My Family and I Tested Positive for Covid-19. Here’s our Survival Guide.
By: Rituja T.
Tags: Covid 19, Informative Content, Covid 19 Treatment, Covid Diaries, Covid19 Survival

My Family and I Tested Positive for Covid-19. Here’s our Survival Guide.

For the sake of organisation I have divided this article into 3 parts-

(I) Pre-Covid Stage

(II) Covid Stage

(III) Post Covid- Stage

(I) Pre Covid Stage

How and when did you all contract Covid-19?

My mother was the first one to contract the virus. This happened in the first week of June. She used to keep stepping out for groceries and so it is hard to tell how she contracted the virus. She had fever for about 5 days when in the process I, my brother and my father got infected one after the other.

What were the Covid-19 symptoms that you experienced?

All of us had fever of varying intensities as a common symptom. Some of us also experienced weakness, chills at night, loss of smell and taste and a slight congestion in the chest. Given below is a daily diary of symptoms on a case-by-case basis-

My case:

Fever only for the first 2 days, weakness, Loss of sense of taste, smell and appetite.

My brother’s case:

Fever for initial 2–3 days (99–100.4 degrees), followed by a mild temperature (99–99.5 degrees) for the next 4–5 days . The fever would subside during the day and rise at night. Loss of sense of taste and smell, no weakness.

My father’s case:

Fever for 5–6 days followed by slight weakness.

Your mother had to be hospitalized because of Covid Pneumonia. What were her symptoms?

She had only fever for 6–7 days (ranging from 99–101 degrees) and absolutely no other symptoms. No breathlessness, no congestion in the chest. On the 8th and 9th day her fever spiked to 102.5 degrees at night which is when we took her to the hospital. Her oximeter readings were normal and she had no other complaints. It is only because of the Chest X-Ray and CRP test results that we came to know that she had Covid Pneumonia.

Where did you get tested?- Diagnostic Centre or Hospital? Why?

I took a Covid-19 Test at a Suburban Diagnostics centre at Mumbai. The test costed Rs. 4500/- when I took it. I booked the test online from their website — Link here

I, along with my mother got tested at a diagnostic centre instead of a hospital for the following reasons-

1. Online slot booking is possible

2. Limited slots per hour: Only 5–6 people are tested in 1 hour thereby enabling social distancing and hence reducing chances of getting infected if you are covid negative

3. One only needed an MBBS doctor’s prescription to get tested. (Update: No prescription required at 17 private labs in Mumbai W.e.f 8th July, 2020 — Link)

4. ‘Drive Thru’ testing in your own car is possible at select locations e.g. Suburban Diagnostics Mumbai (Bandra W). This enables social distancing as one is sitting in the relatively safe environment of his own car while getting tested. However since slots for these drive thru tests were full, we had to go to a normal centre.

Side Note: My brother and father got tested at a private hospital, where they were unnecessarily charged an extra amount of Rs.1000/- as consultation charge and Rs.700/- as ‘Handling of speciality samples’ . This amount could have been saved had we not been in an emergency situation and had tested at a diagnostic centre.

How exactly is a sample for covid test collected? Does it hurt?

A lab personnel wearing PPE would insert one side of the swab (imagine a really really long earbud) first in your nose. The other side of the swab would be put in your throat.

Honestly, whether it would hurt or not would depend on your luck. I almost started crying when the lab technician suddenly put the swab deep inside my nose. However my brother didn’t feel a thing because the technician who collected his sample was calmly swirling the swab in his nose.

Also, don’t worry if they don’t collect both your nose and throat swab. In my case both the nose and throat swab were collected. However in my brother’s case only a nasal swab was collected. Yet the results were accurate, we both were covid positive.

What exactly is written on the Covid Test result?

‘SARS-CoV-2 — Detected’ is written on the result if you are coronavirus positive.

Snapshot of Covid-19 Report

What’s the ‘first’ thing to do when one has a Fever? Should one isolate even if it seems to be a normal viral fever?

The first thing that one should do immediately and I can’t stress this enough is ISOLATE! And yes, one should isolate even if it seems to be a regular viral fever. It could simply be a viral fever but in case it is Covid-19, then just the initial 1–2 days are enough to spread the virus to your family members.

While isolating the suspected patient I would suggest allotting a separate room and bathroom, if possible. Give separate utensils and ask the patient to wash them first before handing them over to you. Do not go near the person without a mask. At this stage I would recommend an N-95 mask but even a 3-ply mask would do. Keep sanitising your hands regularly.

How to know whether the fever is due to Covid-19 or the weather change?

It is very, very, very difficult to know whether you have Covid-19 or just a normal Viral fever. I would go as far as to say that it is impossible to know whether you had Covid-19 or not without a RT-PCR (Covid-19) test. That’s one reason I would suggest anyone who has fever for more than 3 days to get a Covid test done.

When should one take a Covid-19 test?

In my opinion, a Covid-19 test should be taken if-

1. Fever persists for more than 3 days: The person should get tested on the 4th day so that the results come by the 6th day of onset of symptoms. If you turn out to be positive you would be able to start your course of HCQ or any other medicine early on and prevent damage to your internal organs.

2. More than one person in the household has fever or other Covid-19 symptoms