Please keep in mind this information is subject to frequent changes, and is current only through the most recent update. Last updated December 22, 2020. Cover image is public domain from CDC.
Contact Tracing
If you live in California, we now have CA Notify, a contact tracing app that uses anonymized Bluetooth handshakes to keep a record of all the (participating) phones you come in contact with. If you test positive, you can send an anonymous notification to everyone who might have been exposed. California was a bit slow to get this set up compared to some other states—I’ve started a list or you can check the app store on your phone to see if there’s something similar where you live.
General Tips
- WEAR A MASK.
- Stay away from people even if you feel well (aka “social distancing”).
- If you think you contracted the virus, stay home and don’t go to the ER unless you can’t breathe, feel faint, can’t keep fluids down.
- Take acetaminophen (also known as Tylenol) for fever/aches
- Exercising by yourself outside is ok.
- Bring food/supplies to elderly family members so they can avoid people–drop off supplies without direct contact.
Official information
- Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is appearing in children who were previously exposed, often asymptomatically.
- When in doubt, check the CDC website for updated information.
- COVID-19 Global Case Tracker, maintained by Johns Hopkins University (link was wrong before, fixed 3/29).
- United States-only COVID-19 tracker. It’s not clear to me where this one is getting its data, but the information seems consistent with the main one above.
Informative articles
I’ve read through these articles and while some of them are very long reads, the information at the time they were published appeared to align with the concurrent briefings from Infectious Disease at my hospital or with my own experience.
- Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now
- Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance
- I’m A Doctor. The U.S. Response to Coronavirus Has Been Nothing Short of Criminal
Stuff I Wrote
Old Stuff
Some of the things are either out of date or no longer as useful as they once were. When that happens I’ll move it down here.
- COVID-19 Guide for the General Public: At the start of the pandemic my colleagues were maintaining a living document with practical COVID-19 information: find it here.
2 responses to “COVID-19 Information”
[…] I think all of us in healthcare are trying to provide accurate and current information to our family and friends where possible, but the information changes day to day, sometimes even hour by hour. To deal with this some of my colleagues have put together a “living document” with updated information. That, along with some of the articles and resources I’ve found myself repeatedly linking, is collected here. […]
[…] home if we can. I am not qualified to predict what may happen or to give medical advice (you can read that here). I just know that we must all stay home and should wear a home made mask when we leave the house […]