Eight steps to help with safe home-based recovery for COVID-19

Several countries and areas in the Western Pacific Region are reporting rising numbers of COVID-19 infections in early 2022, with most driven by the more transmissible Omicron variant.

COVID-19 remains a serious disease, and unfortunately some people will develop severe or critical illness, and some will die. However, for the majority of people who are infected – especially if they are fully vaccinated – illness is typically mild, or they may have no symptoms at all. For these people, it is safe to self-monitor and recover at home.

If you are infected with COVID-19 and have been asked to isolate and recover at home, or if you are caring for someone who has COVID-19 at home, how can you keep everyone safe? When should you seek help? This page describes eight steps for a safe home-based recovery.

Home-based recovery is suitable when people test positive for COVID-19 and:

• they do not have any symptoms or have only mild symptoms, and

• they are not in a high-risk category (for example, older people or people with underlying conditions, such as cardiovascular or chronic lung disease)

Most of these people can safely recover at home once they have contacted their health-care provider for advice.

The decision to recover at home or seek care in a facility needs to be taken under the supervision of a health-care provider according to the COVID-19 protocols in your country or area. The protocols should include when and how to end home isolation.

Learn how the Lao People’s Democratic Republic encouraged more use of home-based recovery.

The coronavirus pandemic is an evolving situation, but the evidence we have now underlines the importance of taking these eight key steps when someone with COVID-19 is recovering at home to avoid spreading the infection, keep everyone safe and know what to do if the person’s condition changes.

The person with COVID-19 should stay in a separate room. If this is not possible, they must sleep in a separate bed. They should use a separate bathroom/toilet. If this is not possible, their movements around the home should be limited to essential purposes only (such as using the bathroom). Also, they should keep at least 1 metre away from anyone else.

It is critical to have good ventilation in the room of the person with COVID-19 and any shared spaces. This means having fresh, clean air coming through as much as possible by opening windows where it is safe to do so. Learn more about COVID-19 and ventilation.

There should be one or two people dedicated as caregivers for the person with COVID-19, and they should have no underlying health conditions that put them at risk for severe disease. 

Whenever the person with COVID-19 is in the same room as someone else, they should both wear disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks). When caregivers leave the room of the infected person, they need to remove their mask and be sure to wash their hands. The infected person should have designated dishes, towels (including a towel for drying hands after washing them) and bedlinen – and these should not be shared with anyone else. Any surfaces that are frequently touched by the infected person must be disinfected every day. The room of the person with COVID-19 should be cleaned and disinfected regularly and thoroughly at the end of their isolation period. Any waste generated by the infected person (such as used tissues) should be considered infectious and disposed of safely.

Learn more about how to protect yourself from COVID-19.

Symptoms of COVID-19 may only last a few days with the most common being fever, dry cough and fatigue. Other symptoms that are less common and may affect some patients include loss of taste or smell, nasal congestion, conjunctivitis (also known as red eyes), sore throat, headache, muscle or joint pain, different types of skin rash, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea, and chills or dizziness. 

Follow the advice of the health-care provider about what medication to take. This may include medications to manage headache or fever. Home-based care may also require use of a pulse oximeter, which may be used to determine the need for hospitalization.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, will not respond to antibiotics. However, some people who become ill with COVID-19 can also develop a bacterial infection as a complication. In this case, antibiotics may be recommended by a health-care provider.

Learn more about COVID-19 and antibiotics.

Testing positive for COVID-19 can bring up complex emotions for the infected person as well as their household members. It is understandable to feel scared or anxious.

There are many ways to take care of mental health and well-being during this time, including talking to someone you trust and taking part in safe activities.

Learn more about protecting your mental health during the pandemic.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, no visitors can be allowed during home-based recovery.

When someone is recovering from COVID-19 at home, their condition should be monitored at least once a day. Signs that may indicate a worsening condition depend on the age of the person infected:

• For adults, they include light-headedness, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chest pain, or dehydration.

• Children can also appear suddenly confused, uninterested in food, or have blue lips or a blue face.

• Infants and babies can have an inability to breastfeed.

In any of these cases, seek urgent care.

Home-based recovery can play a vital role in making best use of the health system and ensuring facility-based care is available to people who really need it. By following these steps, individuals who test positive for COVID-19 but have mild or no symptoms and are otherwise healthy can safely recover at home, and their family members can safely support their recovery at home.

Read all of WHO’s questions and answers on home care for families and caregivers.