What to do when you think you may have COVID-19?

I know all of you may have already read several stories about how people feel after recovering from the corona virus. Having tested positive for the same this Tuesday, I felt it may be necessary to tell my experience to the very few readers that I have.

The beginning….

A few days back , to be exact – last Thursday I started having a case of common cold. The regular cough, a few sneeze and lot of phlegm. It started off looking like something too simple and straight forward and as a precaution I had an over the counter anti allergy tablet that I had at home.

Things escalated pretty fast and I was unable to sleep the entire night. I was shivering inspite of using two blankets to comfort myself. This was the first sign of something having been seriously wrong with me.I woke up the next morning with a severe headache and with a temperature of 101 F.

Now on any other day I would have thought of just taking another tablet and going back to bed but I was alert knowing what was happening all around us in this whole wide world. As a result I went into isolation.

To think back, that may have been the best decision of my lifetime.

Identify the symptoms….

Crazy thing about COVID-19 is that it has different symptoms for each individual ( although there are a few common symptoms ) and to make things worse looks like that of any other common cold or influenza.

These were the symptoms that I had :

1. Cough with lots of phlegm.
2. Running nose that turned into a dry/blocked nose resulting in minor discomfort in breathing.
3. Throat pain which initially seemed like the result of all the coughing.
4. HEADACHES — this was the only thing that seemed too severe.
5. Fever that went upto a 102 F.
6. Discomfort in my stomach and a mild case of diarrhoea.

What to do when you see these symptoms..?

Depending on the region you reside in there will surely be a helpline number or app available.

I live in Bangalore, India.

That obviously meant I had the Aarogya Setu app and Apthamitra apps already installed on my phone as per the govt guidelines. If you don’t already have it , I would recommend you install these.

First step here is to ” Stay Calm ” . Isolate yourself to reduce the risk of spreading the virus and call the helpline numbers.
The Apthamitra helpline numbers will get you in touch with a doctor within the next couple of hours and post taking a stock of your symptoms will put you on over the counter medicines.

You usually do not have to undergo any tests for upto 3days. Only if the symptoms do not subside do you need to undergo a test.

Testing and result…

My Aarogya setu app had magically turned orange on Friday ( a day after the fever started) showing high risk of infection as my status.

Check your Aarogya setu app for the list of all labs / hospitals that do the COVID-19 testing.Call up and book an appointment and get it done.

For me the swabs were collected from the nasopharyngeal region. In lay mans terms – from my nose. The collection of sample is not painful but can make you a little disoriented for a few minutes ( less than 3 mins) . Sitting down can help you with the same.

The results again get sent directly to your Aarogya Setu app first. So keep an eye out for the same. It would usually take 24hrs to 70hrs for the results to be finally available.

Lets say the app shows COVID-19 Positive, “Do not Panic”. The authorities will get in touch with you within the next 12hrs or so to inform you of the next steps to be taken.

Be in isolation meanwhile.

For rest of the updates please watch this space.