Quarantining from my family

March 23, 2020 10:14 AM

Are any other front line people self-quarantining from their families?

I'm an ER nurse regularly performing aerosolising procedures on covid ruleouts. So far we have had no positive tests at my hospital, and many untested respiratory pts sent home after being cared for in a range of PPE (all following protocol but the protocol is changing several times a day.)

I've taken comfort in the fact that covid is presenting mildly in children but I did learn that an otherwise healthy covid positive child is currently on a vent. Right now I change out of my scrubs at work but I'm seriously considering quarantining myself from my husband and son.

Is anyone else doing this? My coworkers are not with the exception of one doc whose wife is in chemo.

posted by pintapicasso to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

I saw an ER doc talking about doing this on Twitter. They mentioned that they have a very new baby (3 weeks) but it's not clear if they were quarantining because of that or just mentioning it because it was so sad to miss out on this bonding time with their baby.
posted by needs more cowbell at 10:29 AM on March 23, 2020

A local hospital to me is starting to set up housing in a local adjacent vacant hotel for health care workers, to keep them apart from their families. I don't know if this is happening everywhere, but the fact that it's being set up right now tells me it will become a thing soon enough.
posted by juniperesque at 10:29 AM on March 23, 2020 [6 favorites]

Have seen multiple NHS staff in the UK on Twitter say they're doing that.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:33 AM on March 23, 2020

I have a hospital administrator in my extended family. He is going to work every day and then self-quarantining in a section of his home, separate from his family. (He mentioned that as the situation continues he may have to stay at his office.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:00 AM on March 23, 2020

My stepdad (er doc) did this when I was a kid when there was just a bad flu going around. I would absolutely be doing so in your case
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 11:34 AM on March 23, 2020

On the latest Sawbones, Sydnee says that when she gets home from the hospital she strips in the garage, bags up her scrubs, runs to the shower shouting "Don't hug mama yet!" at her young kids, showers thoroughly, and washes what she was wearing. She says that some doctors have set up cots in their garage but she's not doing that yet.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:50 AM on March 23, 2020

I know a couple of people who are renting hotel rooms for this- I think they thought it was too difficult to isolate in the same house.
posted by pinochiette at 11:54 AM on March 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am not in healthcare but am working outside the home. I strip in the garage, my clothes go straight in the wash, and I shower immediately. Shoes stay in the garage. No hugs or kisses to the fam right now. I take my temp every day and hand wash frequently. Sanitize surfaces regularly. However, if I was front-line I would stay in my own room.
posted by gryphonlover at 11:59 AM on March 23, 2020

I'm not isolating myself from my husband. (We live together just the two of us--no children.) We are both 100% isolating ourselves from everyone else.
posted by jesourie at 12:33 PM on March 23, 2020

Chinese doctors did this: here is the handbook they published. It's sobering but once they instituted these guidelines they had 0 additional infections of health care workers and their families.

(1) Before working in a fever clinic and isolation ward, the staff must undergo strict training
and examinations to ensure that they know how to put on and remove personal protective
equipment. They must pass such examinations before being allowed to work in these
wards.
(2) The staff should be divided into different teams. Each team should be limited to a maximum of 4 hours of working in an isolation ward. The teams shall work in the isolation
wards (contaminated zones) at different times.
(3) Arrange treatment, examination and disinfection for each team as a group to reduce the
frequency of staff moving in and out of the isolation wards.
(4) Before going off duty, staff must wash themselves and conduct necessary personal hygiene regimens to prevent possible infection of their respiratory tracts and mucosa.


(1) The front-line staff in the isolation areas – including healthcare personnel, medical
technicians and property & logistics personnel – shall live in an isolation accommodation
and shall not go out without permission.
(2) A nutritious diet shall be provided to improve the immunity of medical personnel.
(3) Monitor and record the health status of all staff on the job, and conduct health monitoring for front-line staff, including monitoring body temperature and respiratory symptoms;
help address any psychological and physiological problems that arise with relevant experts.
(4) If the staff have any relevant symptoms such as fever, they shall be isolated immediately
and screened with an NAT.
(5) When the front-line staff including healthcare personnel, medical technicians and property
& logistics personnel finish their work in the isolation area and are returning to normal life,
they shall first be NAT tested for SARS-CoV-2. If negative, they shall be isolated collectively at
a specified area for 14 days before being discharged from medical observation.
posted by fshgrl at 1:09 PM on March 23, 2020 [2 favorites]

We have a nurse in the family who will do this - switch houses with the in laws and live by himself.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:53 PM on March 23, 2020