Here to help: How to manage COVID this summer – The Seattle Times

As new variants of the coronavirus continue to gain traction, doctors and researchers are bracing for a potential rise in cases this summer. Heres what to know about symptoms, testing and treatment if you fall ill.

WATCH OUT FOR THE USUAL SYMPTOMS.

Theres no evidence that symptoms of the new dominant COVID variants, KP.3 and KP.2, which account for nearly half of all cases, are any different from other recent strains of the virus, said Aubree Gordon, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Michigan. The symptoms include sneezing, congestion, headaches, sore muscles, nausea or vomiting. Many people also report exhaustion and a blah feeling.

In general, the more immunity youve built up from vaccination or past infections, the milder your next bout with the virus is likely to be. (Though its possible to experience more intense symptoms.)

GET TESTED.

In an ideal world, experts said, people would take a COVID test as soon as they develop symptoms or learn they were exposed, and then test again a day or two later.

If you have other symptoms but few at-home rapid tests on hand, you may want to wait a few days to test, to reduce the chance of a false negative. If youve had symptoms for more than three days but are still testing negative, its unlikely youll ever test positive on an at-home test, Dr. Gordon said either because you do not have COVID, or because you are shedding amounts of the virus that are too low for a rapid test to pick up.

CONSIDER MEDICATIONS TO PREVENT AND TREAT COVID.

People age 12 and older who have tested positive can take Paxlovid within five days of developing symptoms. The medication halts the virus from replicating in the body and lowers the risk of death for people who are more vulnerable to severe disease. There is no evidence that Paxlovid is less effective against the current leading variants than previous strains of the virus, experts said. Scientists are still debating whether Paxlovid can reduce the risk of developing long COVID.

Doctors advise resting as much as possible while sick. Some people like to take long walks, said Dr. Davey Smith, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Diego. I just stay in bed and read a book. Basically, you just suffer through it.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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Here to help: How to manage COVID this summer - The Seattle Times