Durban - As the numbers of Covid-19 continue to increase in KwaZulu-Natal and across the country, many are questioning what they should do if they have come into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, those who have been in contact with an infected person, will be asked to home quarantine for 14 days and monitor their symptoms.
"Close contact means that you had face-to-face contact within one metre or were in a closed space for more than 15 minutes with a person with Covid-19. This contact happened while the person with Covid-19 was still “infectious” or between two and 14 days after their symptoms began," the NICD explained.
A person will only have a laboratory test performed if they develop symptoms within 14 days of their last close contact with a person with Covid-19 who is considered infectious, the NICD noted.
The NICD's Professor Cheryl Cohen said people can also monitor themselves for symptoms.
"These are in cases where a person has been exposed to the virus. The most important sign of Covid-19 is a fever. People need to also watch out for a cough, shortness of breath and a sore throat," she said.
Cohen said if a person exhibits the symptoms mentioned, they need to consult a doctor and a further evaluation will be taken to determine if the person needs to be tested.
Cohen, there is a set criteria that a person needs to meet before they can be tested.
"The first thing you need to have in order to be tested for the coronavirus, is that you need to be ill. We are testing people who have an acute respiratory infection that has come on quite suddenly with fever, a cough or shortness of breath or a sore throat," explained Cohen.
She said they were also looking at people with a travel history, more especially those who had travelled from high-risk countries or have been in contact with a person who is either suspected of having coronavirus or whose results have been confirmed for coronavirus.