- Right-handers to be trained to use their left hand on door handles, carts, bathrooms etc to protect your right hand from germs. Vice Versa for Left-handers
- Restrict nonessential healthcare personnel (including consultant personnel) and volunteers for entering the building.
- When transmission in the community is identified, nursing homes and assisted living facilities may face staffing shortages. Facilities should develop (or review existing) plans to mitigate staffing shortages.
- Offering free flu vaccinations every year to your staff and volunteers, and keeping records of their vaccinations.
- Provide annual influenza vaccination and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines to employees and staff, according to local policies, as these infections are important contributors to respiratory mortality in older people.
- If commercially prepared hospital-grade disinfectants are not available, the LTCFs may use a diluted concentration of bleach to disinfect the environment. The minimum concentration of chlorine should be 5000 ppm or 0.5% (equivalent to a 1:9 dilution of 5% concentrated liquid bleach).
Awareness & Wellbeing Activities
- Bulletin, posters, updates on government policies through WhatsApp or emails are to be flashed at regular intervals for community awareness
- Regular bulletins/ newsletters may be put up by the management for spreading of right knowledge. Use Notice Boards for such purposes
- Communication with the residents through resident committee members by bringing in the right resource person from the authorised hospitals and clarify the myths and the doubts may be organised
- Medical health record of all the residents are kept updated and periodically scrutinised especially of those high risk cases like aged above 70 yrs with chronic lung, heart problems, hypertension, diabetes , COPD cases who are in the high risk category to be monitored on daily basis
- Balanced nutrition and regular balanced Physical activities through stretches Breathing practices, Yoga, Spatial dynamics may be ensured.
- Locally available herbs and Traditional medicines to be made available through health drinks form for those who opt for it.
Medical Supplies for Recommended Infection Prevention and Control Practices
- Hand hygiene supplies:
- Put alcohol-based hand sanitizer with 60–95% alcohol in every resident room (ideally both inside and outside of the room) and other resident care and common areas (e.g., outside dining hall, in therapy gym).
- Make sure that sinks are well-stocked with soap and paper towels for handwashing.
- Respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette:
- Make tissues and facemasks available for people with cough.
- Consider designating staff to steward those supplies and encourage appropriate use by residents, visitors, and staff.
- Make necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available in areas where resident care is provided. Put a trash can near the exit inside the resident room to make it easy for staff to discard PPE prior to exiting the room, or before providing care for another resident in the same room. Facilities should have supplies of:
- Facemasks, gowns, gloves, eye protection (i.e., face shield or goggles)
- Respirators (if available and the facility has a respiratory protection program with trained, medically cleared, and fit-tested HCP)
- Guidelines for Facemasks:
- The healthcare staff shall wear the mask as per norms laid down for self-protection at all times without lowering the guard.
- Other services and office staff shall wear the cloth mask at all times.
- The protection given by cloth mask is in no way lower than the 3 ply disposable mask. The mask shall not be pushed down to your neck or wear it around their neck.
- The mask should cover both the nose and the mouth and, not one of them alone.
- All residents shall wear a mask when they come to any services and care facilities including parks.
- Every staff has to enter the RC with the face mask and every resident leaving his or her premises must wear the face mask.
- Please remove the mask in dining areas for the purpose of eating/drinking only, but maintain social distance at all times to avoid spread of infection.
- Wearing of mask should not reduce social distancing except for the healthcare professionals who follow laid down protocols.
- Residents/staff using N95 and surgical disposable mask should get advice from healthcare professionals regarding the time and mode of disposal of these masks.
- While cloth masks should be washed every day after use with soap and water, disposable masks will be disposed of as per laid down protocols.
- RMHs to ensure and also advice the staff and residents every day.
- Laundry:
- Laundry Soiled linen should be placed in clearly labelled, leak-proof bags or containers, after carefully removing any solid excrement and putting it in a covered bucket to be disposed of in a toilet or latrine. Machine washing with warm water at 60−90°C (140−194°F) with laundry detergent is recommended. The laundry can then be dried according to routine procedures.
- If machine washing is not possible, linens can be soaked in hot water and soap in a large drum using a stick to stir and being careful to avoid splashing. The drum should then be emptied, and the linens soaked in 0.05% (500 ppm) chlorine for approximately 30 minutes.
- Finally, the laundry should be rinsed with clean water and the linens allowed to dry fully in sunlight.