All Summaries of Evidence: 26 March 2020 What is the best evidence for home management of COVID-19?

What is the best evidence for home management of COVID-19?

What is the best evidence currently?

If there are patients with only mild illness and without underlying chronic conditions, providing care at home may be considered as long as they can be followed up and cared for by family members. A trained healthcare worker should conduct an assessment to verify whether the residential setting is suitable for providing care. Considerations for care at home include whether:

• The patient is stable enough to receive care at home.
• Appropriate caregivers are available at home.
• There is a separate bedroom where the patient can recover without sharing immediate space with others.
• The patient and other household members have access to appropriate PPE: at a minimum, gloves and facemask.

The patient and other household members should adhere to the following recommendations:

• [Patient] Stay in a well-ventilated single room with open windows and an open door
• Limit movement of the patient in the house and minimise shared space
• [Patient] Sleep in a separate bed and use a separate toilet if possible
• No visitors allowed  Perform hand hygiene after any type of contact with the patient or immediate environment
• [Patient] A medical mask should be provided and worn as much as possible
• Caregivers should wear a medical mask that covers their mouth and nose when in the same room as the patient
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched in the room where the patient is being cared for on a daily basis
• [Patient] Avoid direct contact with animals
• [Patient] Drink plenty of water during the day

Patients will need to self-isolate at home and manage their symptoms until they have had no fever for 5 days and it has been 14 days since they first developed symptoms.

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Authors

Ronan Hegarty, Librarian, Naas General Hospital[Author];|Brendan Leen, Regional Librarian, HSE South, St. Luke’s GeneralHospital, Kilkenny [Editor]