Quarantine Families Can Stay Together, Advice Hints

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Yesterday’s announcement of a change in Covid quarantine policy set off a new wave of concern amongst Beijing parents regarding the possibility of children being separated from their parents, as they have been during hospital treatment.

However, a message sent out this morning by Beijing city officials gives a strong indication that families will be able to quarantine together.

The post, which quotes guidelines issued by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, doesn’t explicitly state that families will be able to quarantine together, but outlines behaviors that should be followed when sharing rooms while in quarantine, such as separating beds, and avoiding sharing toiletries.

Up until this week, all patients diagnosed with Covid-19, regardless of the severity of their symptoms, have been treated in individual isolation wards at Ditan Hospital. In the rare cases of children contracting the virus, they have been separated from their parents for treatment, regardless of age.

According to Beijing residents who have gone through the process, children under 14 years old flying in from abroad have been able to quarantine with a parent, as long as both parties have tested negative.

This week, rules were relaxed to allow local residents who test positive but are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms to be quarantined at facilities other than the hospital, presumably at quarantine hotels (though to date we are unaware of the specific locations).

If indeed children can quarantine in the same room as their parents, it comes as great relief to families across the city. We will keep an eye out for further confirmation on this and in the meantime, here is a full-text translation (via WeChat Translate) of the story that went out this morning:

1. Centralized isolation in conditional cases as far as possible to choose a suite of isolation places, each one, relatively independent, but also convenient care. If the isolation point does not have the conditions, should try to choose a large area, there are two beds in the room, it is recommended to achieve physical isolation between the two beds.

2. Parents, as guardians, should pay close attention to the changes in their children's health and report any abnormal changes in time.

3. Parents and children should wear disposable surgical masks when they are in the same room. Minimize unnecessary contact with children and their supplies during isolation. Do not hug or quarrel during isolation. Keep a distance of more than 1 meter. If close contact is necessary, both sides should wear N95 masks. Cover your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing.

4. It is recommended to share meals, use special tableware, do not cross the use of tableware.

5. Do not share toiletries such as towels and electronics such as mobile phones during quarantine. Strengthen hand hygiene, provide hand sanitizer, and follow the seven-step method.

6. During the isolation period, the shared toilet should be cleaned and disinfected daily. After each use of the toilet, use 75% alcohol disinfection wipes to wipe and disinfect the toilet seat cushion, flushing on, toilet cover, and other parts of the skin.

7. For frequent contact with door handles, faucets, hand sanitizer, as well as remote controls, mobile phones, landline, and other personal items use 75% alcohol wipes for disinfection.

8. The isolation room should be ventilated at least once a day and in the afternoon, each time more than 30 minutes.

9. Clean the surfaces of the tabletop, countertop, and furniture in the room by wet cleaning. Use quaternary ammonium salt disinfectant or disinfectant wipes to wipe and disinfect the above surfaces at least once a day.

Images: Pexels

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