Dr. Aarti Chitkara shares some tips for home isolation during Covid-19:-
• Maintain contact and droplet precautions & hand hygiene. Whether you are sanitizing or washing your hand with soap, it is important to follow the 10-step process recommended by the WHO.
• Wear your masks properly – cover your nose and mouth by pinching the mask’s seal that is on the top of your nose. Limit touching your mask to the band and not the front. Unless it is proven that Covid-19 is not airborne, maintain extra caution by wearing goggles or a face shield while stepping out. Stay indoors unless it is essential to step out.
• The benefits of awake proning are being discussed. For patients who are Covid-19 positive and are under self-isolation, sleeping on the stomach can improve oxygen levels. When you sleep on your backs, gravity slightly compresses the lungs, and the diaphragm gets pushed upwards reducing the area of the lungs. Contrarily, when you sleep on your stomach with a pillow either under your chest or knees, the effect of gravity on your lungs reduces expanding the capacity of the lungs resulting in a rise in the oxygen levels.
• Maintain a home-monitoring chart that includes your temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, and saturation three times of the day. Checking your saturation every six to eight hours is sufficient, and if the patient is experiencing trouble in breathing, then they should check it every three hours. To test the saturation, pace the oximeter in the middle finger of your right hand. This chart can also include the symptoms that are different from the ones you have experienced on the previous day. Share the chart with the consulting physician via WhatsApp or video consultation. Examine your feelings and speak to your loved ones. Positive affirmations such as repeating “everything is fine” to yourself is therapy in itself.
Dr. Aarti Chitkara is a senior resident doctor at AIIMS and has been with their covid care facility for the past 2 months