“My concern is if someone actually has the virus - are they just supposed to stay home and decide for themselves if and when they might need to go to the hospital?”

Yes. We were told that if we get hit by the virus to call our doctor but to stay home unless we become short of breath, or if any other symptoms get too worrysome. If we feel Covid is a possibility to isolate as much as possible.

I’d be more concerned that your doctor didn’t test your husband for flu. Tamiflu prescribed early can treat symptoms.

eta: can he go to an urgent care center for testing (flu, strep, sinus infection)?

Where are you in OH? Try calling your county health dept. If you haven't already. Also your closest hospital if you haven't already.

Governor Dewine did a briefing today, you can view it on YouTube - the Ohio channel. Cases are up in our state, more than they were.

Here, there are drive thru centers, which I'm sure could administer a flu shot and do the fast strep throat swab test. I would be surprised if your insurance did not cover visits to such places.

I agree with calling your country health department however if your husband has been sick for three weeks it may be possible that he no longer has an active infection but the after affects. Which is where he needs to have a discussion with his doctor even it is through a video chat.

Share, I'm sorry you haven't been able to get answers you want. And I don't know what to say about the testing. This is a smaller community and I know very few who have been tested or have requested a test. My BIL owns a construction company with his brothers and their office manager became ill, tested positive. Everyone employed there was tested (thankfully all were negative), but drove an hour south for their tests. My BIL was spending the week at a second home. He accidentally (while running an errand) came across a drive up testing site in that tourist town right after being told he may have experienced an exposure. It was just opening and he was third in line. He was told if positive he would know in 24 hours. Negative and notification might take a week. He'd heard nothing in a week's time so made some calls. He was negative. So he was tested promptly - not informed especially quickly. At no point did anyone tell him to isolate while waiting for results.

"At no point did anyone tell him to isolate while waiting for results"

A couple of months ago I went to the drive-thru and got tested. I was feeling real crappy and had a headache that wouldn't go away. Because I had symptoms, they did the deep cranial test.

I was given some printouts on what to do, and I was definitely told to isolate until my tests came back. Or self-isolate until 3 days after symptoms disappear. I didn't leave the house for 3 days, when I saw my results online.

Jas, I don't know if because he wasn't experiencing any symptoms or just what agency was giving the test. He'd had test on a Friday and I didn't see or talk to him until the following Tuesday. He still hadn't heard that day (he stopped here, a driveway visit) but assumed all was well because he'd passed the 24 hr mark by days. It was two days after I'd seen him that he called for his results. In the meantime, he'd been back and forth between homes he owns (local and 75 miles away) about 3 times.

Probably too late now but there are many pharmacies and urgent care centers doing testing. Every state should have a covid 19 website and hotline. I know KY and TN do, where you can find multiple places to get tested. Most have online sign ups.

I hope your husband gets better with the antibiotic. Your insurance company should have a nurse triage line or the local hospital may have one. They can evaluate you over the phone and give you advice on when to seek care. Also, most urgent care centers are open, you just can't show up to be seen, but you can be seen.

I would take him to the ER. My husband was in the hospital recently for 10 days. A week or so later, he was sick again, and I took him to the ER. He was there 7 hours and they checked him over thoroughly and sent him home. But he has a very chronic lung condition, and if he gets sick, I can't wait around. He was tested for covid but didn't have it.

It really does depend on your community. People here are going to the ER/Doc/Urgent care at the first sign of cold/flu like symptoms around here. Thus far it's been strep/mono/cold--everything BUT COVID. Our little town has yet to get hit with any severity. I think people are getting a bit anxious waiting our turn, especially with school in session!! When you have a video appointment or phone conversation there are certain symptoms they are looking for and I want to believe your providers did not hear those from you. As long as you are able to manage the symptoms at home--home is a safe place to be. Do not hesitate to head to the ER if your husband experiences something you feel is dire or too uncomfortable to be dealt with at home.

Lack of access to medical care has been a much higher concern to me that the virus. With hospitals closing, physicians choosing to retire and our urgent care facility going tele-medicine only we would be in a pickle too.

I've been watching the covid numbers at the nearest large university (>20,000 faculty & students) a county over. They list numbers weekly and they have declined each week and were at <200 cases to start with.

Thanks everyone. I told my husband I was going to take him to the ER if he wasn't able to get someone to help him with the nurse phone calls. Fortunately he did get the antibiotics... it would've been a struggle to get him to the hospital because he definitely didn't want to go!

Because he had flu-like symptoms no one would see him in person... so there was no way to get a test without going to urgent care or the ER.

He got his covid test at CVS on a Friday and got the result back on Monday so that wasn't too bad. I don't know if they told him to self isolate or not. He wasn't feeling well so he basically didn't leave the house anyhow.

He has an appt with the new dr at the end of the month. I guess they figure he'll be better by then so he can have a well visit check to get established with the dr. He'll get a flu and pneumonia shot then.

I'm afraid where medicine is headed in the future with televisits replacing in person visits. And the length of time it is taking to get an appointment is scary as well.

We have drive throughs for Covid testing. I think they may test for strep and flu also. I've of heard of more people testing positive for strep than Covid around here.

This question made me crazy early in the NYC infection, especially after I read the article in the nyt about the author's husband's battle with covid19. To get a test, she had to walk her husband to a testing venue, even though he was very sick; no subway, taxi, Uber was possible. I kept picturing my dd getting sick and knew there was nothing anyone could do to help her and that if she got very sick, she might not even be able to get an emt there in a timely manner. When I finally heard about the importance of testing a covid-positive patient's oxygen, I immediately ordered an oximeter for her and felt a lot better when she received it. I figured she could at least monitor that level if she did become sick, and know when to try to get an emt or walk to a hospital, if it came to that. In the early days, people couldn't tell when they were in trouble because they didn't feel like their oxygen levels were low until it was almost too late. Maybe I simplified things, but it brought me a little relief from the worry.

OK. To expand this question. What if you are Covid19 positive and sent home to care for yourself. What is the regime? Extra fluids, aspirin, cold meds? What is the best thing to do? And at what point should you contact your doctor again?

@ Elizabeth,

Stay hydrated & nourished, small, frequent fluids/food if GI symptoms.

Treat aches/pain & fever with acetaminophen/Tylenol, ibuprofen/Advil.

***Follow-up if you GET WORSE or are NOT GETTING BETTER.***

After a series of screw-ups by our primary, a specialist I'd seen provided a referral for a different person. The first appointments available were next FEBRUARY. After some pressure applied by my oncologist and the specialist, we now have initial appointments mid-November. Awkward to continue to need a primary who knows you're moving on. At least I have access to my oncologist.

BTW, I've now seen the bill for my July 4 visit to the ER, plus three days in the hospital: $100,000.

share_oh -- The most effective antibiotic for my sinus infections is doxycycline for 7 days.

I guess if you have a positive test you have to call your doctor's office and get advice... I hope they at least will follow up with people over the phone. I'm sure some people probably go to the hospital that don't need to and others, like my husband who is stubborn might not go when they should!

Chisue the nurse prescribed Amoxicillin... so far it does seem to be helping. But if he still needs more after the 7 days are up he'll have to insist on something stronger.

I may have had covid in January. My mistake was not drinking enough water, and I was drinking a lot. I'm still aggravated that the urgent care doc sent me to the ER (huge waste of my money & time and the ER's resources) instead of having me drink more water. All I needed was IV fluids for an afternoon. I could have fixed that myself...

Sure it's fair to second guess a doctor. If a patient believes they may have an acute condition and wants medical attention, if the best care the doc can offer is an appointment one month later, it's time to find someone else. That's an inexcusable response - a call from a nurse two weeks later shows the same callousness.

A reasonable response, in my opinion, would have been - "we'll squeeze you in" (whether in person or by video) or "wait a day, if you still feel ill or feel worse, go to urgent care".

It was a good decision to put this doc into your rear view mirror and find another. What a terrible experience. Best wishes for a good outcome soon.

Later edit to add:

This post now makes less sense than before. I wrote it in response to a comment that previously appeared just before it, that now seems to have been deleted, in which someone said a doctor shouldn't be second-guessed.