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Doctors are sending more and more people into quarantine and you can never be sure that it won’t happen to you. Do you have any idea what would await you in it? It’s good to know, because breaking it can mean a fine of three million!
If you were in a coronavirus-risk area, or came into contact with an infected person, it may happen that doctors will order you into home quarantine.
Do you know what it would entail if you had to stay in it?
Can I meet with others?
Contact with the outside world must literally be “left at the door” during quarantine. Even if everyone in the family is potentially contaminated, you should limit physical contact during the quarantine and follow hygiene measures. If it concerns only one family member, you should — if possible — allocate ideally one room for them and appoint one family member to bring them food and drink. A person in quarantine should also wear masks at home, should be the last to use the bathroom and should clean and disinfect it after use.
You definitely should not visit others or receive guests during quarantine. “You must stay at home, do not go to sports or to a restaurant,” says Lenka Šimůnková, director of the Regional Hygiene Station of the Ústí Region.
What if we have a small apartment?
What if your apartment is too small for the person in quarantine to have their own room? Then you should ideally keep at least a meter away from them — that’s what the quarantine conditions published by the hygiene stations state. Whether this distance will be adjusted according to the latest findings of experts, who consider 4 meters a “danger zone”, we will have to wait and see. However, keeping a 4-meter distance would be very difficult in many apartments.
The more people there are in a smaller space, the more often you should observe maximum hygiene and disinfect surfaces that you share.
During quarantine, apartment residents should stay as far away from each other as possible and disinfect surfaces on which the virus can survive
Am I allowed outside?
Quarantine does not mean you have to sit locked between four walls — for example you can go walk the dog if no one else can do it. However, choose a time when there are as few people outside as possible, and if you meet someone, keep a sufficient distance. According to the quarantine recommendations of the Ministry of Health, you should wear a respirator without an exhalation valve of class FFP2 outside, or two surgical masks; in extreme cases you can use a scarf, shawl, etc., to cover your mouth and nose.
If you go out and you live in an apartment block, you should not use the elevator and certainly should not ride it with anyone else. It’s better to wear gloves so you don’t contaminate buttons, handrails and doors or the doorbell. Also watch out for ATM buttons and banknotes.
If you have your own garden, then of course you can go there, but only if there are no other people there. That way you avoid contact with neighbors.
Who will do my shopping?
In places where you can order delivery of food and groceries, a person in quarantine should do that — and pay by card in advance so the delivery person does not have to meet them and can leave everything at the door. As we have found, for example Rohlík and Košík already take this option into account and require this information from customers in advance.
Most people have someone they can call and ask to shop for them — of course with such a delivery arranged so you don’t endanger that person, ideally “contactless”.
During quarantine it is very handy if you can have groceries delivered to your home. The courier should not, however, come into personal contact with you
How to properly practice hygiene?
Wash your hands and face often. “Hand disinfectant is more effective, but it’s definitely better to wash your hands with water and soap than to stress about not having gel,” advises Marek Šalek, spokesperson for Prague 8. Change your clothes and bedding more often — and wash them at a temperature that will remove viruses, which is 60–90 °C; drying in a tumble dryer also helps. Everyone should have their own towel, which should be changed more often.
Viruses are mostly transmitted by droplet infection, i.e. when sneezing, but also when talking without a mask — then they land on surfaces where they can survive for hours. Therefore you should sneeze strictly into a disposable tissue, which you then immediately throw away — preferably into a sealable plastic bag. Used snotty tissues belong in it as well.
In case of a risk of infection transmission you should also clean and disinfect very often. “For disinfection we primarily recommend the handle of the microwave oven, the handle of the refrigerator, the handle of the kettle, the lid of the trash can and the handset of landline phones,” specifies Marek Šalek.
