BOSTON (CBS) – Dr. Mallika Marshall is answering your coronavirus related medical questions. If you have a question for Dr. Mallika, email her, or message her on Facebook or Twitter.

Do eye drops and sinus rinses help clean possible COVID-19 contaminants from the eyes and nose, or could they push the contaminants further into the sinuses and eyes? – Diane, Dracut

Using eye drops or sinus rinses will not protect you from infection with the coronavirus. And it's possible that if someone is already infected, flushing the sinuses could release more virus into the atmosphere. But if you're otherwise healthy, you can continue to use eye drops and sinus rinses as you normally would.

A friend's niece has COVID and still has a temp of 100.8 after two weeks. She had another test three days ago that was negative. How can that be? – Bev, Hanson

COVID-19 symptoms typically improve within 14 days but for some patients they can last longer. The coronavirus test is not perfect and can produce false negatives. That's why many people need to have two negative tests before they can return to work. As long as she still has a fever, she should stay isolated at home.

My girlfriend works at a hospital on a COVID-19 floor and I am at high risk for this. Is it ok to be around her after her shift has ended? - Eric

This is such a personal decision. If you're at high risk for COVID-related complications, the safest approach would be to maintain social distancing from your girlfriend. She could have been exposed and have no symptoms. Once more widespread testing is available, including antibody tests, we'll have a better idea or who is safe to be around and who is not.

How long before we can hug our immediate family? Not those directly under our roof, but grandchildren, etc.? – Susan, Facebook

I understand how you feel. It sounds like you're a grandparent, which means you may be in a high-risk group, so it's best for you to not have close contact with family you don't live with for now. As we improve testing and surveillance and begin to loosen restrictions, you'll be able to hug your grandbabies again. But for now, you should probably hold off if you can.