If you do feel unwell and need to seek medical attention or attend a doctor’s appointment, follow these steps:

• Check in with yourself and make sure it’s nothing you can deal with at home with what you have at your disposal
• Often all you need to recover from a cold or flu is:
o Healthy food and lots of water
o Warm drinks such as herbal tea
o Lots of rest
o Vitamin C or multivitamins
• If you do need to leave home for medical treatment, practice all the recommendations to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus:
o Wash your hands before you leave home
o Stay at least 2-3m away from other people
o Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
o Disinfect your hands with hand sanitiser (60% alcohol) after touching objects and surfaces
o Wash your hands again when you get home
• Isolate yourself if you think you may be infected with COVID-19 or while you wait for results from testing
• Stay at home and rest

What to do if you think your child may be infected
The symptoms of COVID-19 typically present themselves with cold-like symptoms – fever, runny nose and a cough. Vomiting and diarrhoea have also been reported. If you are showing definitive signs:

• Call your GP. Your doctor will advise you on whether you should be tested for COVID-19 and where to go
• Until you’ve been tested and have the results, stay isolated from other family members
• All family members should self-isolate at home until the results are received. If you need groceries or medication, ask a third party to shop for you. Avoid contact with the person when they drop off groceries
• Wear a facemask if you need to interact with your family for any reason

What are the symptoms?
The new COVID-19, the flu and the common cold have similar symptoms, but severe cases of COVID-19 are far deadlier. The following table compares symptoms of the COVID-19 to those of the flu and the common cold:

More severe cases of COVID-19 infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death, so it is advisable that you contact your doctor and seek medical advice should you show symptoms of COVID-19 infection as listed in the above table.

We are here to support you through COVID-19 lockdown and beyond. Contact the Fedhealth Crisis Support Desk on 0860 111 646 or SMS "COVID" to 32377.

We hope that you will use all these valuable resources at your disposal to make life during lockdown a little easier! Stay strong.

Important contact numbers
During the lockdown, the Fedhealth Customer Contact Centre will operate during the following hours: Monday to Friday 09h00 - 16h00. Call 0860 002 153 or email member@fedhealth.co.za
Emotional Wellbeing Programme: 087 365 8664 and the new Crisis Support Desk: 0860 111 646 Fedhealth Nurse Line and Emergency Medical Services: 0860 333 432 Paed-IQ: 0860 444 128 and SOS Call Me: *130*3272*31# Press 1. Emergency Medical Services; 2. Nurse Line; 3. MediTaxi

Important COVID-19 resources
COVID-19 online resource and news portal: https://sacoronavirus.co.za/
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD): https://www.nicd.ac.za/