Do’s and Don’ts:
* Avoid close contact with people who are having respiratory illness.
* Sick persons should keep distance from others.
* If possible, stay at home, away from work, school, and public places when you are sick.
* Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or handkerchief when coughing or sneezing
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* If you have no tissue or handkerchief you should not clean the nose with the hands but with the cuff of your shirt or clothes.
* Washing your hands often with soap or alcohol based hand wash will help protect from germs.
* Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
* Persons who develop influenza-like-illness (ILI) (fever with either cough or sore throat) should be strongly encouraged to selfisolate in their home for 7 days after the onset of illness or at least 24 hours after symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer.
* Persons who experience ILI and wish to seek medical care should contact their health care providers to report illness (by telephone or other remote means) before seeking care at a clinic, physician’s office, or hospital.
* Persons who have difficulty breathing or shortness of breath should seek immediate medical attention and report to the nearby hospital.
* If ill persons must go into the community (e.g., to seek medical care) they should wear a face mask to reduce the risk of spreading the virus in the community.
* If a face mask is unavailable, ill persons needing to go into the community should use a handkerchief or tissues to cover any coughing and sneezing.
* Persons in home isolation and their household members should be given infection control instructions like frequent hand washing with soap and water; use of alcohol-based hand gels (containing at least 60%alcohol).
* When the ill person is within 6 feet of others at home, the ill person should wear a face mask, if available or handkerchief or tissues.
Household contacts who are well should:
a) Remain home at the earliest sign of illness;
b) Minimize contact in the community to the extent possible;
c) Designate a single household family member as the ill person’s caregiver to minimize interactions with asymptomatic persons.
*Precautions for School children:
a) Schools with a confirmed or a suspected case should be considered for closure.
b) All school or childcare related gatherings should be cancelled and encourage parents and students to avoid congregating outside of the school.
c) Schools and childcare facilities should bar students for a time period to be evaluated on an ongoing basis depending upon epidemiological findings.
d) Schools and childcare facilities should consult with their local or state health departments for guidance on reopening. If no additional confirmed or suspected cases are identified among students (or school-based personnel) for a period of 7 days, schools may consider reopening.
e) Schools and childcare facilities in unaffected areas should begin to prepare for the possibility of school or childcare facility closure.
Social Distancing Interventions:
a) Large gatherings linked to settings or institutions with laboratory-confirmed cases should be cancelled, for example a school event linked to a school with cases; other large gatherings in the community may not need to be cancelled at this time.
b) Additional social distancing measures are currently not recommended.
c) Persons with underlying medical conditions who are at high risk for complications of influenza may wish to
d) Consider avoiding large gatherings.