COVID-19 and sober houses
Every sober house in America is affected by COVID-19. As we come to terms with our new life with the impact of coronavirus, sober houses struggle to keep up with safety and security recommendations to keep residents safe in the recovery home. For help in your search for a sober house, search for your fit on the Sober House Directory.
On the national level, NARR has engaged with their state-level member organizations (like the Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing), as well as individual recovery home and sober house operators and residents to address concerns and challenges for all of us. Sober houses have been working through volumes of recommendations and materials and many operators have taken vastly different approaches to the pandemic.
Coronavirus recommendations to sober house residents
The following precautions are recommended by the public health experts and are particularly relevant to sober house residents and house managers of recovery homes.
● Recommendations are crucial for your protection and the protection of others in the sober house. You can be a carrier even without visible symptoms.
● If you have COVID-19 symptoms, please immediately call your physician. Do not go to an emergency room or clinic for testing without having made prior arrangements.
● Maintain ample and safe distance from others – six feet is recommended.
● Avoid crowds and events where you cannot be safely separated from others.
● Avoid touching your face with unwashed/unsanitary hands to avoid transferring the virus to your nose, mouth or eyes and increasing the likelihood of infection.
● Wash your hands as often as possible with hot and soapy water.
● Do not assume someone is not infected simply because they do not have symptoms. Many infected persons do not show symptoms but can still transmit the virus.
● If a sober house provides hand sanitizer, use it when washing hands is impractical, and especially after touching surfaces that may have the virus. Please note: some hand sanitizer contains alcohol and some recovery homes may not allow certain sanitizers.
● If you must, cough or sneeze into a tissue, your elbow, or your sleeve if tissues are not available.
● Recovery home residents should not share dishes, cups, glassware or silverware with others. Follow sober house rules for cleaning those items promptly after use.
● Don’t invite visitors in the recovery home.
● Sober house owners should review acceptance procedures. Operators are strongly recommended not to admit individuals who are showing symptoms or who have been diagnosed as being infected.
Visit Vanderburgh Communities if you are a sober house operator and want to join a community of owners and operators.