This page contains general instructions for what you should do if you contract the COVID-19 disease. As the first priority, always follow the instructions of the municipality in which you are living or visiting.
If you have symptoms, we recommend that you avoid contacts with people outside your home on a voluntary basis for at least five days.
Read the recommendation for testing and avoiding contacts in regions with a testing and tracing backlog.
Also see the instructions issued by the health authorities, for example on the website of the municipality in which you are living or visiting.
When you fall ill, remember these:
Stay home and avoid close contact with others. If you have to be close to others, wear a face mask.
Do not use the shared facilities of your apartment building when sick.
When you are ill, it is important to rest and drink enough fluids. To treat fever and pain, you can take over-the-counter medicines available at the pharmacy.
Maintain good hand hygiene and follow the coughing etiquette.
Coronavirus disease makes you susceptible to blood clots. Contact your doctor if you know that you have other risk factors for vascular thrombosis in addition to coronavirus disease.
Coronavirus and hypercoagulability
Follow your state of health and call a health centre if necessary. If you have to go to a doctor, wear a face mask. If you don’t have a face mask, cover your mouth and nose with a disposable tissue.
When can you return to work after the disease?
See here for instructions on After recovering from the coronavirus disease
When caring for a sick child
See here for instructions on how to care for a sick child
When to call the health centre
Call a health centre if you experience serious symptoms such as shortness of breath and a deteriorating overall condition. Deterioration in your overall condition means, for example, that you cannot take in enough fluids or that you have difficulty getting out of bed due to dizziness.
Those in a risk group should not hesitate to contact a health centre or a doctor. Call the health centre immediately if your overall condition deteriorates.
Risk groups of severe coronavirus disease
When to take your child to the doctor?
You can also reduce the risk of infection at home with the following measures
If it is possible to arrange, only one adult should take care of a sick person. A person in a risk group should not be the primary caregiver of a sick person.
Maintain good hand hygiene. Washing your hands is particularly important when you have been in contact with a sick person, stayed in the same room with a sick person or have handled the person’s tissues or laundry.
Other people living in the same apartment should not stay in the same room with the sick person. If this is not possible, you should maintain at least a 2-metre distance from the sick person. This can be done if the sick person sleeps in a separate bed, for instance.
If you are staying in the same space as the sick person or are close to the sick person, wear a face mask. This is particularly important for those in risk groups.
If there are two toilets in the apartment, one of them should only be used by the sick person.
If the patient uses the same toilet as others, make sure each family member has their own hand towel.
Do not invite visitors to your home while a family member is ill, and stay home yourself. Follow the instructions provided by the health authorities on what to do during isolation and quarantine.
Make sure shared spaces are well-ventilated, for instance, by opening the windows of toilet facilities, kitchen and bathroom.
Monitor the person’s state of health and contact a health centre by telephone if necessary.
Cleaning, laundry, and sanitation
Put used handkerchiefs and other single-use products directly into the trash. It is good to have a separate bag for waste in the room of the person who is ill, which is shut before it is put into a waste bin. Remember to wash your hands when you have handled waste, or touch used handkerchiefs and similar objects.
Any tables and other surfaces that are touched daily should be wiped with a regular cleaning agent. Surfaces that are frequently touched include door handles, light switches, and remote controls.
Clean your toilet facilities daily, avoiding spatter. The effectiveness of the cleaning can be enhanced by using a disinfectant intended for home use.
Wash the dishes and cutlery used by the person who is ill after each meal.
Wash sheets normally in water heated to 60-90 degrees Celsius- Use a detergent. Avoid unnecessary handling and fluffing the laundry. After handling dirty laundry, wash your hands carefully with soap and water, or clean them using a hand disinfectant containing alcohol.
Instructions for cleaning to prevent the spread of coronavirus (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)
The instructions can also be applied to general cleaning.
