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4.6.20

covid symptoms soap in kitchen

For the great majority of us in the United States, struggles around the COVID-19 pandemic have only involved the psychological and economic toll of avoiding contamination. But what to do if symptoms of COVID-19 manifest? Dr. Kerri Masutto, head of Parsley Health’s task force on the topic, walked us through some basic knowledge should symptoms of COVID-19 arise, including how to safely manage self-care, when to seek testing, and when to seek medical treatment at the hospital.

While information around COVID-19 is evolving daily, Dr. Masutto is helping us to explore these basic preparedness plans. Explore our links to the CDC’s own guidance below for more as well..

If You Get Sick with COVID-19 Symptoms…

Classic symptoms of COVID-19 include: fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Loss of smell and diarrhea are also being reported as early symptoms.

If you get sick with COVID-19 symptoms stay at home and alert your primary care provider so they can assess whether you should seek testing, self-isolate or go to the hospital.

When symptoms are mild —meaning someone has a cough and perhaps a low-grade fever or mild shortness of breath, many doctors will recommend the person stay home, monitor their symptoms, rest, and support their immune system as it fights this viral illness.

Because there is no approved outpatient treatment at this time, self-isolation at home is the best way to reduce the spread of the virus.

However, for people with underlying conditions such as lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, immunocompromised, cancer or advanced age, the approach is more cautious. These are considered high-risk groups and are more likely to be tested for COVID-19 earlier in symptom presentation.
Doctors recommend close monitoring for these groups and — regardless of test results — in-person evaluation if the person develops a fever over 102°F, shortness of breath, confusion, or difficulty waking up.

For more details on how to tell the difference between the cold, flu, or coronavirus, see here.

Safely Managing Self-Care For Mild Cases

There are three keys to safer self-care at home:

First | Closely monitor symptoms for improvement or worsening. Go to the hospital only after calling ahead for safe arrival instructions if symptoms become severe.

Second | Support the immune system, hydrate, eat healthy foods and rest so you can recover.

Third | Take steps to be safe and slow the spread to other family members and community members. Self-isolate, sanitize, protect. 

This third step is most critical and complex. According to the CDC, patients with mild symptoms should self-isolate at home for the duration of their symptoms and for 72 hours (3 days) after the last symptom passes. While at home they should isolate themselves in a bedroom of the house, and if possible, use a bathroom that is not shared with others. No one should be allowed in their room or bathroom. Commonly used surfaces should be sanitized after patient’s use. If available, the person showing symptoms should wear a face mask to reduce the spread of the virus. Those caring for them should wear a face mask and gloves.

Because pets often go from family member to family member, if living with other people, a person showing symptoms should also isolate themselves from their family pets. While pets have not been shown to contract/transmit the virus, they should be treated as a surface that could potentially spread the virus. Do not apply any disinfectant to animals. A warm bath for pets is sufficient, if animals need to be cleaned.

During the time of illness, no outside visitors should be allowed in the home, deliveries should be left at the doorstep and retrieved only after the deliverer has left. On top of all this: all those good hygiene tips we learned earlier in the pandemic apply. Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and particularly in this situation, maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from others for the duration of the illness.

Further guidance can be explore here at through the CDC.

When To Seek Testing

For the time being Coronavirus testing must be prioritized for those at highest risk of developing a severe case. Appropriate social distancing, isolation of the sick, and proper hygiene are central to slowing the spread of coronavirus across the country.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to test is best made with the advice of your healthcare provider. According to the CDC, if you’ve developed symptoms such as fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath, and you are within the highest risk groups identified as priority 1 and priority 2 by the CDC then you should get tested for coronavirus. Most people will fall into the priority 3 category, and will only be tested when more widespread testing is available. CDC recommendations are evolving regularly and we recommend you check the latest here.

If you are over 60 years old or have an underlying health condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease, cancer, or are immunocompromised, you should contact your doctor if you or anyone in your direct circle of contacts develop symptoms, even if they are mild. Your doctor can help you in differentiating symptoms of COVID-19 from another illness and will determine the appropriate next steps

When To Seek Medical Treatment

People with underlying conditions such as lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, immunocompromised, cancer or advanced age, are at higher risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19. Doctors recommend close monitoring for these groups and — regardless of test results or underlying conditions — people should seek medical evaluation as soon as they develop a fever over 102°F, shortness of breath, confusion, or difficulty arousing. Because we’re trying to reduce the spread of the virus, if you or someone you know develops these symptoms, call your local emergency room and ask for safe arrival instructions for someone showing severe symptoms of COVID-19.

The Chalkboard Mag and its materials are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material on The Chalkboard Mag is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health-related programs.

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Comments


  1. The first thing I would do is get away from 5g, not go to the hospital, and definitely never get a vaccine.

    Lucy | 04.06.2020 | Reply
  2. Sorry, but you are just plain stupid! You need vaccines as they are the only proven way to avoid illness! 5g tech will be useful in any emergency! The hospital should be reserved as the last choice but not completely avoided as it might save your life if you need a ventilator!

    Michael | 04.06.2020 | Reply
  3. This will never stop without a vaccine and you Lucy are primitive, uninformed, quite possibly uneducated – and these are all your problems. But since you are in no position to to form a healthy, reasonable opinion, do refrain yourself from giving advice. You will do even more damage.

    Selma | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  4. Wow, what a horrible morning to wake up and see all this nastiness in the comments. I thought Chalkboard readers were a cut above the rest of the nasty world.

    Denise | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  5. And that would be.. Very holistic… lol you guys still trust doctors? You must not be Pluto in scorpio generation. Too bad you can’t see.

    Lucy | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  6. Keep walking around like retards with your face masks and giving yourself radiation poisoning purposefully. Jokes on you.

    Lucy | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  7. Ok let me be a little more gentle here. Sorry for losing patience.. 5g destroys your cells and there’s different levels of 5g at it’s highest level it has the ability to stop you from being to absorb oxygen. And it is a weapon agaisnt humanity. Radiation is horrible for our health. 5g will cause people to continue getting sick and dying. Specially at its highest levels. It’s a horrible tool for manipulation and to harm human beings. To deny this means you have obviously done no research and do not know how harmful technology can be and to what levels it can be used.

    Lucy | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  8. You are having cognitive dissonance but what I suggest is keep calm, do real research, and take care of your health protect yourself and yours from this technology.

    Lucy | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  9. And do not call me stupid or harass me until you’ve done at least 50 hours lol of intense non mainstream media research. Thanks. Use your brain for once. You know deep down something is not quite right.

    Lucy | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  10. Look at China: face recognition, 5g full blast, a point system, people under total surveillance and control, people not able to travel unless they meet a point system.. these are facts.

    Lucy | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  11. Lucy, this comment is neither helpful nor medically sound.

    I hope that Chalkboard Mag will moderate and remove this sort of harmful commentary from their posts.

    Alex | 04.07.2020 | Reply
  12. I agree…the comments (retard? who talks like this?) are harmful, rude and not helpful. I was just disgusted and angered – and I don’t need anymore anger at this time. I’ll listen to the medical community and thank them for their work and courage.

    Rebecca | 04.13.2020 | Reply
  13. I’m sorry but Lucy is correct critical thinking is needed right now and everyone who wants to dismiss what’s going on around us you do really need to do your research and don’t call anyone stupid for doing the research.There’s so much information out there there’s no excuse for people not to be informed. In general stay away from anything offered by the government wrapped up in wellness or a cure this is the first sign that something is not right. Take responsible for your own health do your due diligence. Knowledge is power!!

    Marianne | 04.16.2020 | Reply
  14. If people don’t want to get a vaccine then they can stay inside. Not everyone has the means to not work. A collection of things need to happen, people taking care of themselves through diet, exercise etc., people taking care of EACH OTHER and taking responsibility for themselves. Donate your time to build a community garden, deliver food to people in need, HELP. Also, if you want to keep away from technology, perhaps you should donate your computer or phone. Can’t have it all.

    Lara | 06.16.2020 | Reply
  15. The ultimate mantra is, save your life on your own, governments already surrendered to combat covid19, I would say “helpless”.

    David G Gamble | 07.08.2020 | Reply

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