Covid-19 at home.

➡️ Some signs of severe Covid-19 to look out for while at home.

As requested by some Tweeples...here is a non-technical summary of this BMJ paper.

1/5

The paper is publicly accessible here: bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/8/1/e0…
Firstly, you should use the same judgement as you did before the pandemic. Who would you normally contact if you are concerned about specific symptoms?
You may think you are saving healthcare resources, but waiting until you are worse neither helps you or the health service.
Secondly, if you test positive for COVID-19 and are either over 65 yrs old or have a condition that makes you clinically vulnerable you should contact your primary care provider (GP practice) to let them know you have Covid and request 'remote home monitoring'.
You will receive a home oxygen monitor and instructions on how to record your progress. Most countries have some form of 'remote monitoring' or 'follow-up' for high-risk patients, but they often rely on the patient coming forward for it.

Example:

england.nhs.uk/nhs-at-home/co…
For those not 'eligible' you can consider getting your own oxygen monitor (pulse oximeter), an accredited one - ask your pharmacist. My view: a must have if over 50 yrs of age and a good idea if over 35 yrs.
If oxygen levels fall below 95% you require urgent medical attention.
If you are worried or develop:
1. Any breathing issues
2. Confusion
3. A fever that lasts hours and doesn't respond to cooling methods (e.g. paracetamol)
Then you should contact your healthcare provider URGENTLY.
And, I will say it again:
Ask yourself, if it wasn't a pandemic would you be acting differently, would you be contacting healthcare? If yes, then do it! Healthcare is busy, but it will be busier if you wait until more unwell to contact us. We prefer intervening earlier.

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More from @danielgoyal

14 Nov
How complicit has NHS Leadership been in Johnson’s pandemic calamities? And have lessons been learned?
There is a long list of failures:
▪️Ageist policies
▪️Blanket Do Not Resuscitate orders
▪️Inadequate PPE
▪️Ethnic disparities on the frontline

#TeamNHS
#TeamGP
▪️No Triage
▪️No clinical follow-up
▪️The ‘Stay Home’ messaging
▪️Ineffectual Contact and Trace
▪️Circumventing primary care
▪️Rationing of access to healthcare via ‘111’.
▪️Oxygen rationing
▪️Shrinking the NHS during a pandemic
And these failures, while still remediable, continue to place HCWs in unsafe and traumatic working conditions, and are still leading to unsafe care provision for the British public.
Read 10 tweets
14 Nov
Raising concerns about patient safety

Where problems with care seem national, those of us actually delivering care can feel quite helpless to change it. Take the government’s pandemic policy...

🧵
1/7
gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidan…
We on the frontline are also victims, collateral damage, of ill-conceived healthcare policies.
But the GMC guidelines, while adding yet another responsibility on our shoulders, also provides the encouragement and compulsion to speak out.
“If you have reason to believe that patients are, or may be, at risk of death or serious harm for any reason, you should report your concern.. Do not delay doing so because you yourself are not in a position to put the matter right”
Read 8 tweets
12 Nov
The NHS needs REFORMED.
Indeed, the NHS needs serious overhaul.
It is no longer providing world-class universal care [IMO].
It seems to not even be providing ‘value-for-money’ anymore.
But it is our money and our health, so we must have a say…
🧵1/n
RT pls. Image
The NHS once provided the most cost-effective healthcare of all developed nations. Indeed despite consistently spending the LOWEST percentage of GDP (national income) of similar nations (graph), up until the last couple of decades it still provided world-class outcomes. Image
In the 70s the UK had one of the lowest infant-mortality rates in the world. But by 2010 it looked like this (source BBC):

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/86… Image
Read 23 tweets
11 Nov
I fear we have not learned how to respond to a pandemic. Both clinical and public health responses in many nations have been chaotic, inconsistent and had disappointing results. So what would a decent response look like? Pls add your own…
#Covid19
1. Early “circuit-breaker”.
Debate remains as to the justification for lockdowns. The argument being that lockdowns cause more damage to non-Covid problems than the lives saved from the virus. I think that depends on a few things:
a) Healthcare capacity
A new pathogen will lead to extra strain on health services. Unless the health systems in place had capacity prior to the pandemic, then the additional burden will impact all diseases. The UK is a good example of this. All cause mortality = +1400 per week.
Read 12 tweets
10 Nov
I hear this question often: why didn’t all countries just lockdown for a month and extinguish COVID-19?
The principle is sound - a global response. Our leaders didn't try, it seems, due to the fear of economic instability.
Is it time then, for a new economic model?
1/6
Essential services adapted. Food networks were secured. People worked - often successfully - from home. Healthcare services utilised emerging technologies to maintain care. But, apart from printing more money, where were the intelligent economic solutions?
2/6
And it is not just about the Fat Cats needing the workers to get back to making them rich. Billions rely on daily earnings to survive. The rickshaw driver in India can’t afford the month off, nor can the piecemeal factory worker in England.
3/6
Read 6 tweets
8 Nov
▪️How to tell if a Covid-19 patient is deteriorating at home?
A cross-discipline team reviews the signs and symptoms to watch for.

(1/10)
Share pls.
2/10
The majority of Covid-19 resolves without event. Typical symptoms are similar to the cold or flu and tend to start improving after two or three days.
3/10
The public should exercise the same judgement for who and when to contact if concerned as they did prior to the pandemic.
[The British Thoracic Society CAP guidelines remain unchanged.]
Read 13 tweets

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