Here’s the home quarantine protocol for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients

With the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 infections, the public is again urged to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the disease.

For COVID-19 positive patients who are asymptomatic or only with mild symptoms, here is the home quarantine protocol as advised by the Department of Health and Department of Labor and Employment.

1. Get in touch with the barangay health emergency response team or BHERT.

2. Those who will be quarantining at home should have their own room and bathroom and have no senior citizens, pregnant, or immunocompromised (with heart or lung disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes) housemates.

3. The patient should have their own plates, glasses, utensils, and dishwashing materials. They should wash their own plates after use. 

4. As much as possible, only one person should bring food to the patient. That person should always wear a mask, and the patient should get their food at the door.

5. The patient’s leftover food and other waste materials should be placed inside a yellow plastic bag and segregated as “infectious waste.”

6. The patient should also wash their own clothes if they can.

7. Even if the patient is isolated, their housemates should still wear a mask.

8. The patient and their housemates should be monitored daily for COVID-19 symptoms such as fever (temperature exceeding 37.7 degrees), cough, fatigue, or shortness of breath.

9. All household members should log their temperature, symptoms, and appetite level. Once a housemate feels symptoms, they should immediately report it to their BHERT so they can get tested right away.

10. The patient should take medicine according to the instructions of their doctor.

11. Regular updates should be sent to the doctor and the BHERT regarding the condition of the patient.

12. The housemates are advised to speak to the patient and include them in conversations for their mental and emotional well-being. Those who will need help may contact the National Center for Mental Health hotline at 7989-USAP or 0917899-USAP/1553.

13. According to DOH, a patient is considered recovered if they don’t have symptoms for 3 days or 10 days for asymptomatic cases; or as declared by a doctor.

14. The DOH also said there was no need to undergo rapid or RT-PCR testing if the patient was no longer showing symptoms. – RC, GMA News