KEY POINTS

  • The rate of transmission of COVID-19 is so high that you cannot predict who will get infected
  • Because of this, there's always a possibility of somebody in your household will start showing symptoms
  • If someone starts coughing, even if he is not a coronavirus case, better take some precautions 

COVID-19 has become a pandemic, as what the World Health Organization has stated. It further defined the problem as the first of its kind among the coronaviruses.

Now, everyone in the world is taking the proper precautionary measures to protect themselves and their families. WHO has advised proper handwashing using soap and water to prevent the virus from spreading. But what if, despite all the precautions, someone in your household started to show COVID-19 symptoms like a cough?

What Experts Say

The National Health Service (NHS) has released a series of steps that must be taken if someone in your household started showing symptoms of COVID-19 like coughing. While a cough does not necessarily mean that the person is already infected with the novel coronavirus, taking proper measures to prevent the possibility of spreading the virus, in the event, it turns out he is an actual case, will surely help.

what to do when someone has cough at home amid coronavirus
what to do when someone has cough at home amid coronavirus mylene2401 - Pixabay

Below are the best precautionary steps that you can take. Try to urge the patient to follow them.

  • Do your best to keep, at the very least, 2 meters or 3 steps from other people at home. Do this especially when you have an elderly at home or someone with pre-existing health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and cardiovascular or respiratory ailments.
  • Solicit the help of family or friends to bring you supplies like food, medicines, and other essentials. Just avoid any close contact with them.
  • Make sure that you wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially when you touch a hi-touch surface like doorknobs.
  • Don't sleep with any other member of the family, if possible.
  • Make sure that you drink lots of water and have some paracetamol or ibuprofen available to help you out with the symptoms that you are suffering from.

So the moment that a member of the family has a cough or shows similar coronavirus symptoms, better encourage them to adopt the above measures. This will be the most prudent thing to do for a loved one. In addition, you will be able to help prevent the spread of the virus in the event that you were actually infected with COVID-19.