Under lockdown, you’re permitted to seek medical attention and visit a pharmacy for medicine, but need to take steps to protect yourself and others from the coronavirus.
Opt for a virtual consultation if possible
If you take ill in any way or are injured during the novel coronavirus pandemic, call your doctor, and if possible use telemedicine or e-medicine – where you consult remotely by phone, email or the likes of WhatsApp video or Skype. If your doctor needs to see you in person, follow their directions and meet when and where they tell you.
Phone ahead of time
Never go directly and unannounced to your doctor or other healthcare provider or hospital; you will be exposing yourself and other sick people to possible infection, which can compromise your resistance to Covid-19, and theirs.
Remember the basic hygiene protocol
If told to go in, wear a mask, don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth, and avoid or use disinfecting wipes on high-touch surfaces such as handles, rails and lift buttons. Try to keep at least 2 meters from other people at all times. When paying, use touchless methods if you can, else sanitise your hands after paying with a card or cash.
What should you do if you think you have Covid-19?
If you have symptoms of Covid-19 – a cough, fever, shortness of breath – call your doctor and follow his or her directions. They will generally advise you to treat yourself at home, self-isolating and using paracetamol for fever and pain. If you battle to breathe, they will tell you which facility to go to.
Alternatively, contact the Department of Health’s 24-hour Coronavirus Hotline: 0800 029 999.
Collect your medicine wisely
If you need to collect medicine, call through your order to your pharmacy ahead of time, or get you health provider to send through your prescription order. Ask your doctor and pharmacist if you can get a bigger supply of your medicines, to save you having to return to the pharmacy often.
Clicks pharmacies supply a range of healthcare and essential products, including thermometers and masks - phone ahead to check availability, says Clicks pharmacist Waheed Abdurahman. Clicks Clinics are still open, focusing on flu vaccinations. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases reports that the flu vaccine "has no known efficacy against Covid-19, but co-circulation of these viruses will increase the pressure on the healthcare system".
Check with your pharmacy what services they have to ensure minimal physical contact with other people. Clicks, for example, has a Clicks App that allows prescriptions to be submitted to a pharmacy counter for collection in four hours; and a Repeat Prescription Service that enables your medication to be prepared in advance, with reminders sent to you for collection.
Clicks Direct Medicine delivers chronic medication to your door, and Clicks website enables you to shop for your front shop needs and have them delivered to your home or your nearest store for collection.
IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com
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