Covid-19

HOW TO SELF-ISOLATE
(HSE Guidelines)

You may need to self-isolate if you have coronavirus or may have coronavirus. This could be before you get tested for coronavirus, while you wait for test results or when a positive result is confirmed.

Most people with coronavirus will only have mild symptoms and will get well within weeks. Even though the symptoms are mild, you can still spread the virus to others.

If you have to self-isolate, stay indoors and avoid contact with other people. 

 

DO

  • Stay at home, in a room with the window open.
  • Keep away from others in your home as much as you can.
  • Check your symptoms – call a doctor if they get worse.
  • Phone your doctor if you need to – do not visit them.
  • Cover your coughs and sneezes using a tissue – clean your hands properly afterwards.
  • Wash your hands properly and often.
  • Use your own towel – do not share a towel with others.
  • Clean your room every day with a household cleaner or disinfectant.
  • Keep away from older people, anyone with long-term medical conditions and pregnant women.
  • If you live with other people stay in a room with a window you can open.
  • If you can, use a toilet and bathroom that no one else in the house uses.
  • If you have to share a bathroom with others, use the bathroom last and then clean it thoroughly.

 

DO NOT

  • Do not share any items you’ve used with other people.
  • Do not take laundry to a launderette.

Managing rubbish

  • Put all the waste that you have used, including tissues and masks, in a plastic rubbish bag. Tie the bag when it is about three-quarters full. Place the plastic bag in a second bin bag and tie the bag.
  • Treat all cleaning waste in the same way.
  • Do not put the rubbish bags out for collection for 72 hours. After that, the bags can be put out for collection in regular domestic waste.

Stay in touch with your GP or doctor. If your symptoms develop or get worse, phone your GP.

For further information on self-isolation log onto www.hse.ie