When should you go to hospital for virus?
You might know by now what to do if you’re diagnosed with COVID-19: Stay home.
Find a room and hunker down — maybe through fever or chills, headaches, loss of smell or taste, muscle aches or even shortness of breath. But what symptoms mean it’s time to go to the hospital? We asked Dr. Jason Bowling, director of hospital epidemiology at UT Health San Antonio. Here’s his advice.
What should I do if I’m sick?
Symptoms can appear anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure. There are 14 free testing sites and many more fee-oriented sites in Bexar County available to use to find out if you have COVID-19. You can find a list on Metro Health’s website. And you can buy at-home testing kits. If you’ve got mild COVID-19 symptoms, you might be better off at home, Bowling said. Get rest and stay hydrated, and stop smoking or drinking alcohol.
“You need to stay away from others so you can do your civic duty to not get other people sick,” Bowling said.
Should you need it, you also can seek medical care at a doctor’s office or urgent care site. These options help keep emergency rooms from being overcrowded. But patients should feel empowered to come to the emergency room in true emergencies, Bowling said.
A thermometer, a home blood-pressure machine and a pressure-pulse oximeter to monitor your oxygen levels are crucial to spot emergency signs.
When should I go to the hospital?
Head to the emergency room if you develop significant, persistent shortness of breath or significant chest pain; if you become confused and lethargic; or if your oxygen saturation drops below 90 percent, he said.
Any other advice?
You should get vaccinated — and try to stay healthy. In addition to growing COVID-19 cases among adults and children, health care workers face an uncharacteristic rise in viral respiratory illnesses, such as RSV. The San Antonio area also has experienced a few out-ofseason flu cases.
“Keep yourself and your household bubble safe,” Bowling said. “We’re still seeing widespread transmission. The best ways we can prevent ourselves from being ill is getting the vaccine, wearing a mask and avoiding large crowds of people. This is especially important as we go into the holiday weekend … still seeing a lot of transmission.”