Doing everything you can during COVID-19

To prevent getting COVID-19, do these 6 things:

Wash your hands often with soap and water. Scrub for at least 20 seconds. If handwashing is not possible, use hand sanitizer and rub it on your hands for 20 seconds until they are dry.

Avoid touching your face, especially your mouth, nose, and eyes. Wash your hands with soap and water before touching your face.

Stay home except for essential trips to the grocery store, pharmacy, or health appointments.

Practice social distancing. If you must go out in public, keep 6 feet between yourself and others. That’s about the length of one sofa.

Kidney & transplant patients: You are at higher risk of problems if you are infected. Wear an N95 mask when out in public, if you have one. Wearing a surgical or cloth mask does not protect you – rather, it protects others from your breath. Keep your distance – at least 6 feet away from other people – even if they have face coverings.

• • • If you don’t have an N95 mask, wear a surgical or cloth face covering.
    • It’s safer if everyone wears a surgical mask or cloth face covering, because it helps lower the spread of infection.

Use disinfecting wipes to regularly disinfect the frequently-touched surfaces in your home. Pay attention to the things you touch.

When you get back home:

• Remove your mask by touching only the loops or ties that keep it in place, not the front.
• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (this is best). Or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Use disinfecting wipes or spray to disinfect any surfaces you touched after you were in a public place, such as the steering wheel, keys, credit card, cell phone, and doorknobs.
• Remove your shoes right inside your entryway or leave them outside.
• Take off your clothes and wash them. Washing with regular detergent and drying them is good enough to kill any germs.
• Wash your hands again with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Relax in your home knowing you have kept yourself and your family as safe as possible.

Experts say there is a low chance of getting COVID-19 from products or packaging. The virus will not survive during the 2-3 days it takes to mail something to your home.

However, if a delivery person is infected, they could contaminate the outside of the package. To be safe, open packages outside and throw away the outer packaging. Then wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. That should be enough.

To stay healthy, follow your doctor’s recommendations. Take your medicines as directed and follow your treatment plan.

To be safe and prepared, you should locate your health insurance card and prepare a list of the medicines you currently take, to share with any medical professionals who may need this information.

If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, begin self-isolation at home for 14 days.

• Avoid contact or sharing spaces with family members to avoid infecting them. You could infect others even if you are not having symptoms yourself.
• Call your doctor’s office or ask for a telehealth visit (a digital health care visit) to discuss your concerns and find out what to do if you begin to develop symptoms. The CDC recommends telehealth (video visits) over in-person visits to avoid spreading the infection.

If you test positive for COVID-19 but are having only mild symptoms, you should continue to rest and recover at home as you self-isolate. Keep in touch with your doctor.

If your symptoms worsen, you may need to get medical help. If you develop any of these emergency warning signs for COVID-19, get medical attention right away:

• Any trouble breathing
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• New confusion or inability to wake up
• Bluish lips or face
• Throwing up (vomiting) so can’t keep fluids down
• Dry mouth and less urine (dehydration)
• Other serious symptoms

For a medical emergency, call 911 right away!

• Tell the 911 operator that you may have COVID-19 and need medical help.
• If possible, put on a mask or cloth face covering before the ambulance arrives.

While it may seem like this quarantine is never-ending, remind yourself that this is temporary. This period of life will pass and we will slowly return to the more normal and busy routines of daily life soon.

You may not always know it, but a lot is happening to help kidney and transplant patients.

• Scientists are working to develop a larger number of COVID-19 tests to get results to people faster. Research studies are taking place to develop a vaccine and find out what medicines work the best for treating COVID-19.
• Research is being done to develop a vaccine.
• Research is being done to find out what medicines work best to treat COVID-19.
• Healthcare providers everywhere are ready to help people who become sick.
• Telehealth is being set up to make it easier for people to talk with their doctors from home.
• To slow the spread of COVID-19, people are staying home and wearing masks in public places.

The transplant system is vital and will return to full operation as soon as it is safe to do so.

In all the ways we can, everyone is working hard to keep patients safe and healthy. Hold on to the hope that while it is hard now, this will eventually end.

Take some time to connect with yourself and find out what helps you the most. Everyone copes with stress differently.

Here are some stress-relieving ideas:

• Set aside time to practice deep breathing, as shown here.
• Meditate or sit quietly outside. As you breathe, focus on a personally meaningful mantra – word(s) you repeat in your mind, like, “This, too, shall pass,” “I can do this,” or “Peace.”
• Go for a walk – or exercise or dance at home.
• Write in a journal, color, or knit – anything creative that relaxes you.
• Watch television, play a board game, or stream free online concerts, talks, or arts events.
• Call or video chat with a friend or family member.
• Try making a new recipe.

Tip: Check out the resources for mental wellness and stress management.

As a dialysis patient, how and where you access care may change in response to COVID-19. Dialysis facilities are implementing new policies to help keep patients safe. For example, centers are:

• Screening patients for temperature and asking about COVID-19 symptoms before they enter.
• Limiting visitors.
• Placing dialysis chairs further apart, where possible.
• Isolating patients with possible COVID-19 symptoms in a separate treatment area or even sending them to a different dialysis center designated to care for COVID-19 patients safely.

Patients who recently received a transplant may need to be seen in person at the transplant center.

• You can call the transplant center to see if they have a “safe pass through” or private entrance that allows patients who don’t have COVID-19 symptoms to enter the center with minimal risk.
• Other patients may be asked to use telehealth to begin evaluation or meet with their doctor. Some patients may be able to safely delay their visits.
• Please contact your transplant coordinator for further instructions.

As you probably know, a deceased donor kidney transplant is a surgery where doctors put a kidney from someone who has died into someone whose kidneys no longer work.

Your position on the transplant waiting list is still the same during this time. However, since transplant centers are focusing on reducing the risk of patients being exposed to COVID-19, they are only doing selected transplants at this time.

Some centers may be holding off on transplants that can be delayed without harming the health of the patient. Transplant centers also may be closing and reopening because the hospital needs more beds available for ill COVID-19 patients. Since transplant is an essential healthcare service, any closure will not be permanent.

Paired kidney donation is a form of living donor kidney transplant where a donor donates their kidney to another recipient in exchange for a compatible kidney for their intended recipient.

Paired kidney donation can require coordination across multiple transplant centers and flying kidneys to different locations. This is the most complex type of transplant to coordinate. New services like home blood draws and antibody testing are being developed to allow potential living donors to be evaluated without having to come into the hospital. Paired donor kidney donation can take place when living donor transplants happen across many centers.

Being temporarily inactive means that the transplant program has determined that a candidate:

• Is temporarily unavailable or unsuitable for transplantation, and
• Should not receive organ offers

The transplant program may reactivate the candidate at any time.

If you do get a transplant at this time, there will be extra things to watch for. Doctors will monitor your general health and kidney function closely after surgery. They will pay special attention to keep you free of COVID-19. It will be important to isolate at home and be in close contact with your doctor if you have any symptoms. Having someone to help you recover is especially important at this time.

It will be important for you to take safety precautions:

Before your surgery:

• Ensure you have enough medicines and home supplies (such as food, paper goods, and cleaning supplies) for at least 2 weeks.
• Gather the items you’ll need to take to the hospital.

After your surgery:

• Stay at home except for doctor appointments. To help you stay home, many programs are offering follow-up visits by telehealth. Have your home caregiver get any medicines or supplies you need.
• Limit visitors and stay away from anyone who is sick.
• Use grocery store delivery or curbside pickup services.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

For a helpful checklist you can download and print, see Being ready for a health visit during COVID-19.