You test positive for COVID-19: What’s best to do immediately?

As the number of coronavirus cases begin to surge again in Iowa, and more and more people receive positive test results for the first time, many patients may not know what to do following their diagnosis.

Dr. Sarah Ledger, a physician with Family Medicine in Mt. Pleasant, said while patients may feel like they should seek immediate medical attention at an emergency room or hospital, doing so could potentially overwhelm already full hospitals.

'The biggest thing is sometimes people panic when they get that diagnosis of COVID and they're not really sure what to do and they don't know where to go or who to call so they go to the ER because the ER is always available,” she explained.

'That's not always an emergency that needs to be handled at the ER,” she said.

Ledger added with rising cases, resources will become more scarce and overwhelming emergency rooms would only spread things thinner.

Jessica Thomas, a physician assistant at Family Medicine, said her family has experienced the effects of overcrowded hospitals recently.

Thomas' father, who was found passed out at home, was rushed to a hospital in Cedar Rapids where he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Because his oxygen levels were at an adequate level, he was sent home within two hours of admittance, something that would not have happened under regular circumstances.

'That's not someone we would typically send home, especially someone Jess' dad age, would at least get an overnight observation,” Ledger added.

In addition to those reacting to positive test results, Thomas said she has seen people go to emergency rooms due to symptoms.

'People get worked up at the first sign of a symptom and panic and go to the ER,” she said.

'What we want to stress with the community is to take a deep breath. The best thing you can do is stay home, call your doctor's office - we'll talk you through it,” Thomas added.

Like other outpatient clinics, Family Medicine has telehealth available, through which doctors and physician assistants like Ledger and Thomas, can provide home monitoring services. The Family Medicine staff members added the clinic often has same-day appointments, especially for coronavirus cases.

To aid with home monitoring, Ledger suggests households have a thermometer, pulse oximeter and blood pressure cuff available to help make monitoring easier.

'Those are all very helpful for us. If we do a call and they have that available, we can ask them to do that on a call and that helps us to know what their vital signs are,” she said.

Ledger said the pulse oximeter is a tool that can help monitor oxygen levels and heart rate while at home.

'I've sent prescriptions for pulse oximeters to pharmacies. You can also buy them on Amazon,” she said.

The doctor added a person's comorbidities can determine the baseline oxygen level.

'That's why we want to do the monitoring with them because everyone has different baselines,” she said.

Ledger added patients should be monitoring COVID-19 symptoms with a medical professional, who will individualize a home monitoring program to the needs of each specific patient but generally speaking, the doctor said people should stay hydrated and rest when feeling fatigued.

Ledger added people should seek immediate medical attention if they experience any red flag symptoms including: low blood pressure, passing out, severe chest pain, confusion, severe shortness of breath, lips or fingers turn blue or inability to keep food or liquids down for 12 hours.

The doctor said another big red flag people should keep an eye out for is if their symptoms get better but then suddenly and dramatically worsen.

'It could be something secondary to COVID that is causing the symptoms,” Ledger explained.

Thomas added that oftentimes, people who are dying are succumbing to secondary issues that flare up or caused by the coronavirus.

'The hard thing is with COVID, we can't predict how sick they're going to be,” Ledger said.

The doctor added as inpatient medicine continues to deal with more severe cases, she hopes residents will take advantage of telehealth and outpatient resources as well.

'We want to make sure that people know that's available because that is something that can help on the outpatient side because people now have to be sicker and sicker to get admitted … We want to help people utilize medical resources efficiently and effectively,” she added.