You should quickly isolate yourself irrespective of travel or social history when you have flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough or in severe cases difficulty in breathing. In the event of such symptoms, and if you have come into contact with a coronavirus infect (COVID-19), you must immediately self-isolate and contact with your GP (family doctor) via telephone. Don't go directly to your GP clinic. See who your local GP is here.
Your GP will examine you and determine if a test is appropriate for coronavirus (COVID-19). For more help, you may also call HSELive on 1850 24 1850.
How do I restrict contact within society?
Restricted social interaction is doing as much as possible to prevent contact with other people and social circumstances. This you will need to do if you are in close touch with a reported Coronavirus case (COVID-19). This is to stop the infection from spreading to other people if you show symptoms.
If social interaction is to be reduced, you should:
Reduce encounters with people outside the home and the workplace.
Increase the distance from others-keep at least 1 meter (3 ft) apart, preferably at least 2 meters (6 ft) apart.
Never shake hands.
Ideally avoid shared sleeping areas.
Keep away from crowded spots.
Act from home whenever possible.
You can also walk, run or spin yourself outdoors.
You should not spend more than 15 minutes in close contact with other people.
Here are some practical steps you can take now which will be useful if you become unwell:
Alert close family, friends and neighbours over the phone and tell them that you are not feeling well and are unable to receive visitors.
Organise in advance to get someone to do the shopping for you. If you are getting something delivered to your home, make sure it is left outside the front door for you to get it rather than bringing people into your home.
Make an up-to-date list of your medicines. If you become unwell, this is important information especially if you need treatment from a different doctor than usual.
There is no need to order extra medicines over and above normal requirements. Doing so will reduce the supply of medicines for others. The supply of medicines will continue.
If you have symptoms, please do not attend your pharmacy in person. You can phone your pharmacist if you need to order a prescription. If you need to collect a prescription or non-prescription medicines, ask a family member or friend to do so.
