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Table 5 Home care and isolation guidelines for suspected patients with mild symptoms

From: A rapid advice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infected pneumonia (standard version)

No.

Recommendation items

Recommendation strength

Suspected patients with mild symptoms

 1

Well-ventilated single rooms (preferred strategy).

Strong

 2

Maintain a bed distance of at least 1 m from the patient (alternative strategy).

Weak

 3

Clean and disinfect household articles using 500 mg/L chlorine-containing disinfectant frequently every day (wide range).

Strong

 4

Limit visits by relatives and friends.

Strong

 5

The caregiver should be a healthy family member without underlying diseases.

Weak

 6

Restrict the patient’s activity

Strong

 7

Open windows for ventilation in shared areas such as toilets and kitchens.

Strong

 8

Avoid sharing toothbrush, towel, tableware, bed sheet and other items with patients. The patient’s daily necessities are for single use only and should be placed separately from that of their family members.

Strong

 9

When coughing or sneezing, it is necessary to wear a medical mask, or cover with a paper towel and bent elbow, and clean hands immediately after coughing and sneezing.

Strong

 10

N95 masks should be worn in the same room with patients (preferred strategy).

Strong

 11

Disposable surgical mask (alternative strategy).

Use the mask in strict accordance with the instruction manual.

Weak

 12

After washing hands with running water, dry them with a paper towel (preferred strategy).

Strong

 13

Dry with a towel, and wash and disinfect the towel daily (alternative strategy).

Weak

Home caregivers

 1

Clean and disinfect hands after contact with the patient, before leaving patient’s room or the house, before and after eating, after using the toilet and after entering house from outside (for visible contaminant on hands, wash hands with running water then use hand disinfection).

Strong

 2

Avoid direct contact with patient’s secretions or discharges, especially oral or respiratory discharges; avoid direct contact with patient’s feces.

Strong

 3

Wear disposable gloves (double layers) when providing oral and respiratory care to patients, handling patient’s feces and urine, and cleaning the patient’s room, etc. Wash hands before wearing gloves and after removing the gloves.

Strong

 4

Wash the patient’s clothes, bed sheets, bath towels, towels, etc. with ordinary washing soap and water, or use a washing machine at 60–90 ℃ with ordinary household washing liquid (Strong recommendation), or routinely wash them with washing machine after soaking in low concentration disinfectant (Weak recommendation).

Strong/Weak

 5

Put the contaminated bedding into the laundry bag. Do not shake contaminated clothing and avoid direct contact.

Strong

 6

The waste generated by the patient should be put into the closed garbage bags and replaced frequently.

Strong