Containing the Virus at HOME

As a Registered Nurse and Clinical Consultant to hospitals and Nursing Homes (Five Star Clinical Solutions, LLC), I have been trying to determine what I can do to be of help during the current pandemic. One way I think I can be of help is to share with you what my family and I are doing in our home to contain this virus. The following are in no way meant to replace the advice of the foremost experts from the CDC. They are simply what we are doing and are meant to be a starting point for discussion. Always follow the CDC guidelines here: https://www.cdc.gov/ as they are the experts on infectious diseases.

In this series of posts I will take an areas of the home and share the precautions my family and I are currently taking to reduce the likelihood of viral spread.

Here is a list of areas to be covered:

Entry to home

Kitchen

Bathrooms  

Common Areas

Laundry Room/Area

Let’s begin with the Entry to home and the Kitchen areas.

Entry-Your first opportunity to prevent the virus from entering your home.

1. Remove shoes before entering the home
2. Bacteria/viruses can be on the surface of your footwear, therefore you do not want to track those into the living spaces of your home.
3. Have hand sanitizer available in entry way and use as you enter
4. Wash hands after removing coat, shoes, outer clothing and re-hand sanitize
5. If you have been in an area or with a known actively contaminated place/person remove clothing and wash with detergent as normal.
6. When leaving home use hand sanitizer after donning shoes and outer clothing.

Kitchen-This is a very likely potential area for spread of the virus. Should anyone in your home have a subclinical case of the virus spread is highly likely where food is prepared and consumed.

1. Have hand sanitizer readily available in the kitchen.
2. Wash hands before and after any food prep or after touching used dishes/glasses/utensils
3. Have an ample supply of paper towels and use whenever possible
4. Use dish towels only for drying clean pots and pans not for drying hands
5. Change and launder hand towels at least twice per week and immediately if obviously soiled
6. Rinse dirty dishes in the sink and avoid use of a sponge. Use the sponge only for cleaning pots and pans.
7. Change the sponge or place in dishwasher at least weekly.
8. Do not place used glasses upside down on a drain board (the used portion would not be contaminating the drain board). Instead rinse and place in dishwasher. The same goes for any used utensils. Place used utensils directly into the dishwasher after rinsing in sink not on drain board.
9. If you do not have a dishwasher with heat dry have each member of the family use the same plate, cup, utensils which are placed on a clean paper towel in the same area. You can also use disposable plates, cups, utensils and discard after use.
10. Wash hands or use hand sanitizer before eating meals.
11. Be particularly careful if eating finger foods. Take any multiuse foods out of container to another dish (think popcorn, crackers, pretzels, etc.) so you are not contaminating the bag.
12. If anyone is showing symptoms of the virus do not reuse that individual’s eating utensils. Use disposables and discard in a closed container and remove from the home. Use gloves if possible when touching these eating utensils and then wash hands and use hand sanitizer after. (More about how to manage isolating a potential active case soon and refer to www.cdc.gov ).
13. Use a Lysol or bleach 1:10 dilution of spray disinfectant on kitchen surfaces (drain board, sink, countertops, sponge, and all eating surfaces) daily.

These are the things we are doing in our home to prevent infection and the do our part to prevent the spread of this virus. Let me know your thoughts and any other things you are doing to prevent spread.

Be safe, use science and logic and stay smart and consistent.

Roberta