Experts say there are a number of supplies you can buy now to prepare to care for yourself at home if you have mild symptoms of COVID-19, including the new Omicron variant.
Among your grocery items should be fresh fruits and vegetables as well as canned goods with long shelf lives.
Among the medical supplies should be a thermometer, cough medicines, tissues, zinc, and vitamin C. Cleaning products as well as extra sheets, towels, and pajamas should also be on hand.
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Have you thought about what you’ll need to have on hand if you develop COVID-19 and need to self-quarantine? With the arrival of highly infectious variants of COVID-19, such as Delta and Omicron, the odds of contracting the coronavirus have increased, even for people who are fully vaccinated.
Vaccines will still prevent most people from getting seriously ill with COVID-19. However, even a mild case of COVID-19 means you’ll need to self-quarantine in order to prevent transmitting the virus to friends, family, and others in your community.
Early reports about the Omicron variant, which has quickly become the most dominant strain of the coronavirus in the United States, suggest that it generally causes less severe symptoms than previous variants.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, an estimated 80 percentTrusted Source of those with COVID-19 experience only mild to moderate symp-toms. That means that most people can recover at home.
But you’ll need to be prepared for an extended period of isolation: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source recommends that people who are sick and think or know they have COVID-19 isolate themselves for at least 10 days after symptoms appear. People should also stay quarantined until symptoms end, including at least 24 hours after any fever subsides.
There are simple steps you can take to help prepare for the possibility that you may develop COVID-19, or to aid in your recovery if you’ve already tested positive and start to feel mild to moderately symp-tomatic, Jennifer Williams, MPH, a research scientist and hydration expert at the medical device and consumer products company Abbott, told Healthline.
