COVID treatment at home is not a challenging task. All you have to do is learn from the right source and ask the right questions. What are the things to do to prevent the spread of infection? How can you help your family members and manage your stress?
If you have symptoms of Covid-19 and want to take PCR or rapid Antigen test, you can always contact Seychelles Medical. Follow your doctor’s advice, and isolate at home. Here are some things you should keep in mind while undergoing Covid treatment at home.
Caring for the sick during COVID treatment at home
If a person shows only mild COVID-19 symptoms, he or she can recover at home. Symptoms of COVID-19 might last a few days, and the person might feel better in about a week. After getting medical treatment for covid19, the person should take a rest and drink plenty of fluids.
However, senior citizens and people with pre-existing medical conditions should go to the doctor if their symptoms become severe. People belonging to these categories, along with those who are immunocompromised or are undergoing treatment for cancer or dialysis, are most vulnerable to COVID-19.
It would be best to follow the doctor’s advice about home isolation and clear any confusion about the treatment of Covid.
If the sick person is your family member, you can help them by delivering groceries and medications. However, you should be careful while caring for a sick person. Covid, especially its new variants are extremely infectious- so make sure you follow all safety protocols.
If you have heart or lung disease or diabetes- you are at a greater risk of contracting COVID and developing related complications.
Know the warning signs- Covid treatment protocol
Keep monitoring yourself or your loved one’s health and stay alert. At times, the COVID-19 symptoms can worsen. In this case, contact the doctor.
The healthcare professional may recommend using a home pulse oximeter, especially if the infected person is at high-risk.
Let’s understand how a pulse oximeter works. It has a plastic clip that gets attached to a finger. Then the device checks breathing by measuring how much oxygen is there in the blood. If it shows a reading of less than 92%, then the person needs hospitalization.
Make sure you know how to use the device properly or take professional help.
If you experience emergency warning signs, look for medical attention immediately. Contact your local emergency number if you notice any signs such as:
- Trouble in breathing
- Continuous chest pain or pressure
- Confusion or delirium
- Bluish face or lips
- Inability to stay awake
If your doctor recommends, hospitalize the patient immediately.
Protecting others with Covid 19 treatment protocol
If you have a COVID-19 infection, you can help prevent the spread by the following steps.
- Stay home, don’t go to work or out in the public.
- Avoid public transportation, ride-sharing services, or taxis.
- Stay in home isolation in one room. Stay away from your family members.
- You can eat alone in your room and use a separate bathroom. Of course, you can keep the windows open for air circulation.
- Don’t go to a shared space in your home if you’re using it; limit your movements.
- Keep the kitchen well-ventilated.
- Keep cleaning doorknobs, light switches, electronics, and counters.
- Don’t share personal household items like bedding, dishes, towels, and electronics.
- Put on a face mask and change the face mask every day. You can cover your mouth with a cloth if wearing a mask is not possible.
- Wash your hands for 20 seconds with a bar of soap. You can also use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol.
Safeguarding yourself while caring for someone during Covid treatment
You should ensure the infection doesn’t catch you while caring for a person with COVID-19. The CDC recommends the following steps.
- Clean your face and wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds. You need to do this religiously if you have close contact with the sick person. Use a hand sanitizer for convenience and make sure it contains 60% alcohol. Don’t touch your nose, eyes, or mouth.
- Always wear a mask when you’re with a sick person. Stay at least 2 meters away from the infected person. Please don’t touch your mask while it’s on your mouth. If your mask gets wet or dirty, replace it as soon as possible. Throw away the used mask and wash your hands.
- Clean your house every day. Use cleaning sprays or wipes to clean counters, tabletops, and doorknobs. You should not clean the sick person’s room and bathroom. Keep bedding and utensils of the ill person separate.
- Use detergent to wash the sick person’s laundry and turn on the warmest setting in the washing machine. Wash your hands once you put the clothes in the dryer. If the clothes are dirty, wear disposable gloves and keep them away from your body. Wash your hands after removing the glove and throw gloves and masks in a waste bin. Always clean and disinfect clothes hampers.
- Wear gloves while doing the dishes, utensils, or cups used by the sick person. Use the dishwasher and wash your hands.
- Wear disposable gloves and a mask, especially while handling stool, urine, or other waste. Wash your hands before and after. Never reuse your mask or gloves. This step is crucial whenever you provide oral and respiratory care.
- Don’t allow unnecessary visitors to your home. Politely ask them to revisit when the sick person has completely recovered with no symptoms of COVID-19.
Ending quarantine with Covid treatment at home
Talk to your doctor before ending home isolation, especially if your immune system is weak. The CDC specifies specific guidelines for completing your home quarantine after recovering from the COVID-19.
- If there is no test left to determine you’re still contagious, you can get out of your home after ten days have passed. Make sure you have no fever in 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine and ensure other symptoms are improving. Keep in mind that loss of smell and taste may last for weeks or months after recovery.
- After the final test to determine if you are contagious or not, your doctor will inform you when you can meet others based on your test results. In many cases, most people don’t need testing.
The CDC also has specific instructions for the sick person’s caregiver. You need to quarantine yourself for 14 days and keep an eye on common symptoms of COVID-19 like cough, fever, or shortness of breath. You can end your quarantine after ten days if there are no symptoms.
End your isolation on the 5th day if you get a negative test result. However, you still need to watch for signs for 14 days.
You don’t need to self-quarantine if you’ve been fully vaccinated and have no symptoms of COVID-19.
Dealing with stress post Covid cough treatment
The entire journey from getting the infection to recovery can be stressful. You may feel bleak on some days. In such a scenario, seek emotional support and try to stay positive about the whole situation.
- Connect with your friends with texts, phone calls, or video chats. You can share your concerns and state of mind with them.
- Don’t overthink the Covid-19 treatment update; just focus on reading, watching movies/web series, or playing games on your gadgets.
- If you’re taking care of your loved ones with COVID-19, there is a possibility you’ll feel stress if they don’t recover quickly. Don’t let this feeling bog you down; keep your health the priority.
- Negative emotions can affect your eating habits, sleep, and concentration or may even lead to health problems.
- In such a scenario, it is better to stay away from alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs to get rid of anxiety or stress.
Call your doctor or mental health professional if you’re feeling down. Follow these steps for your mental and physical wellbeing.
- Follow a daily routine of showering and getting neatly dressed.
- Don’t watch COVID-19 news on social media all the time.
- Consume healthy meals and drink water.
- Exercise daily for physical fitness.
- Sleep well for long hours.
- Don’t drink or consume alcohol and tobacco.
- Breathing exercises or meditation can keep you calm.
- Engage in fun activities.
- Connect with your friends and open up with them.
Keep in mind, it’s not just about caring for yourself to get rid of stress; you have to help your family members for a speedy recovery.
The right time to go for Covid treatment in hospital
Symptoms of COVID-19 can be mild to moderate or mild to worse in some hours, especially if a patient is careless or attentive.
It would be best to watch the symptoms that can worsen over the recovery time instead of improving. For example, the following are some of the signs a patient may require serious help or hospitalization.
- Oxygen levels below 95
- Shortness of breath
- Delirium
- Fading consciousness
- Chest pain
- Taking fewer trips to the bathroom
- A bluish tinge on the lips
- A fever that doesn’t go away after 6 or 7 days
Conclusion
The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic still has the world in its grip. However, if you contract the disease- or someone in your family does- don’t lost hope. Most people get well with the right Covid treatment at home.
Follow safety guidelines issued by the authorities, and stay positive. Reach out to us if you have Covid-19 symptoms, book an RT PCR test.
Frequesntly Asked Questions
Tobacco reduces your lung capacity and has a higher risk of many respiratory infections. It can also increase the severity of many respiratory diseases. COVID-19 primarily attacks your lungs as it is an infectious disease. Regular smoking already damages lung function, making it challenging for the body to battle coronaviruses and other respiratory diseases. Current research suggests that smoking triggers a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19.
If you don’t do any physical activity, it can negatively affect your health and quality of life. Its possible self-quarantine can also cause stress and a mental health challenge.
Physical activity or relaxation methods may help you stay calm and composed to protect your health. WHO suggests 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week.
Watching an online exercise class would come in handy. Several exercise classes are free of cost and available on YouTube.
Not to mention, you can just walk if you can’t exercise. Try reducing your sedentary time by getting up whenever possible. Ideally, you should aim to disrupt your sitting and reclining time every 30 minutes. Consider using a high table or stacking a pile of books to continue working while standing.
Alcohol consumption may lead to a range of infectious, non-communicable diseases and mental health disorders. These conditions may make you vulnerable to coronavirus COVID-19.
Alcohol affects the body’s immune system and increases the high risk of adverse health outcomes. Minimize alcohol consumption during Covid treatment at home.
Not really if you’re home-quarantined. The CDC urges wearing masks in public places if social distancing measures are challenging to follow. The FDA authorizes the emergency use of face masks or cloth covering the face that meets specific criteria under CDC recommendations.
The FDA also regulates personal protective equipment or PPE like surgical masks and N95 respirators. The CDC states that PPE should only be worn by first responders, health care workers, and other frontline workers who are at much higher risk of getting COVID-19.
