Preparing for and Coping with Coronavirus (Covid-19) here in Spain

WHILST there is a great deal of information about how to try to avoid infection by Covid-19, there seems to be a lot less about how to cope with it if you do catch it and the following is based on information supplied by a nurse.

What you can do now is to prepare in advance to allow you to cope better if you do catch it and the home treatment would be as if you had bronchitis or pneumonia.

Purchase tissues (not toilet tissues), paracetamol (or similar but not any ant-inflammatory such as ibuprofen), mucus thinning cough medicine (but not one which contains paracetamol), a vapour rub for your chest and honey and lemon.

If you can find one, get a humidifier and use in your room when you go to bed overnight. (You can also just turn the shower on hot and sit in the bathroom breathing in the steam).

For anyone with  a history of asthma make sure that you have a spare inhaler of the type you normally use and depending where you live, many pharmacies in Spain will supply Ventolin without a prescription.

Even if you don’t live by yourself, prepare some food, especially hearty soup and place in the freezer and also make sure that you have plenty clear fluids as you need to keep hydrated. Water is fine, but you might be grateful for some variety.

Make sure that you take plenty of rest and even if you start feeling better you may still be infectious for a further 14 days so don’t go shopping but ask friends or family to do it for you and leave outside for you to collect so that there is no direct contact.

In her advice, the nurse says that if you are not having problems with breathing and your temperature is below 39°C you do not need to go to the hospital as 90 per cent of healthy adult cases thus far have been managed at home with basic rest/hydration/over-the-counter medicines.

If however you are worried or in distress or feel your symptoms are getting worse, do get medical advice by calling the emergency numbers but remember hospital beds will be used for people who actively need oxygen/breathing treatments/IV fluids.

If you have a pre-existing lung condition (COPD, emphysema, lung cancer) or are on immunosuppressants try to speak to your doctor about what they would like you to do if you get sick.

Remember this advice is based upon the observations of one nurse and the situation may change as the lockdown continues but there is a Spanish Government website which gives the latest news at; https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov-China/home.htm.