Seven signs you should get a COVID test

Knowing what symptoms are associated with a disease is essential so you can know if you should see a doctor — and for a doc, it’s essential for making an accurate diagnosis. That’s just as true for COVID-19 as for a rare disease.

Most folks think fever, loss of taste and coughing or breathing issues are signs that should send them for a COVID-19 test. But a new study out of England found that 31 percent of people with COVID-19 don’t have those three symptoms early on when they’re most infectious.

The researchers want everyone to know that fatigue, sore throat, headache and diarrhea are also symptoms. Writing in the Journal of Infection, they say if folks were tested for COVID-19 when they had any of those seven symptoms, well, those tests would catch 96 percent of symptomatic cases!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Federal Emergency Management Agency’s advice

DRS. OZ AND ROIZEN is similar. They say people with a cough or shortness of breath or difficulty breathing should be tested. Ditto if a person has at least two of the following: fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.

If you have these symptoms, get tested pronto. Google “Community-based Testing Sites for COVID-19” to find a testing location.

It isn’t that hard to get your daily dose of healthy fruits and vegetables — especially now that we know the basic formula to shoot for: five servings a day — two of fruit and three of vegetables.

Harvard researchers’ recent analysis published in the journal Circulation looked at results from almost 30 studies and found that if you eat five servings of fruits and veggies a day, you’ll live longest; two servings of fruit and three of vegetables were optimal. Eating more than that, they say, didn’t extend longevity, but Dr. Mike has data showing that nine servings daily, replacing all simple carbs, provides maximum benefits.

Either way, less than five servings is risky.

Not all fruits and vegetables convey benefits: Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes and corn, and fruit juices didn’t lower the risk of chronic disease or death. But green, leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale, citrus fruits and berries, and carrots provided the health-promoting benefits.

HEALTH ADVICE

1 Transport for

Sinbad 4 Scheme 8 Brand for

Bowser 12Ginza

purchase 13 Verdi opera 14 Lettuce

piece 15 Cargo unit 16 Breathe hard 17 Spanish

painter 18 Area

20 Org. for

doctors 22 Not

barefooted 23 Auspices 27 Fishing gear 31 Selfimportance 32 Warrior

princess

35 Si, to

Maurice 36 Word in a

telegram 37 Manhandle 38 Sitcom

planet 39 Galley

movers 40 Guess,

briefly 41 Heir, often 43 Tree abodes 45 Elevator

maker 48 Bankroll 50 Voting

number 52Leapina

tutu 55——for

one’s money 57 GI mail drop 58 Earthen jar 59 Cargo 60 Actor

Danson 61 Check mark 62 Goals 63 Previous to 1 Composts 2 Band

members 3 Sure thing 4 Many-storied

tower 5 Truth bender 6 Circulars 7 Vineyard

valley

8 Pond scum 9 August sign 10 Settle up 11 Ghost — —

chance 19 Utter, as

devastation 21 — West 24 Japanese

clog 25 Borodin

prince 26 Sponges

(up)

28 Not warm 29 Mountaindweller of Iraq

30 Take

pleasure in 32 Comic book heroes (hyph.) 33 Selfconfidence 34 Almonds 36 — voce 41 That senora 42 Rings out 44 Pinch 46 Really

annoyed 47 Terrific 49 Valley 50 Better than

stereo 51 Method 52 Make a note 53 Lilly of pharmaceuticals 54 Best

medicine? 56 Jimmy’s

successor