[sc]https://soundcloud.com/user-386956114/how-to-manage-covid19-at-home[/sc]

With over 7,000 people in home quarantine and Trinidad and Tobago’s medical resources strained by the current covid19 spike, how are people caring for themselves?

Sunday Newsday spoke to several people who were isolating at home with the virus. They said they were only given a prescription and instructions to call the hospital if they “get worse.” None were given any further instructions on how to look after themselves.

A 39-year-old man from Arima who tested positive and was quarantined at home with his wife said he was fortunate to have friends who were doctors. He believes the medication, remedies, and equipment they recommended enabled him to survive.

“It occurred to me that no official document or information has ever come out telling covid patients suffering at home how to deal with it when you get it. The focus is mainly telling people how to prevent it.

"And there is a stigma if you get it. People assume you were doing something wrong. I simply went to work.”

His symptoms started as slight back pain and a chill. He got tested on the third day after the symptoms persisted and, three days later, he got the call to say he had covid19. He was told if he had problems walking to the bathroom and could not breathe, he should go to the hospital.

Two days later he watched a Ministry of Health virtual press conference explaining that some hospitals were full and others would be soon, so he made a call and got an oximeter and an oxygen tank.

The next day he collapsed while brushing his teeth. His oxygen was low, and for the next eight days, he suffered from laboured breathing, low oxygen levels, and coughing. He never had a fever.

“By the time I fell in the bathroom while brushing my teeth, it was because my oxygen was so dangerously low that if I didn’t have that tank in my house, I would have been brain-damaged or dead.

[caption id="attachment_892374" align="alignnone" width="683"] Having an oxygen tank like this at home while in isolation can help. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]

"I don’t think enough is being put in the public domain. They need to give people the tools and information to help themselves and save their lives.”

He added that an oximeter also saved a friend’s life. His friend was feeling relatively normal when his oxygen levels dropped below 90. The friend called an ambulance and by the time he got to the hospital, the level was at 82.

“Every death I hear bothers me because I know it could have been one of those sick at home. I think a percentage of people dying could have been saved if they had an oximeter, reacted earlier and gone to the hospital.

"Because you only have a small window to react. This thing has you feeling good today and you would go to bed and in the morning you could wake up and can’t breathe.”

With that in mind, he shared some of the suggestions given to him by medical professionals.

First, he suggests patients sleep on their abdomen. This stops the heart and stomach