Corona tip: keep a diary

Carola Felchner is a freelance writer in the medical department and a certified training and nutrition advisor. She worked for various specialist magazines and online portals before becoming a freelance journalist in 2015. Before starting her internship, she studied translation and interpreting in Kempten and Munich.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

The planned nationwide Corona app is not yet ready for use. Nevertheless, according to experts, something can be done to make chains of infection easier to trace: write a diary.

In order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the authorities must be able to track chains of infection. Taking a few notes every day can help.

Anyone who currently keeps a corona diary makes the work of the health authorities easier in the event of an infection. That could "definitely" make sense, says the researcher Viola Priesemann from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, who deals with strategies to contain the coronavirus.

Gather helpful information

In such a diary you write down who you met on which day - and possibly also where and for how long. Information on whether you had contact inside or outside and wore a mask could also help in assessing the risk of infection, explains the scientist.

When asked about this topic, the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) referred to the municipal health authorities. If necessary, these could provide information about what information they would need to track possible chains of infection.

Contact with infected people? Write down!

A diary can be helpful not only if you have had contact with an infected person, but also if you have actually had close contact with a person who has been known to be infected. In this case, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recommends recording possible symptoms, body temperature and activities as well as contacts with others in the diary - up to the 14th day after the last contact. Kisses count as close contact.

Diary template from the RKI

The RKI provides online information for tracking contact persons and an example of such a diary.

No substitute for keeping your distance

As helpful as writing it down is, the general rule is: In case of doubt, such notes may help the authorities. However, it is even more important that chains of infection do not arise in the first place - that is, you do not become infected or do not pass the virus on if you have become infected unnoticed.

That is why the BZgA head Heidrun Thaiss emphasizes the importance of the so-called AHA formula. AHA stands for:

• Keep your distance from others (at least 1.5 meters)
• Wash your hands
• Wear everyday mask

If you have to sneeze or cough, turn away from other people and put it in the crook of your arm or in a tissue. This is then disposed of directly. (caf / dpa)

Tags:  teeth pregnancy birth unfulfilled wish to have children