What Should Your Senior Do if She’s at Higher Risk of Being Seriously Ill because of Covid-19?

By Jamie Shapiro | April 21, 2020 | Comments Off on What Should Your Senior Do if She’s at Higher Risk of Being Seriously Ill because of Covid-19?

People in higher risk groups of developing Covid-19 need to take some special precautions during this global pandemic. Your senior might even fit into more than one risk group, making these instructions that much more important. 

Stay at Home as Much as Possible

Home Care Des Plaines, IL: High Risk for COVID-19

It’s really important for your senior to stay at home as much as possible if she’s in a higher risk group in terms of the coronavirus. This reduces the risk that she’ll come into contact with someone who is sick who can then pass those germs on to her. Staying at home could mean that some daily activities that everyone takes for granted, like picking up prescriptions or getting groceries, are now a lot more difficult. Home care providers can help your elderly family member with those errands and with other tasks, too. 

Practice Social Distancing 

When your senior does need to go out in public or when she’s around people who don’t live with her, she should practice social distancing as much as possible. That means that she needs to do what she can to maintain at least six feet in between herself and other people. Stores and other public locations are helping people to remember this with stickers on the floor and signs, but it does take some concentration to remember to do this. 

Wear a Face Mask in Public 

The CDC is now recommending that people wear cloth face masks when they go out in public. At first this recommendation only applied to people who were sick, but that recommendation as expanded to include everyone. Many people who are carrying the coronavirus are asymptomatic, which means that they’re not experiencing symptoms themselves. Because they don’t know they’re carrying this virus, they can unwittingly give it to other people. Cloth face masks can help to slow that transmission. 

Keep Washing Her Hands 

It may sound boring, but continuing to wash her hands is going to be the best way for your senior to keep the coronavirus from infecting her and becoming Covid-19. There doesn’t need to be any special soap or fancy technique, either. Plain soap and water with a recommended minimum of twenty seconds of lathering can kill off and remove most germs. 

If your elderly family member does start to feel ill, contact her doctor right away. It’s not a good idea to head straight to her doctor’s office or to go to a hospital. Wait to see what her doctor recommends and then follow those instructions. 

 

If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in Des Plaines, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas. 

Jamie Shapiro
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