The coronavirus pandemic is not an easy time for anyone, but it’s even more concerning if your senior starts to feel as if she’s coming down with something. The CDC has instructions that can help your elderly family member to help reduce her risk of getting sick, but what can she do if she thinks she already is sick?
Stay Home and Monitor Symptoms
The very first thing for your senior to do when she’s not feeling well at all is to stay home. If she’s just run down and not sick, that ensures she’s less likely to be around other people’s germs. But if she is sick, she’s not spreading anything and she’s going to be able to rest. This also gives her a chance to monitor her own symptoms.
Cover Coughs and Wash Hands
Even at home, your senior needs to make sure she’s washing her hands often and covering her mouth and nose when she coughs and sneezes. This helps to ensure that she’s not infecting anyone else in the house or who comes to visit her. This is true whether she does have Covid-19 or not.
Rest and Stay Well Hydrated
When feeling ill, rest and hydration are the two most important recommendations. Both are going to help your senior’s immune system to do what they can to help her to heal. Eating is also important because that gives your senior’s body fuel. Depending on what she’s fighting off, though, she may not feel much like eating.
Clean High Touch Surfaces Often
High touch surfaces are ones that get touched often during the day. These are things like countertops, doorknobs, toilet handles, and faucet handles. If your elderly family member has the energy to wipe down these surfaces regularly, that can be helpful. Depending on the type of illness she’s facing, she may not have the energy. Having someone else doing that for her, like home care providers, can be really helpful, especially if you can’t stop by to see her yourself.
Call Her Doctor
When your senior determines she is feeling ill, make sure you or she contacts her doctor. Her doctor can give her recommendations and help to determine if a screening test for Covid-19 is in order. Your senior’s doctor may recommend keeping an eye on her symptoms to see if she improves. If your senior’s symptoms worsen significantly like she can’t breathe well or her lips start to turn blue, call 911 right away.
For many people, the symptoms of Covid-19 are extremely mild. The hope is that if your elderly family member has come in contact with someone who exposed her to Covid-19, she’s able to heal quickly on her own.
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring Elderly Care in La Jolla, CA, or the surrounding area, please contact the caring staff at Love 2 Live Care. Call Today 1-619-291-4663
