and changes in weather, the Ministry of Health is reporting rising cases of infections in the second wave of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, 1,110 new cases and 49 new deaths were reported by the Ministry, pushing the cumulative confirmed cases at 65,631, bringing the deaths to 508. Up to 950 people are admitted to hospitals and 14,979 are being treated from home, according to the Ministry of Health statistics.

Dr Henry Kajumbula, the head of infection prevention in the Government Scientific Advisory Committee on Covid-19, said although observing the Covid-19 preventive measures in small rooms is very hard, there are options.

“You should make sure the windows are open [to allow fresh air in the room],” he said. Ensuring proper ventilation with outside air can help reduce the concentration of airborne contaminants, including viruses like Covid-19, according to available scientific information.

Proper ventilation also reduces surface contamination by removing some virus particles before they can fall out of the air and land on surfaces.

“The person who is infected should mask as much as possible. He/she should practice handwashing or sanitising and make sure they social distance whenever possible,” Dr Kajumbula said.

Dr Andrew Kambugu, the director of Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University, said the infected person who is sharing a small house should consider staying outside whenever possible, especially during the day, and return to the house in the evening to sleep.

“In the night when they have to be close to other members, they should wear their face masks. You should also consider moving to another place or sending other members away, but if it is not possible, then you have to use what is within your means,” he said.

Dr Richard Idro, the president of the Uganda Medical Association, said for those with enough rooms, the infected person should use separate rooms and separate toilet from the rest of the family members to minimise disease spread.

“If you can’t avoid sharing toilets and bathroom, make sure to disinfect with soap or an alcohol-based sanitiser after use,” he said.

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