I’m on day 19 of the coronavirus and finally well enough to get a little bored, so thought would share a few tips about having the virus if you live alone, in case it’s helpful to anyone. 1/

THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, just my purely anecdotal experience/what I wish I’d known/what I’ve heard from friends. Please do chime in if other stuff worked for you.

(also good way to avoid finally starting to do emails, sorry if I owe you one ) 2/

First off, put a notebook or some paper by your bed. When you take any medicine WRITE IT DOWN, along w the time. You’re not gonna remember what time it was later, as you desperately wanna take more Tylenol. Especially write it down if you take in the middle of the night... 3/

Also write down your symptoms/temperature. This will be super helpful if you have a telehealth call w a doctor and for tracking your fever, bc again you just won’t remember. 4/

TELL YOUR CLOSE FRIENDS THAT YOU ARE SICK. Especially if you are someone that doesn’t like asking for help, YOU NEED TO TELL YOUR PEOPLE. Once you tell them, you won’t have to ask, they will bombard you checking in about what you might need. 5/

The really scary thing about this virus, especially if you live alone, is that it can get worse very quickly even with a case that seems mildly. I’m extremely lucky and never had any medically serious symptoms, but was definitely afraid of that happening. 6/

I wish I had some easy life hack for preventing that possibility, but obviously don’t. What I can say is that you should have a couple of steady people you’re checking in w at least once a day (couple times a day when you’re sicker) just saying honestly what your symptoms are 7/

The amazing @aurabogado (queen of the Signal check in ) really drilled that one in to me. Also be honest with whomever you’re talking to. They can’t say "wow, sounds like you’ve gotten worse & should call a dr" if you’re sugarcoating it. 8/

Feeding yourself can be a challenge if you’ve lost your sense of taste & smell. Unless it was obviously moldy, I struggled w knowing if stuff in fridge had gone bad. Would cook & then have in my fridge unable to remember exactly when I’d made it or if had been more than a wk 9/

I would suggest labeling whatever you make w the date when you put it in your fridge. (Again, you just really won’t remember, esp. when the days blend). Also, if ppl drop off prepared food for you, make sure you know how long it’s already been in their fridge. & freeze stuff! 10/

I live in a bldg on a very busy street where no contact delivery is impossible, so was extremely grateful to family & friends who knew how to get into my bldg & dropped essentials off for me. 11/

(I know I wrote about the challenges of helping people during a pandemic, & all that still stands. It’s complicated. & sometimes it’s necessary. They were incredibly careful & left outside my front door) Also can't give me covid when I already have it 12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-07/coronavirus-test-reflection-symptoms

I wasn’t taking out my trash for a while (gross, I know) until I read a story about how rats are coming out w all the restaurants closed (even grosser). I live in an apt bldg w a shared dumpster and was also really worried about being in potential proximity to neighbors 13/

My trash solution was to very quickly take it out like every three days when I woke up in the middle of the night (not great sleep w covid) & no one was out, wearing & . This might be crazy, or might not have been careful enough, I really don’t know. 14/

I have shared laundry facilities, so using the machines was out. I washed essentials in the bath by ... breaking open a tidepod, which was when I knew I’d really lost my marbles. Pretty sure you can just use soap/shampoo and let it soak.
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