EDIT: Changed blood oxygen numbers thanks to Jay Molstad Comment
What I would do if I had COVID-19? ( I am NOT a medical professional)
Ok. So you’re sick. Maybe you have a fever and a bit of a cough. This may be COVID-19 and this may be something else like a seasonal flu. Even if you have COVID-19 the most likely outcome is that the symptoms are mild enough that you can deal with them at home. The South Korean Health Minister says 10%, so 90% you recover at home.
Dealing with mild symptoms at home:
Rest
You shouldn’t be doing anything strenuous. Just let your body fight off the virus. Maybe enjoy some shows or video games while you’re at it.
Keep drinking fluids
Staying hydrated is important generally, but especially important when you’re sick and may not be drinking and eating regularly. I would do this by drinking water, tea, and drinks made from electrolyte powders. Do make sure you’re getting electrolytes somehow (LW discussion of electorlytes).
Ask someone to check in with you regularly in case you do get worse.
A housemate or a friend could message you to check in every day or two. Being sick sucks and possibly your judgement is impaired by a fever. If you and your friend are comfortable with it you can offload the decision making on when you should be worried enough to go to the hospital.
There is some discussion of using chloroquine and/or zinc. I have not looked deeply into this. My immediate thoughts here are zinc seems low cost to take and chloroquine seems high cost to take.
When should I go to the hospital?
I’m going to write what I’d be looking for, but ultimately you must make your own decision. I am not a medical professional.
Blood Oxygen Levels
Maybe you got a pulse oximeter.
Normal blood oxygen levels are 90-95%, but can be lower if you have other factors like sleep apnea.
The WHO has been recommending to doctors to start giving oxygen therapy if the blood oxygen levels fall below 90%
Based on Jay Molstad’s comment below I would probably head to a hospital if my blood oxygen was below 90% and I was having trouble breathing or below 85% with or without trouble breathing.
Note, you may have blood oxygen at a lower than normal range
Shortness of Breath/Difficulty Breathing
If you are having short painful breaths or having trouble breathing.
Fever above a certain point.
Sites vary here. Mayo Clinic says if the fever is above 103oF consistently or above 102oF for more than 3 days. This other site says 104oF and above is dangerous and you should seek immediate medical attention at 106.7oF
It may take a few days before you know if you’re going to have severe symptoms. For hospitalized patients these were some of the timelines observed.
from first symptom to → Dyspnea (Shortness of breath) = 5.0 days
from first symptom to → Hospital admission = **7.0 days*
Maybe hospitals are overloaded.
Measures like the shelter in place order in the bay area will help a lot with decreasing the load on hospitals, but it’s still possible we end up with a peak at some point.
You may want to try to get in anyway. If you’re experiencing severe symptoms and have been turned away from a hospital you may want to try some things on your own.
Some people have been buying oxygen concentrators. If your blood oxygen falls below ___ or you are having a difficult time breathing. Using one or seeing if a friend has one may be helpful. I want to note again I am not a medical professional. Oxygen toxicity is a thing so it’s not like using an oxygen concentrator is risk free.
If I had an oxygen concentrator and a pulse oximeter I would consider starting at a low flow rate and slowly increasing until my blood oxygen levels were above 90%, but being careful not to continue oxygen therapy if my levels returned to normal (90-95%, could be lower if you have other factors like sleep apnea).
WHO recommendations to clinicians were.
Start at 5 L/min and titrate flow rates to reach target SpO2≥90% in non-pregnant adults and SpO2≥92-95 % in pregnant patients.
It’s unclear to me what concentration of oxygen they were using.
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I did talk about getting a solar panel to charge devices (containing multiple solar cells), but maybe you know more. Any suggestions on the cost and use of solar cells?