What to do if your Roommate is Putting You at Risk for the Coronavirus

By Victoria Robertson

We are certainly living in strange times, so living with roommates can be a challenge. While you will have to undergo basic roommate issues such as monetary arguments, space conflicts, and the like, you may also find yourself in conflict over the Coronavirus.

Now more than ever, people are hyper-aware of germs and the exposure to germs that individuals around them may have. This means that if you believe your roommate has been exposed to Coronavirus, you could find yourself struggling to avoid an argument.

So what is the etiquette? What should you do if you feel your roommate is putting you at risk for the Coronavirus? These six tips are a good way to avoid an argument while also staying safe.

Photo Via: Pixabay

1. Communicate Your Concerns

It's so important to let your roommate know how you're feeling about the Coronavirus. While you certainly don't want to frame this as an attack on their exposure, you do want to have an open and honest conversation about your concerns.

Do you feel you're being put at risk? If so, let them know why you believe that. Also be open to communicating methods through which you can both stay safe. Communication is key, especially in this day and age.

2. Take Precautions at Home

When you know that you or your roommate(s) are out and about and exposed to the virus, it's important to take all the precautions you can at home to avoid contaminating your living space.

While you don't need to go overboard and bleach all surfaces, you should be regularly wiping things down and keeping your space as clean as possible. So while washing your hands is a great precaution, you should also consider how you're keeping your living space as germ-free as possible, especially if your roommates are out and about during the pandemic.

3. Ask them to Take Precautions

As mentioned above, having a conversation with your roommate is a strong first step. In that conversation, you should always be talking about the proper safety precautions that you both should be taking.

This means that you should both set rules and guidelines that you are both comfortable with to ensure you're both being as safe as possible and ensuring that the other feels just as safe. When in doubt, talk it out!

4. Limit Your Exposure

Just because you feel that your roommate has been exposed is not to say that you haven't, especially if you are living together in close proximity. Just as you'd expect them to be limiting their exposure, you should also be limiting yours.

This means that you both should have a conversation about what type of exposure is necessary/acceptable. So are you both going to work? Do you go out to the bars or parties? Do you hang out with friends? Do either of you have any issues in any of those areas? Again, setting the guidelines will help to limit your exposure as well as theirs.

5. Limit Company

The key to avoiding Coronavirus, at least in the eyes of the experts, is to limit the amount of exposure you have. This means that you should be limiting exposure in many regards, including company.

If you or your roommate are having company over, you're increasing both of your risks for the Coronavirus. This means that you should have limited contact with people, which means that you shouldn't be having company over, especially if you feel that one of the two of you has been exposed to the virus. Basically, you don't want to expose more people, so definitely limit your contact with others.

6. Pay Attention to Symptoms

If you feel that your roommate has been exposed, or if you feel that you have, you should be paying attention to symptoms. Do you really feel that you have it, or that they do? If so, you should consider getting tested.

You should look up the symptoms and ensure that neither of you exhibits any and, if you do, you should both be tested and quarantine until you have the results. If you are negative, you can continue life as you did, but if even one of you is positive, you should continue the quarantine until you are cleared by medical professionals.

Again, Coronavirus has changed the times that we're living in, meaning that many individuals will find themselves in conflict with their roommates over Coronavirus related issues.

The more at-risk you are, or the more hyper-aware you are of the germs your roommate is exposed to, the more likely you are to feel you're at risk (or, at the very least, your roommate is).

The above six tips are a good way to ensure you are communicating your concerns with your roommate while also staying as safe as possible.