These are the preparations we have undertaken over the last few days for the inevitable. We hope you find them useful. Most of these are valid for a two member scenario but you can probably extend them to larger families.
- Explain your financial situation to all the members. Any member should be able to run the household independently in case of emergency or loss of life. This includes all credit card billing cycles, bill payments, savings, insurance, and other investments etc.
- Identify one person from the family unit who will do all the jobs that involve exposure to the outside environment (emergency supplies, purchasing, receiving home delivery orders, garbage disposal etc). There is no point in exposing all members to possibly contaminated environments unnecessarily & increasing the probability of contracting the virus.
- The identified person should be SOMEONE WHO YOU CAN AFFORD TO ISOLATE. No, not because his/her life is expendable but to spare the principal member who takes care of >70% duties of the family unit and is also more equipped to take care of people who might need isolation. Understand the word ‘more’, this has nothing to do with gender, age or occupational status.
- The principal member (completely barred from external exposure) should be absolutely well equipped with activities required to keep the house functional, like cooking, laundry, dish-washing, cleaning protocols, supplies management etc. If they are not, train them asap! #COVID19 measures change almost every day, at times even every few hours. You don’t know what you might wake up to next morning.
- Identify a room that you would allocate for home quarantine, in case a family member contracts the virus and needs to be isolated. Note that hospitals are not going to admit people right away. Initially, people will be advised to isolate themselves at home. Prepare the room as soon as possible by reshuffling the room in such a way that it is fit for an individual to live for weeks without any exchange with other members except for food. The room should be well-equipped with a bathroom, bed linen, utensils and a cleaning kit. Also prefer a room that is ventilated & has lots of natural light to prevent the isolated person from getting depressed. Try to keep things for each of the members that they are fond of personally, like books, musical instruments, board games, anything that feeds their mind or soul and will help in building their endurance.
- Keep a bag (per person) ready in case any of the members needs to be admitted to the hospital which should include a bed-sheet, blanket, water bottle, toiletry kit, towel, toilet roll, tissue box, wet/baby wipes, power bank, phone charger & some clothes. You never know what kind of hospital you might be taken to and one can’t blame the government for not providing 5-star facilities under such circumstances.
