Being tested positive with COVID-19 is an increasingly common occurrence worldwide.
Right now there are no drugs that have been clinically tested and proven to curb the severity or increase the recovery time of COVID-19.
A large percentage of people are reported to show mild symptoms of the COVID-19 virus and therefore can recover at home.
Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School said, “self-management at home for mild symptoms would be similar to other colds or the flu: rest, stay well hydrated, isolate away from other family members,” He continued to say that self-isolation, is significantly more important with COVID-19 than with the flu or cold.
“While those sick at home with COVID-19 should sleep alone, be the only person in the home to use a bathroom, if possible, and not leave the house,” said Rishi Desai, chief medical officer at Osmosis, a doctor battling COVID-19’s spread.
Also recommended by Desai is taking fluids with a bit of sugar and salt instead of just pure water. It actually helps your body absorb the water.
Irrespective of how a patient’s case of COVID-19 progresses, they should still keep an eye on symptoms that become more aggressive.
“If symptoms come to include shortness of breath, severe weakness, or even worse, signs of low oxygen like blueness around the lips,” said Michael Gross, chief medical officer at Huntington Hospital. This would be when seeking emergency care at a hospital would be crucial.
Regardless of staying in quarantine and disinfecting surfaces on a daily basis, those who are infected with COVID-19 should inform anyone they have recently been in contact with.
“Think hard about anyone you’ve been around when you’ve had symptoms as well as in the two weeks before you developed symptoms and let them know that you have COVID-19,” Desai said.
“Those folks should be aware that they may have gotten exposed to you so that they can self-monitor their symptoms as well. This is called contact tracing. And given how stretched the public health department is right now, it’s up to each of us to do our part to help out in that way.”
