If you believe you do not meet the above definitions,you should call NSW Health’s COVID-19 Care at Home Support Line on 1800 960 933 for further assistance. You can also call this number or your local GP during your isolation if you have questions or concerns about mild symptoms.
“You should expect it to feel a bit like the cold or flu that many of us have had before,” said Australian Medical Association NSW president and Newtown GP Danielle McMullen,advising people to treat mild symptoms by keeping their fluids up,resting and perhaps using Panadol or Nurofen.
“There is a bit of confusion out there that people think they have to call a GP. But if you’re managing well at home and you’re not that sick,you probably do not need to.”
Sydney GP Kerryn Phelps said people who do not have a usual GP should consider contacting a local one and developing a plan. “You do not know if your case will be severe at the outset.”
Dr Phelps recommended people managing the virus at home purchase a pulse oximeter which measures blood oxygen and heart rate.
Infectious diseases physician Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake,a former director of Canberra Hospital’s hospital-in-the-home program,agreed a pulse oximeter could be a good idea if you think it will provide you with reassurance. Otherwise,he said you should expect COVID-19 to be a “very similar illness to flu”.
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“With Delta and some of the earlier variants we were seeing that loss of taste and smell,but it seems like with Omicron that is a less common feature,” he said.
“People will have fevers but if they are getting intractable fevers,they should have a low threshold for calling a COVID care at-home team.”
If during your isolation you experience a medical emergency,including having trouble breathing,chest pains or feeling faint,you should call triple zero (000) and tell the operator you have COVID-19. Wear a face mask when the ambulance arrives.
Isolate for seven days,or until medically cleared
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 are required to isolate for seven days after a positive test.
You can exit isolation on that day if you have not had symptoms in the previous 72 hours. If you have,stay in isolation and call the NSW Care at Home Support Line on 1800 960 933.
If you are receiving clinical care for COVID-19,such as through a hospital-in-the-home program,they will clear you from isolation.
Dr Senanayake said if someone believed they had COVID-19 but did not get a test,the best thing to do from an epidemiological perspective would be to follow the rules as if they had.
“Touching base over the phone with a GP would also be a good idea,just so you can explain what you are doing,” he added.
(Note:Most of this information has been drawn from the NSW Health fact sheets onmanaging COVID-19 safely at home andrelease and recovery from COVID-19. The article was originally published on December 30 and updated on January 7.)
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