Coronavirus: What to do in the event of a (possible) infection?

Updated on

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

Many coronavirus infections are mild. Nevertheless, it is necessary that infected and suspected cases keep strictly away from others. Read here what to do if you are concerned that you have been infected, how domestic isolation works and how long it takes for most of them to recover.

Maybe I got infected - what now?

If you have had contact with an infected person or experience symptoms of the disease, you need to stay away from people around you and get tested as much as possible. Find out more about the next steps at your responsible health department (https://tools.rki.de/plztool/), the medical on-call service (Tel. 116117) or your family doctor and arrange a test appointment.

If there is justified suspicion, it must be a PCR test, which can only be carried out by trained personnel, for example in a test center. A rapid antigen test is less accurate and therefore not recommended in a suspicious situation.

Get active even when you feel healthy

This also applies if you do not observe any symptoms in yourself! Because even if you feel healthy, you can infect others. So keep your distance from other people before you know for sure that you are not infected. This also applies if you do not belong to any medical risk group. Young and healthy people can also get seriously ill!

These are the signs

Symptoms of a corona infection are similar to those of the flu: dry cough, fever and fatigue. Breathing problems, runny nose, sore throat, headache and body aches, nausea, diarrhea and chills can also occur. In contrast to the flu, the symptoms do not appear suddenly, but gradually worsen.

A specific symptom of coroanvirus infection is a temporary but pronounced loss of smell and taste that many patients report. however, this symptom does not appear until later in the course of the disease.

How can I get tested for the coronavirus?

If there is a reasonable suspicion that you have been infected, you will be tested for the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. You can find out whether, when and where you can get tested from your local health authority or by searching the Internet. Do not go to your doctor on your own - especially not without calling in advance.

Depending on where you live, you may have to go to the sample collection for the test yourself or someone will come to your home. In some cases, drive-in offers for taking samples are also being set up. You go there in your own car. The sample is then taken through the car window.

This is how the test works

For the test, a smear is taken from the deep throat or nose and examined in the laboratory. The test result is usually available after a few hours. But when the rush is high, you have to be patient for longer.

In the meantime, you need to go into domestic isolation (domestic quarantine) to avoid infecting other people.

Negative test result: If the first result is negative, it is not yet 100% certain that you are not infected. That's why a second test is done a few days later. Only when this is also negative can you be with people again.

Positive test result: If the test is positive, you must remain strictly isolated from others until you are no longer a threat to others. This is done at home for mild cases and in hospital for severe cases.

When do I have to go into domestic isolation?

In order to protect people who are at risk of severe disease, close contacts between infected people must be in isolation for 14 days, even without a positive test. Are considered to be close contact

• People from the infected person's household.
• People who have come into contact with infectious secretions, for example through kissing, coughing, sneezing, contact with vomit, etc.
• People who have been more than 10 minutes without a mask at a distance of less than 1.50 to an infected person.
• People who have had face-to-face conversations with an infected person less than 1.5 meters away, without both of them wearing a mask. This applies regardless of the length of the conversation.
• People who have been with an infected person in a room with a likely high concentration of aerosols for more than 10 minutes. This applies regardless of whether you wear a mask or the distance.

What does domestic isolation mean in concrete terms?

Domestic isolation (also domestic quarantine) means strictly avoiding contact with others for 14 days. In concrete terms this means:

• Stay at home!
• Wear an FFP-2 mask around other people.
• Do not go to school, work, the doctor, or public areas.
• Do not use public transport.
• Do not receive visits.
• Keep a safe distance of two meters from other people.
• Regularly ventilate the rooms in which you are staying.
• Keep your distance from other people in the household as much as possible. If possible, stay in one room. Use separate towels, dishes and utensils. Eat at different times.
• Ask friends and family to run errands for you or use delivery services. The handover should then take place without direct contact.
• In the meantime, neighborhood helpers have already been formed in many places that you can turn to.

When do I have to go to the hospital?

As a rule, you can cure a mild coronavirus infection at home in isolation. You only have to go to the clinic if the course of the illness is severe, e.g. if pneumonia develops with shortness of breath.

As your condition can worsen quickly, do not hesitate. Call your doctor and explain the situation. He can have you admitted to a hospital. Your doctor can also organize patient transport for you. You should not use a taxi or public transport.

If your condition worsens outside of office hours, call the medical on-call service on 116117. He can be reached around the clock throughout Germany, without an area code and free of charge, on landlines and by mobile phone.

How long have I been contagious?

Infected people can infect others as early as 12 to 24 hours before the onset of symptoms. But even infected people who feel no symptoms at all are contagious. If symptoms occur, the patient remains infectious for about another nine days. In severe cases, however, the contagious phase can be considerably longer.

How long does a coronavirus infection last?

At present, domestic isolation is lifted at the earliest 14 days after the onset of symptoms, or the patient is discharged from the clinic. In addition, all of the following criteria must be met:

• No fever for at least 48 hours
• No symptoms of Covid-19 for at least 24 hours
• Two negative mouth and throat swab tests 24 hours apart

Am I protected forever after an infection?

With a Sars-CoV-2 infection, the body forms antibodies that can protect against a new infection. However, it is unclear how long these remain in the blood. In addition, the immune system also develops memory cells (B cells, T cells) that are specialized in Sars-CoV-2. They start producing antibodies again as soon as the virus attacks the body again. They also respond to mutations in the virus, although they may not be as strong.

In contrast to measles, from which you are usually protected for life once you have gone through it, some people have already been infected with Sars-CoV-2 several times. The protective effect of the immune system could fade over time.

It is possible that immunity is generally weaker after a mild illness or in people with less strong defenses. How and under what circumstances new infections occur has not yet been clarified. In addition, one does not know how reliably the immune protection works against mutations of the virus.

Tags:  prevention anatomy dental care