The rates at which people getting infected with the coronavirus is increasing steadily all across the globe and yet there is no substantial measure to prevent the same. However, it is seen that more than half of the infected people have recovered from this deadly disease. Coronaviruses is a family of the virus which infects the respiratory system of the human beings triggering its functioning. Worst effects are seen in older people and people having pre-existing medical conditions. There are fewer chances of them getting recovered completely.

COVID-19 invites respiratory infections like a common cold, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Although, people are getting recovered from these conditions after the recovery phase is when people need to be more careful as they are susceptible to be infected again. It is said that people with mild symptoms recover in around 2-3 weeks, while the ones undergoing severe symptoms take about 4-6 weeks to recover.

Even when the person gets recovered from this novel virus, he/she may be left with improper lung functioning, weakened immune system or breathing problems. All in all, coronavirus severely infects and impacts the respiratory functioning of the infected person. Even when the person gets recovered, the virus continues to be present in the body and may take up to a month to completely disappear. Hence, it is important to take preventive measures even after recovering.

Before doing anything else make sure that you are completely recovered. Wait for at least 14 days since the day you were symptom-free. It acts as buffer time to be completely sure that you are healed and safe to step out. Research shows that patients having mild symptoms tend to have the virus in their body for at least 7 days even after recovery. Hence, no matter what stage of the disease were you on self-isolate yourself for minimum 7 days after the recovery.

One important thing the recovered patients can do to help is ‘donating the convalescent plasma’ i.e. once the person recovers his/her blood contains antibodies in its plasma. These anti-bodies have the tendency to fight the virus. Extracting these antibodies and transferring them to the infected patients through transfusion will help them in speedy recovery.

It is mandatory to take preventive measure even after recovering from coronavirus as there are chances that the person may still get re-infected, or spread the virus to people around. A recovered patient should stick to the hygiene practices that he/she followed during the quarantine. Right from frequent hand-washing, using sanitizer, covering of the mouth while sneezing, and proper disposal of tissues/towels after use has to be followed.

One thing to bear in the mind is that being recovered doesn’t mean being careless. It doesn’t give you the liberty to avoid safe hygiene practices. If you were infected,it is necessary to understand that one careless move from your side may result in grave effects for yourself as well as others. A person who has recovered should not mingle into large crowds and safe distance should be continuously maintained. Cover your face with a mask to avoid spreading of virus through your mucus. The surfaces, you touch or come in contact with, have to be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Make sure that you don’t share your things with anyone else and clean all the things that you use regularly.

Since you were infected by the coronavirus, serve as a spokesperson in the community and try to educate people about the deadly effects of COVID-19. Proper guidelines need to be followed to curb this ghastly situation that the entire world is facing.