Surviving COVID-19 home recovery

 I came down with COVID-19 :(

As Sito was out of town, I was the only adult at home. Luckily, the kids are old enough to do some things independently and even help me during my home recovery. Two KPIs were met: (1) The kids stay alive; and (2) they did not catch COVID from me. 

Here are some tips to help others in similar shoes, i.e. single parents of (semi-)independent school-going children and with mild symptoms on home recovery.

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Put up safety barriers

To be honest, if you get COVID from the kids, most likely you are all going down coz they would be infectious before showing symptoms. But if you're the first and you know about your exposure to COVID early like me, there is a very good chance that your family won't get it from you if you do this first step right. Even if you don't know about any exposure, it's best to barrier up at the first symptom and hope for the best!

• Mask up: While a surgical mask would do well for those who can stay put in one room the whole time, take it from healthcare personnel and wear N95 mask if you need to step out, e.g. toilet run. When sleeping, switch to a surgical mask for comfort. Yes, mask up even when sleeping, especially if you cough and especially if the kids may find you in the middle of the night! If the kids are willing, have them mask up as well.
• Wash hands often: After touching face, especially nose and mouth. I washed hands after wiping tears too (I tear easily and I was watching drama, i.e. can get emo). Use soap if possible; if you don't have hand soap, shower soap should work too! 

Download instructions to kids

This could be done using the phone if the kids are able to pay attention. Minimise face-to-face interaction. For reference, my three kids are aged five to nine.

Sample instructions:

• Do not go into my bedroom, my bathroom at any time
• Stay on the sofa when I need to come out of my room; do not run to hug me!! Double hugs when I get well 💕
• If you feel unwell (sore throat, cough, body ache), tell me immediately - may need someone else to bring them to the doctor
• Take ART every day to make sure you are negative before going to school - may need to help them transfer stick to the solution; just stay at arm's length with proper barriers in place

Pass money to kids

They will need cash - even if you grab food all the time, they need cash for recess. Or tell them where to get the money. No cash on hand? See next point.

Inform family and/or friends

When you need help, you need help. Get cash, get ART kits etc, for emergencies. Better to alert them early so it's easier to activate support.

At the minimal, let frequent visitors that they can't visit lest they get exposed!

Identify essential activities you need to do

Remember - the more you do (i.e. touch), the more you have to sanitise later! 

Examples:

• Laundry is an essential housework for me. I have never taught the kids how to use the washing machine or iron clothes so I had to do laundry or they would run out of uniforms.
• Toilets are not essential. Poop stains can wait. The exception is if you as a C+ patient shares a toilet with them - must sanitise after every use!
• Cooking is not essential. Order tingkat or grab food. Distribution of food may be essential if the kids can't, in which case, safety barriers are crucial.
• Even engaging kids is not essential. One week of TV and no learning won't hurt anyone but COVID will.

Demarcate activity areas

Obviously, I could not shut myself in my room the whole time since there is essential things that the kids can't do. 

Besides my ensuite bedroom which became out of bounds, I forbade them from entering the study where I had my meals. I also did not enter the living room area where they self-entertained on the TV.

Let the kids help where they can, with safety in mind

It's amazing what they can do if we let them :)

• Go to school: If the kids can go to school safely on their own, great. If not, engage help or just keep them home. My older kids have been going to school on their own but they crossed the road on their own for the first time when I had COVID. I had to remind and nag at them to wait, wait and wait for the green man, and not be gan cheong to cross if they saw their bus coming!
• Self-entertain: Yu is too young to go to school on his own. I did not get the grandparents to help send him as there were many cases in his school as well. And he can really self-entertain. I just needed to check on him once in a while - I peeked at him instead of calling him so he wouldn't rush over. These kids cannot do emergency brake!
• Buy and collect food: This is possible if it is safe to get to the food. After all, they buy food for recess. My kids can buy pizza, bakery buns and their must-have milk. Not all pants have pockets so a wallet on a lanyard or wrist band etc would be useful. Remember to pack TraceTogether tokens for places where they might be needed, e.g. supermarkets. For other food, I had them delivered or got the kids to collect them. 
• Collect ART kits: We were running very low as two kids had to take ART daily before going to school and I also had to test after 72 hours. It was easy to do and there's a video on this on YouTube. But remember to check for stocks first!
• Top up EZ Link card: Unfortunately, I forgot to top up one card when I was supposed to. Luckily, Yang was observant when I topped up a card with him so he managed to get it done. 

Sanitise after COVID

Remember to sanitise everything you've touched and everything that droplets from a cough may have landed on when you're recovered! Water, household disinfectants and alcohol wipes are my friends.

• Start with high-frequency things and areas: For me, it's my bathroom coz during emergencies, the kids couldn't wait for their brothers to finish with their toilet...
• Wash with hot water: Linen including the mattress protector and soft toys are thrown into the machine and washed at 60 degrees. 
• Wipe down with disinfectant or alcohol: Bed frame, bedside table, toilet, table, laptops and the grossest of them all - the mobile phone. Don't forget the things you use on auto-pilot mode, like moisturiser and lip balm. For lip balm, as it came into contact with my lips, and there would be nothing left after wiping off a couple of layers off all 3mm of this stick, I dumped it.
• Sun things that can't be washed: Pillows, cushions, soft toys which are too big to wash, etc
• Dump: I threw out the muffins I made and froze the day I was exposed. If you didn't finish a pack of chips while you were positive, I highly suggest you dump it.

I just found guidelines on cleaning for households on home recovery - check them out too! I didn't use gloves but I did continue to wear my mask. Don't risk reinfecting yourself...

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I also wondered... What if my symptoms weren't mild? What if I had to be hospitalised? What if the kids are too young and need constant attention? What if the kids cannot help around the house? What if I passed COVID to the kids?

There is only one solution, i.e. outsource, be it ordering everything - MSG and all - and/or activating help from family and friends. Close one eye and ride out the storm!

On the other hand, what if Sito was home? Need to do some preparation like bringing his stuff out of our room, let the kids sleep together, have him sleep on the extra bed. But after that, I could have self isolated in peace haha!