Should sick people wear masks at home so they don’t infect family members in the household?
Anika H. Ahmed, MD
I received a text from my nephew who works at the airport. He informed me that a colleague at work who shared his office space tested positive for COVID-19. He asked me what he needed to do, as he had been in close contact with the COVID-19 positive colleague in the last three days. Here is what I told him:
- Isolate from the rest of the family for at least 14 days. Stay in the basement and use the basement door to enter and exit the house.
- Always wear a mask any time you leave the house and wear it at home if you interact with any family member, as even an asymptomatic carrier can spread the Coronavirus.
- Closely monitor for symptoms of fever, dry cough, breathlessness, body aches, and loss of sense of smell or taste.
- Get tested. Get a referral by connecting to your doctor on a telemedicine platform and go to the nearest drive through testing center.
Many people have raised the question of why one should wear a mask at home. Masks are in great demand and everyone is now encouraged to wear masks when out in public, especially if expecting to move in close spaces with many other people. But when to wear masks at home? Any time a person is sick in the house, the sick person should be isolated immediately into a “sick room”. But this is sometimes not an option for many who live in close quarters and do not have the luxury of separate rooms. In scenarios where separate rooms are not available and isolation of the sick is not possible, then a mask can be a lifesaver for the rest of the family. In such cases all sick individuals over the age of two years must wear a mask until they have fully recovered.
The benefits of wearing a mask outweigh the hassle of wearing it. A mask prevents virus-laden droplets from getting into the air and remaining suspended in for a few minutes after coming out of the mouth or nose of an infected individual to contaminate adjacent surfaces and spread the infection to other individuals in the household. It forms a protective barrier between the sick person and healthy individuals in the house. Some creative individuals have even come up with masks that can pocket a coffee filter on the inside that helps absorb more of the Coronavirus being sprayed out of the mouth during coughing, sneezing, laughing, and even talking. One must take the precautions of taking off the mask from behind, avoiding touching the front part of the mask, disposing of the mask safely without letting it touch anything, and washing hands thoroughly before touching the face or eating or preparing meals. That is the key to staying healthy in a household with already sick COVID-19 patients.