INDIANAPOLIS – Four out of five coronavirus cases aren’t serious enough to put you in the hospital. But that doesn’t mean you’re not sick.

There’s no medication for the virus. All you can do is treat the symptoms. Doctors recommend Tylenol to control your fever, and making sure you stay hydrated. St. Vincent Hospital director of infection prevention Christopher Belcher says there’s no need to go to the E-R unless you develop shortness of breath, your color changes, or you find you’re having difficulty thinking straight because of the lack of oxygen.

Community Health Network emergency room physician Matt Blickendorf says the most important thing you should do is quarantine yourself — not just from the outside world, which you should be doing already, but the rest of your household. He says to stay behind closed doors in a separate room — ideally with its own bathroom — until the virus runs its course in a week or two. You can safely come out when your symptoms have been gone for at least three days. Belcher recommends a humidifier as well.

And Belcher says to make sure you take care of any underlying health conditions, like asthma.

 

 

Image by Olga Lionart from Pixabay