Social distancing for couples

[Aerides]

This piece, a first person account of the healthy side of care-taking for a sick partner w/covid...i don't think you can stick them in the RV and wait it out.

Of course for a very mild case, sure, but having read this one, I'd expect for a lot of us the healthy one should be expected to do a lot of helping and caregiving, so it makes sense to take precautions to stay healthy to offer such help.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/magazine/coronavirus-family.html

 

[Gumby]

This is an ideal scenario, with the complete physical isolation of the RV.

But I wonder how any social distancing between living partners could be implemented in such a way to ensure there was no virus transmission during the asymptomatic phase, which, from what I've read, can last for multiple days after infection occurs. Seems like isolating only after the infected person feels poorly enough to say "I'm sick" is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Probably we would both catch it if one has it, but we would try our best.

 

[Born2BRetd]

I think by the time my husband started to show symptoms there would be a good chance I would already be exposed so we would probably continue in the same bed and rooms. I wouldn't want to be in a different room where I couldn't monitor him as it seems that people can go south really quickly.

 

[Jerry1]

In the case of the first illness it would be an accidental exposure so if you are social distancing anyway and it that's contagious I feel like the second person is kind of SOL anyway.

As I tell my DH as we are wiping down our trunk loaded groceries, if it's this catchy we are going to get it anyway...

Kind of how I feel. Just seems like it would be too late by the time your spouse says they're feeling sick. I think the best that distancing from your spouse can accomplish is that hopefully by spreading out the illness, each of you can take care of each other. First one sick gets help from the other spouse and hopefully by the time the other spouse gets sick, the first one will be well enough to help the second. Either way, scary and doing what I can to keep from getting it in the first place.

 

[pacergal]

Our plan is to have the ill person isolate in the master bed/bath area so the healthy one could still cook, etc and bring meals.
We have a guest bed/bath to use.
Although, if one gets ill, the other has most likely been exposed.
DS and GS are currently living here, so we do have other risks, although with school closed, DS is not working. We'll see what happens in the fall.

 

[W2R]

So far we are both in unusually good health, except for allergy/sinus issues.

If one of us gets sick, we are promising to tell the other one and I hope we do. We live in separate houses next door to each other, and we could stay separate or he could sit in a camp chair twenty feet outside the French doors leading into my den, and we could talk loudly.

We both have good hearing. For rainy days, we both have cell phones plus he has a set of good, functional walkie-talkie type devices.

As for food, I don't cook for him (one of the advantages of not being married). So, he'd be on his own for that, as he always is.

The biggest problem might be that he would have to buy a new washer. His croaked a year or two ago, and since he is on a bare bones retirement budget he has been doing his clothes over at my house instead of buying a new washer. That is no problem for me, since I bought a new high end washer/dryer set five years ago, and since my water bill is always the minimum anyway. But washing clothes at my house would have to stop I guess.

 

[Live And Learn]

Chris Cuomo tested positive on April 1st and by April 2nd was feeling pretty ill. As soon as he tested positive he moved into the basement. His wife tested negative on April 2nd. She tested positive on April 14 (or 15). And from what I can tell they did everything right. We can't tell if she caught it from him or elsewhere but it goes to show how contagious this is.

DH and I will definitely stay away from each other if either of us gets sick. There is no knowing how severe it would be for either of us and there is no sense in tempting fate.

 

[Sunset]

But it doesn't really make sense for the infected one to say in the house, it's way easier to shut the door of the RV indefinitely when the sick one recovers.

+1
Also easier to shut the door if the sick one doesn't recover

 

[Walt34]

Our normal practice is that when either one of us gets sick, I move to the guest bedroom. We would continue that practice if the sickness were COVID-19. I suppose we would need also to consider separate bathrooms and keep the sick one out of the kitchen.

That's pretty much what we do so I don't anticipate we'd do anything different.

 

[rodi]

Like others mentioned here - we've discussed it and the sick person would get the master bed/bath. The idea is that the guest room is less covid-ed up...

However - the guest room, which doubles as the exercise room has a tv... so the sicky might prefer that room.

We'll just do our best to avoid either of us getting it in the first place.

 

[harley]

To each his own, but the last thing I want around when I'm sick is a TV. And if I had Covid 19 and was watching all the FUD about it on TV, I'd die for sure.

 

[JustCurious]

It is hard to have sex while social distancing, just sayin'.

 

[Nemo2]

It is hard to have sex while social distancing, just sayin'.

It might have been Groucho Marx:

Q: Should you talk to your wife after sex?

A: Only if there's a phone nearby.

Drum roll..

 

[rk911]

nope. couldn't if we wanted to. we're currently living in our 40' MH 1800-mi from home. planning to leave here for home 4/30. once home we could separate but if one of us starts feeling sick the other is likely already infected.

 

[greengo523]

But it doesn't really make sense for the infected one to say in the house, it's way easier to shut the door of the RV indefinitely when the sick one recovers.

Except that the house contains the virus and the RV should be clean.

 

[Sunset]

It is hard to have sex while social distancing, just sayin'.

I guess 6 feet is a stretch...

 

[donheff]

There is only so much you can do. Moving out is a non-starter for us. We plan a version of Gumby's approach, if either of us gets sick I move to the basement and DW stays in the more comfortable master bedroom . The basement has a large sofa, big screen TV and bathroom. We would stay separate as much as possible as the virus takes it's course. N95 mask for any necessary contact, paranoid hand and surface disinfection. If DW got bad I would help out (encouraging her to move, avoid back sleeping, perform breathing exercises, eat, etc. If she showed serious symptoms (shortness of breath) I would don an N95 and take her to the ER of the most appropriate hospital we could figure out. Ambulances take you where they take you.

The odds are probably good that both of us would become infected despite precautions but I don't see a viable alternative. I'm 71, she is 67 so both at risk. We have no underlying conditions and are in good shape so there is a good possibility that one or both of us would get through without the need for hospitalization. I'm not sure what more we could do (other than even more stringent disinfecting) if we had serious underlying conditions.

 

[Vincenzo Corleone]

This is an ideal scenario, with the complete physical isolation of the RV.

But I wonder how any social distancing between living partners could be implemented in such a way to ensure there was no virus transmission during the asymptomatic phase, which, from what I've read, can last for multiple days after infection occurs. Seems like isolating only after the infected person feels poorly enough to say "I'm sick" is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

+1

 

[braumeister]

We're very fortunate that the guest bedroom in our condo is on the lower level, with its own full bathroom. I've prepared it with a microwave and a small induction cooktop, and I already had my beer frig down there. So if I come down with it I plan to simply move there and use masking tape to cover the stairwell with a plastic drop cloth. DW can leave food for me in the stairwell and we should be separated enough.

Obviously, no way to tell if this is even reasonable, since we might get infected together, but at least it's a plan. Since I'm older and probably more vulnerable (had asthma as a kid), it seems likely I'd be the one in trouble.

 

[Teacher Terry]

W2, if one of you gets the flu and is in bed don’t you guys cook for each other? My husband doesn’t cook but when I was in bed for 2 weeks he made me soup, etc.

 

[W2R]

W2, if one of you gets the flu and is in bed don’t you guys cook for each other? My husband doesn’t cook but when I was in bed for 2 weeks he made me soup, etc.

Well, that hasn't happened yet. Guess if/when it does, we'll find out!

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Just saying.

 

[CaptTom]

We have a plan: master bed/bath will become the isolation domain for the patient. Healthy person gets the rest of the house, and is in charge of all meals and anything else the sick person might need. Will wear one of our 2 old N95's we found under the sink during any interactions if needed for care giving.

A couple I know has one partner sick. The above is basically what they're doing. She's sick upstairs, he stays downstairs and leaves meals outside the door.

She's recovering OK, as of a few days ago. He's high risk and I'll hopefully be hearing soon whether he caught it or not.

 

[Teacher Terry]

W2, wow it’s lucky neither of you have ever had the flu. I get it about once every 10 years.

 

[Winemaker]

DW and I rarely ever get colds, or influenza. My last flu episode was in 2000, and was the first time in 19 years I ever called off from work, and I really think it was food poisoning from some canned tuna.