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Family Quarantine Plan: How to prepare for the dreaded call

Family Quarantine Plan: How to prepare for the dreaded call

All parents have that little COVID nightmare in the back of our minds these days. Fear of the phone call about an exposure or outbreak with someone in your household and instruction that the family must isolate at home for 14 days. Yikes! In case this panic isn’t on your radar let me remind you – Isolation aka quarantine means not leaving your house for anything. No family outings, no grocery shopping, no public transit and, likely, no sanity. Ed note: In BC: quarantined families are allowed to go outside off-peak for fresh air and exercise.

I’m a Type A planner so in the event I do get this dreaded phone call, I want to be ready. Below are some ways to prepare and things to stock up so, should you get the call, you’re a few steps ahead.

Quarantine Checklist for Families

  1. Most Important! Identify your ‘Quarantine Fairy.’ This person will be your link to the outside world and will drop groceries on your doorstep, pick up any required prescriptions and run any essential errands. Choose this person and have the conversation now!
  2. Stock your medicine cabinet with Ibuprofen, Benadryl, a thermometer, Pedialyte (or Gatorade) and have a few weeks extra of prescriptions on hand.  
  3. Have extra soup and non-perishable foods in the cupboard as well as non-perishable easy to prepare meal options. Popsicles are good to have if you can keep them hidden until required.
  4. Have extra dish soap, toilet paper (don’t hoard though!), disinfectant wipes, tissues, hand soap, laundry soap, hand sanitizer, masks, disposable, gloves and face shields available (you’ll need protective gear if one person in the family is ill but the rest aren’t.)
  5. Make a list of your doctor’s numbers and their COVID protocols (do they take virtual appointments?) Identify the nearest hospital that takes COVID patients and decide where you’ll go and how you’ll get there.
  6. If there is a sick family member decide where they will sleep and how you’ll keep common spaces sanitized after each use.
  7. Familiarize kids, age dependent, on some of the sanitization and safety procedures you’ll put in place if you do have an infected family member.

More information about quarantine can be found on the Government of Canada website.

Tips for keeping kids entertained and parents mentally healthy

Photo credit: Katie Jameson
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