Daastaan – e – Covid

My wife and I tested positive for Covid a few days back, despite using masks and hand sanitizer every time we stepped out. We quarantined at home and are feeling much better now. Penning down some observations from this phase in case it helps someone.

Start the medication asap

It is important that you start the medication (antibiotics) asap. For that, it is important that you don’t delay seeing the doctor.

My wife got the fever on 2nd Apr, and I got it on the 5th. We visited the doctor on the day I got the fever because my temperature was quite high. Though the doctor thought it to be regular viral fever, he put us on antibiotics. So, my antibiotics started on the 1st day of fever while my wife’s started on the 4th day. We later found that her lungs got a mild infection of pneumonia due to the delay in taking antibiotics.

Don’t get careless if the temperature is mild

I had a high temperature for 3 days, which didn’t come down even after taking 2000 mg of paracetamol daily. My wife, on the other hand, had a low temperature and her temperature came down after taking paracetamol. But her lungs got a mild infection while mine didn’t. So, don’t get careless just because you have a low temperature.

You are unique, and so are your symptoms

Don’t go by the symptoms of your friend, or of your spouse. It is quite possible that what you feel is different from what the other person did.

My wife got a low-grade fever which would reduce to normal body temperature after taking paracetamol. On the contrary, I got a high temperature which didn’t go below 100.5° for 3 days.

My wife had a lot of body ache, I didn’t.

My wife lost her sense of smell on her 8th day, I lost it on my 5th day. She is able to smell now, I still can’t.

One of my wife’s colleagues didn’t get a fever at all but had a severe headache.

You get the idea!

When in doubt get tested for Covid

If you came in contact with a Covid patient and you are showing symptoms, or have flu, go for a test even if your SpO2 level is good and your temperature is low. Even if you are feeling ok you may be carrying a high viral load (CT value – not to be confused with CT scan – tells the viral load. Lower the CT value, higher is the viral load and higher are the chances of you infecting others), which could infect others. The test will tell you your viral load and you can isolate yourself from your family.

Go for a CT scan of the lungs at the end of week 1

Even if you feel normal, and even if you don’t have a cough, go for a CT scan of the chest. My wife didn’t have any cough, and her SpO2 level was ok. It was only through the CT scan that we found she got mild pneumonia in her lungs.

Doctors advise getting the CT scan at the end of week 1.

Monitor all vitals closely

To fight Covid it is important that you know what’s happening inside your body. Keep a record of your temperature, pulse, and SpO2 level and share it with your doctor every day. Also, get CRP and D-Dimer blood tests and share the report with your doctor. CRP is to identify the infection level in the body and D-Dimer value is to check for clot formation. Getting these tests done will help monitor your infection levels and help take corrective actions on time.

You are on your own

No one from the state government or the municipal corporation reached out to us after we tested positive.
Arogya Setu app still shows that we are safe, which is surprising because the lab asks for Aadhar before taking the sample.
No one checked if we were isolating ourselves.

All this made me wonder if our results were even reported to the government, and if the count of active cases we see in the news covers all the cases!

Long story short – your safety is in your hands.

We’ll go for the test at the end of this week. In the meantime, if I come across anything else, I’ll update this post.

Stay safe!