News Flash

March 26, 2020

Stay Home, Save Lives

If you think you might have COVID-19 and have mild symptoms, the best thing you can do is stay home and recover.

When you leave your home to get tested, you could expose yourself to COVID-19 if you do not already have it. If you do have COVID-19, you can give it to others like critical health care workers and people at high risk for severe illness. Staying home really can help save lives.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has developed a new fact sheet to help you know what to do if you are sick.

If you who have COVID-19 or believe you might have it, you should stay home and separate yourself from other people in the home as much as possible. You can go back to your normal activities when you can answer YES to all the following questions:

• Has it been at least 7 days since you first had symptoms?
• Have you been without fever for three days (72 hours) without any medicine for fever?
• Are your other symptoms improved?

Because there is no treatment for COVID-19, a test will not change what you do if you have mild symptoms.

If you have more serious symptoms, call your doctor right away. More serious symptoms can include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest pain or pressure, confusion or blue lips. In the case of a medical emergency, call 9-1-1.

Read more online about why people with mild symptoms should stay home.

To stay up to date on COVID-19 in North Carolina, visit ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus or text COVIDNC to 898211. Call 2-1-1 (or 888-892-1162) for general questions or for help finding human services resources in your community.