With a growing number of cases of the new coronavirus confirmed across the United States, having a sore throat or some sniffles might feel like a cause for concern. But in most cases, there is no reason to worry, experts say.
If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, which include fever, cough and shortness of breath, here are the steps that doctors and public health officials recommend you take.
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Don't panic.
While researchers are still learning about the new coronavirus, most people sickened by it appear to not get all that ill.
"The one thing we really don't need is mass hysteria," said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an infectious diseases professor. "Eighty percent of people have such minor symptoms, they don't actually require any medical care at all. The 20 percent who do feel quite ill need to be evaluated, and some of them will require hospitalization and some of them will require intensive care."
Those most at-risk for severe symptoms include senior citizens and/or people with underlying medical conditions, such as cardiovascular or lung disease, cancer or diabetes, he said.
As of Friday evening, there were more than 300 confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the United States. Some have already recovered.
Before you do anything else, call your health care provider.
If you are worried you might have the coronavirus, pick up the phone before you seek medical treatment. The reason for this is twofold: In very mild cases, your doctor might be able to give you advice on how to treat your symptoms at home without needing to see you in person, which would reduce the number of other people you expose.
"The vast majority of cases are going to be mild, and people are going to recover just like they do from a cold or flu-like illness," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an infectious diseases doctor.
In more serious cases, where medical treatment might be necessary to assist with breathing issues or other problems, an urgent care center or a hospital emergency department will benefit from advance notice of your arrival. They may have a special entrance they want you to come in through so you don't expose other patients on your way in, or a mask they want you to put on, Adalja said.
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Not everyone needs to be tested, experts say. If you have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with the coronavirus or have recently traveled to an area where the virus is spreading, and you develop a fever, a cough or difficulty breathing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you call a health care professional for guidance on whether to be tested.
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This advice has been echoed by local public health districts. In Snohomish County, Washington, where there are at least four confirmed cases of the coronavirus, officials urged the public to call their health care provider if they think they have been exposed or feel ill with "only mild cold symptoms." They advised against going to an urgent care clinic or a hospital to get tested in those situations.
"Doing so displaces other patients who truly need urgent care and increases the risk of spread of respiratory infections in health care settings. Furthermore, there is little personal health value in pursuing COVID-19 testing of patients who are not severely ill or part of a public health investigation," the Snohomish Health District said in a statement.
Even if you have not had prolonged contact with known coronavirus patients, but are concerned you might have caught the illness, calling your doctor first is the best course of action.
"If you have any anxiety or reason to believe you have coronavirus infection, or heck, even if you have influenza, call your health care provider, because you don't want to just show up in the waiting room and give it to everybody else," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
What your doctor recommends you do will depend on the severity of your symptoms. Shortness of breath, an unremitting fever or feeling extremely weak require medical attention, which could include visiting an urgent care center or an emergency department, according to Johns Hopkins' Adalja.
"Otherwise, I would treat it symptomatically. That might include taking medicine to reduce fever, or cold and flu medicines to reduce symptoms," he said.
Stay home until your symptoms go away.
As with any illness, it's best to keep your germs to yourself.
"Don't go to work and spread it to your co-workers. Don't go to the gym. Hunker down."
"Don't go to work and spread it to your co-workers. Don't go to the gym. Hunker down," Schaffner said.
