Coronavirus Plan: Doctor Shares Tips On Being Prepared During This Crisis

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – As a South Florida resident, chances are you've made a hurricane preparedness plan. Well, now is the time to tap into those skills and make a coronavirus plan. To help you get started, we called Dr. Parham Eftekhari for some tips.

"I think it's important that with the pandemic that's going on we need to be prepared just in case we come up with a fever or feel sick. I tell my patients, 'Be prepared for a fever at 3:00 a.m.' Traditionally, we would think it's the flu or wait until the morning. Now I want my patients to be prepared with a coronavirus plan."

No. 1 – Have Your Medications

"We know that [coronavirus] affects people with co-morbid conditions – diabetes, blood pressure, elderly – so make sure you have your medications. Make sure you have your refills for insulin, blood pressure medication, and that's important. Don't lose track of that."

No. 2 – Be Ready To Break A Fever

"Have basic medication that anyone with a fever would need – Tylenol, Nyquil or Dayquil or sinus or sore throat and have it in stock. Families have these on the shelves. In the case of a fever, late night or early morning, instead of panicking or fearing, have a plan of what you will do… The first thing you want to do if you're only just having a mild symptom, take a Tylenol, relax, stay hydrated."

No. 3 – Know When To Go To The ER

"If you're having severe chest pain, you cannot breathe or you are feeling much more ill than just a fever, then you may need to go to the emergency room under those cases. But really you need to avoid going to the emergency room to be tested."

No. 4 – Social Distancing

"It's a double edged sword. The youth… they think they are young, they can't get the virus, but social distancing is critically important. This virus lives in the air for three hours and on surfaces for several days. So the young, although they can still get sick, are more likely to be carriers… so they are endangering, in my opinion, those who are at risk. And they may even be asymptomatic – they may not have a fever, they may not have a cough, they may not have congestion. So I think we need to take this very, very seriously this social isolation."

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