Q & A

Most people who

come down with

Covid-19 won’t be

going to the hospital.

They need to be

ready at home.

The first task is to isolate patients with

their own stash of tissues, disinfecting

wipes, paper towels, soap and warm water.

Another key piece of equipment: masks.

Patients should wear a face mask anytime

they leave their room, and these excursions

should be limited—in other words, bath-

room trips only. Anyone entering the room

should also wear a mask.

A simple surgical mask is recommended

for home use, but given shortages, you can

improvise with a scarf tied securely

around the face, says David Buchholz, se-

nior medical director at Columbia Univer-

sity Irving Medical Center. Even hardware-

store face masks used for projects like

painting or sanding are better than going

barefaced. The point is to keep the nose

and mouth well-covered, because “if the

sick person has a surprising cough or

sneeze, you may not be able to turn away

fast enough,” he says.

Tying a bandanna over the face outlaw-

style isn’t ideal because it will gape at the

chin, says Audrey Chun, a doctor in geriat-

rics and palliative medicine at Mount Sinai

Pleaseturntothenextpage

BYHILARYPOTKEWITZ

What to

Put in an

Emergency

Home-Care

Kit

hot-airandhigh-velocity air dryers.

At home,cloth towelscanbeusedbecause,

like paper towels, the mechanical action of

hand-drying removes germs. The cloth towel

can be reused if it is given time to fully dry be-

tween uses, he says. (If out in public, avoid

drying hands on cloth roller towels because

when the roll comes to an end it can transfer

pathogens to clean hands.) If someone is sick

or quarantined at home, a personal towel

should be used and laundered separately.

Another important takeaway:Hands should

be completely dried—not even damp. “The

wetter the hands, the more likely you are to

spread microorganisms,” he says. Wet hands

can also lead to cracked, chapped skin. Left un-

treated, sores or raw skin can invite and trans-

mit harmful microorganisms.

And, in case you’re wondering,drying your

hands on your pantsis a waste of time. “By do-

ing that, you’re nullifying the process of hand-

washing in the first place,” Prof. Gammon says.

“You are potentially recontaminating your hands

with what’s on your clothes.” —Beth DeCarbo

Navigating

The

Coronavirus

ISSUENo. 3

WSJ

EXTRA

Full-Time Everything

Whentheboundaries

betweenworkandfamily

disappear,balance

becomesimpossible. R2

No Coverage

Whenyouloseajob,

youalsooftenlose

healthinsurance. Here

aresomeoptions. R4

MissingConnections

Forthoseseekingjobsor

customers,theinability

tonetworkcanbe

devastating. R6

WhoIs Safe?

Peoplestruggleto

maintaininfection-free

circlesoffamilyand

friends. R7

R1

4/ 03

2020

I

fyou or a family membergets infected

with the coronavirus, it is very likely that

you’ll have to ride it out at home.

Most Covid-19 cases don’t require

hospitalization, and as intensive-care

beds fill, all but the most critical cases

are being sent home. So, people should

be prepared to care for themselves or

their loved ones under their own roof—and

that means having the right supplies to

nurse the ill patient and keep the rest of the

family healthy.

We asked doctors at top hospitals all over

the country what they would include in their

ideal Covid-19 home-care kit. We gathered

their best suggestions and advice to help you

organize your own.

Safety and cleaning

ISOLATION AND CLEANING SUPPLIES:bleach;

face masks that cover nose and mouth (surgi-

cal masks, home-improvement masks or

scarfs); gloves for entering sick room and do-

ing laundry (latex or nitrile rubber); hand sani-

tizer; laundry detergent (wash everything on

hot); nail brush; paper towels; soap; tissues.

• 
  

HowTo

Inthe age of coronavirus, handwashing can

save lives. But proper hand-drying matters, too.

“It might sound pedantic, but it’s actually

critical,” says John Gammon, professor of infec-

tion prevention and control at Swansea Univer-

sity in the U.K., and the lead author of a review

of hand-drying research published in the Jour-

nal of Infection Prevention. His paper, “The Ne-

glected Element of Hand Hygiene,” examined

the effectiveness of paper towels, cloth towels

and dryers that use hot air or high-velocity air.

In a clinical situation, such as a hospital,

disposable paper towelsare generally the

quickest, most efficient and hygienic method of

hand drying. “The mechanical action of rubbing

with paper towels has an effect on reducing

microorganisms on hands,” Prof. Gammon says.

Paper towels are also less likely to spread

germs into the surrounding environment than

TheBest Way to

Dry Your Hands

EVERYDAY RISKS

Shouldwe be

wiping our

groceries down

afterweget

back from the

grocery store?

A: Doctors saygetting

the virus through the in-

gestion of contaminated

food seems unlikely, al-

though scientists are still

studying the virus. Randy

Worobo, a professor of

food microbiology at Cor-

nell University, says in-

stead of being preoccu-

pied with wiping down

packaging and containers,

focus on washing your

hands. “It’s much better

to treat your hands, wash

your hands, rather than

dealing with all the sur-

faces,” says Dr. Worobo.

Ifyou touch a

hard surface

that has the

virus on it,

and then touch

food and eat it,

can you expose

yourself to it?

A: No.Respiratory viruses

like the novel coronavirus

are believed to enter the

body and reproduce

through the respiratory

tract, not the digestive

tract. Experts say it is

possible that if the virus

rubs off from any object

to the inside of your

mouth, it could infect you

if it goes into your respi-

ratory system. But there

doesn’t appear to be any

risk of infection via your

digestive tract, according

to the Centers for Dis-

ease Control and Preven-

tion and the U.S. Depart-

ment of Agriculture.

Scientists are still

studying the virus, so

there is always the

chance they could find

otherwise. But doctors

say getting the virus

through ingestion of con-

taminated food seems

unlikely. Gregory Poland,

director of the Mayo

Clinic’s Vaccine Research

Group in Rochester,

Minn., speculates that

the gastric acid in the

stomach would kill it.

“My own speculation is

that the GI route would

be very low likelihood

compared to known and

efficient methods of in-

fection,” he says.

To be extra cautious,

you could heat food in

the oven or microwave,

though this hasn’t been

specifically studied, so

it’s unclear if there’s a

particular length of time

needed.

EMERGENCY

KIT: SONIA PULIDO; HAND DRY: RODRIGO DAMATI

ASPECIALSECTIONOF THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.