How to avoid spreading Covid to others in the family

Introduction

An infected person is most contagious the first five days after experiencing symptoms. The person can spread the virus through the air droplets in his or her breath, sneeze or cough. The air droplets can suspend in the air for hours and can infect another person who comes in contact with them. The droplets can land on surfaces and remain contagious for days. This article has suggestions on how to avoid spreading Covid to others in the household.

Isolate

The infected person should move to a dedicated room if possible to avoid contact with others in the household. Avoid sharing personal care items and utensils. Avoid sharing bathrooms with the infected person.

Ventilation

In an indoor space, ventilation is needed to remove viral air droplets from the infected person. The air droplets are extremely small around 1 micron and is impossible for our eyes to detect and dodge. To visualize the droplets, imagine the infected person as someone holding a smoke bomb and generating smoke continuously. The smoke is analogous to the air droplets from an infected person. The strategy one uses to clear the smoke will also work for clearing the viral air droplets. In order for the smoke to escape, one would open windows to bring in fresh air and expel the smoke to the outside to reduce the smoke concentration. Fans can also help to blow the air out an open window. If possible, close the door of the room the infected person is staying. This keeps the air droplets within the room where it can escape to the outside via an open window in that room.

Air filtration

Turning on the AC can help move air around and the filter in the AC can remove some air droplets. An air purifier can also aid in filtering the air droplets. Most air purifier have HEPA filters that can trap the air droplets. There are many air purifiers to choose from. According to a Consumer Reports article, the coronavirus is about 0.125 micron and the virus is encased inside air droplets that are 1 micron. The air purifier with HEPA filter can capture the 1 micron air droplets and the virus inside of it. Place the air purifier closer to the infected person to assist in the capture of the air droplets. Run the air purifier continuously 24hrs. At night, reduce fan speed setting to reduce noise so that it’s not loud enough to disturb sleep. An important attribute to look for in an air purifier is how quickly it can clean air and is specified as the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) expressed in cubic feet /minute. CADR rating is available for different particle types, pollen, dust, smoke. CADR for smoke particles should be used because smoke particle size is similar to that of the air droplet. The Winix 5500-2 is a highly rated device. It includes True HEPA filter that filters out 99.7% of particles as small as 0.3 micron and goes for $170. The Winix 5500-2 has a CADR rating of 232 CFM for smoke particles. The BluePure 211+ is another unit that is highly rated. It can clean air at a faster rate of CADR 350 CFM for smoke and costs $320. Medify MA-50 is also a good choice. Medify Ma-50 costs $325 and can filter 99.9% particles > 0.1 microns using better HEPA 13 filters. It has CADR rating of 276 CFM. Note that these CADR ratings are achieved using the device’s highest fan speed and can be noisy.

Masking

When in close contact with the infected person, both the infected person and the caregiver should wear a mask. When the infected person is alone, she does not need to wear mask. Especially when sleeping, do not wear a mask as it can interfere with sleep.