AT this point in the pandemic, it is not uncommon to know or be surrounded by someone in your close vicinity who has tested positive for novel coronavirus.
The real problem arises when you are a close contact of the infected person or have spent time with the person, days before exposure.
Being exposed to the virus can put you at certain risk for catching the virus. Guidelines say that close contacts or those co-living with the infected person have a 50% or more risk of contracting Covid-19.
Hence, it’s absolutely essential that you watch out for symptoms, step into a quarantine yourself and most importantly, get tested.
Getting tested is a necessity because it can happen that a person could asymptomatically spread the virus onto others, i.e. posit no typical Covid-19 symptoms, yet be a carrier and expose many more to additional risks.
A complete diagnosis could also quell your fears, and provide you with a timeline as to when it would be safer for you to be around other people and take other precautions.
Contact tracing is one of the first, and a preventive step to stop the infection from surging. Therefore, any or almost all close contacts of a Covid-19 infected individual are asked to follow precautions and take care of their health.
According to WHO protocols, close contact of a person is defined as anyone who is exposed to a particular Covid-19 case, 2-10 days after illness onset.
That being said, anyone who has spent considerable time around an individual before the diagnosis, or is an immediate family member is said to have a high exposure risk, since they could have caught viral load from the patient.
The first steps to take post-contact tracing would be to step into self-imposed quarantine, i.e, limit your exposure to the outside world for a given period of time. This would ensure that you don’t put others at risk, and safeguard your world too.
It’s also important that you protect the ones living with you. Wear a protective face covering or mask, distance yourself and wash hands frequently. Remember, proper hand hygiene and mask use can cut down transmission risk by upto 70% in many cases. Avoid people from coming in outside, or inviting people home.
Apart from the quarantine measures, it’s also crucial you start taking steps to protect your health and boost immunity. Some of the steps can be doing saltwater gargles, steam inhalation and ensuring that you eat good quality fruits and vegetables which benefit your immunity.
