Quarantine within a Host Family

The purpose of this topic is to assess the practicalities of ensuring the World Health Organisation guidelines are maintained when quarantine is being carried out in host families.

Students arriving from overseas travel into ports are taken by transfer to host families where they are kept in quarantine for a period of 14 days

What are the hazards?
Students arriving at the host family show symptoms of Covid-19 during the 14 day quarantine.

Who might be infected?
Host family members and any family or friends that have been in contact with the family during quarantine.

Controls required
- Students need to be isolated in a single room with their own en-suite facilities
- Regular cleaning of surfaces and bathroom facilities
- Host families will need to socially distance at least 2m from the student during the isolation period with as little contact as possible

Conclusion

In the confines of a host family, quarantining is not generally practical under WHO guidelines due to the physical make up of the host family environment and for the following reasons:

- Host families are often ‘family units’ comprising parents and also children and possibly elderly relatives exposing them to potential risk
- Most host families do not have en-suite facilities – they often have shared bathrooms/toilet
- The confines of the average house do not allow for 2 metre distancing regulations

Conclusion:
Bright World will offer quarantine within a host family if they comply with our guidelines as in the Covid Safe Plan for Host Families