Have you encountered an infected COVID-19?

10.12.2021 MEDICAL PROTECT

Have you encountered an infected COVID-19 and don't know what to do? If you missed it outdoors, you probably don't even know it. What is being addressed, however, is risky contact. There, the likelihood of infection is much higher. What's going on and what's the next step? You'll find the answer in today's article.

Risk contact - what is it?

This is contact between a healthy person and a COVID-19 infected person at a distance of less than 1.5 metres, where one of the parties does not have proper respiratory protection, i.e. a respirator or mask (source).If such contact has occurred, you must go into quarantine. Do not wait for a call from the health department. Report directly to your district doctor by telephone and, above all, stay at home. This can prevent the spread of the disease if you have already been infected and may also help you yourself. Although it may sound trivial, warmth, quiet, plenty of fluids and rest help here too.

How to proceed?

The quarantine lasts 14 days, but if you have no symptoms, a negative RT-PCR test after seven days can end the quarantine. A request form will be written by your district doctor or the regional health officer. In any case, you can go for this test on the fifth day at the earliest and the seventh day at the latest after contact with a COVID-19 infected person. There are exceptions:

• is 14 days after the last dose of the vaccine,
• has had an illness where the isolation period has expired, but not more than 180 days have elapsed since the first positive test.

If symptoms occur within the next 14 days of the last risk contact, the person will be ordered to undergo an RT-PCR test. If the RT-PCR test is positive, the person will be ordered to be isolated.

If you have completed the vaccination and share a household with the infected person, you will be ordered to undergo medical surveillance consisting of:

1. regulation to undergo RT-PCR test,
2. monitor your health,
3. wear a respirator until the RT-PCR test result is received. (source)

Have you fallen ill?

During the quarantine have you started to show symptoms or feel more tired? Are you not feeling yourself? Is something wrong? If you have symptoms, you don't have to wait until the fifth day of quarantine to contact your district doctor by phone to discuss what to do next. For such cases, we recommend having antigen tests at home.

Our SANSURE antigen tests have a sensitivity of 98.4 %, a specificity of 98.1 % and an overall concordance of 98.23 %. Even a quality certified antigen test performed at home is a good indicator. If your doctor issues a request for an RT-PCR test, book the earliest possible appointment. If you have to travel for the test and cannot drive yourself, then ask a family member or friend to drive you. Both of you should wear respirators, preferably certified FFP2 NR or FFP3 NR respirators. Sit as far away from each other in the car as possible. If your result of this test is positive, then you will enter isolation. Contact your district physician and describe your medical condition and the result of the RT-PCR test.

Do not underestimate any symptoms and monitor your health carefully, especially at this time. Stop and rest. We all have only one health and it is always better to catch illness early, when "just" home treatment may be enough.