The recent rise in Covid-19 cases in Brazil has even hit those who were sure they would go through the pandemic unharmed, without contracting the coronavirus.
While some report a feeling of frustration at having received a positive diagnosis for the disease, others seem more resigned and say that it is almost inevitable that someone will manage to remain undefeated.
Student Jessica Wu, 20, says she kept using alcohol gel and a mask, even when the item became optional. But nothing came of it and she was diagnosed with Covid this week.
During the most rigorous period of the pandemic, she did not usually leave the house. The exceptions were times when she needed to go to the supermarket, pharmacy, college and work.
“When things started to come back, I was very worried,” she says. “I only went out again this year. But then I got used to it again. [com a vida presencial].”
The student usually asked friends, before meeting them, if they had any flu-like symptoms. But she forgot about this ritual before visiting a friend last week. When she arrived, she had flu-like symptoms, and after that, Wu also started showing them. She had headache, nausea, runny nose, cough, weakness and lack of appetite.
Even saddened by the positive result, she tries to look on the positive side: “It’s ten days of rest, I was very stressed with the routine and came at the right time”.
Biological science student Alice Vieira, 22, shares the disappointment. “I was disgusted. I thought: ‘it’s not possible’. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been at home for a long time. Now, when everything is coming back, I go there and get it.”
A resident of Belo Horizonte, Vieira says she has a certain trauma from the disease. “It’s really bad. It’s a totally different pain, it feels like the flu, but it’s very strong. I’m a little afraid to go out again, it’s a little scary.”
She, who has asthma, reports that she felt very strong symptoms. “Even vaccinated with the three doses, I felt very sick. I had fever, shortness of breath, dizziness and body aches. I was scared.” For her, four could have been worse had she not been immunized.
Psychologist Anna Karolyne Vilar, 24, says that no one believes her when she tells her that she has Covid-19 for the first time. “They say I must have had it, but I was asymptomatic.”
“I thought I would get through it unscathed”, says she, who lives in the Rondônia city of Ouro Preto do Oeste. As soon as the quarantine passes, she must resume wearing a mask.
Vilar works at a school with around 600 students, of which only 20% would have had a complete vaccination schedule, she estimates. “I think at some point everyone will catch it. It’s inevitable.”
The frustration of civil engineering student Milena Moura, 24, has a name: university games. “I imagined that the cases would explode after the holiday, but it started before”, says the resident of Goiânia.
After two years without the event, she was looking forward to the comeback. Now, the expectation is to heal in time for the Corpus Christi holiday, when the last weekend of the games is scheduled.
Despite the young people interviewed by the report claiming that they have had three full doses, they make up the age group that presents a bottleneck in the vaccination booster in the country.
Recent survey carried out by Sheet pointed out that only a third of young people aged 18 to 29 took the third dose (33%). Experts analyze that there may have been a misjudgment that the ômicron variant, by causing milder cases in people already vaccinated, was like a little flu.
However, the immunity conferred by natural infection is not the same as that conferred by vaccines, which protect against severe cases. Specialists also warn that, even after two years and with a good part of the population immunized, it is necessary to maintain the quarantine when infected by Covid.
The recommendation of the Ministry of Health is isolation of 7 seven to 10 days for those who have symptoms and 5 to 7 days for those who do not.
For the person who is symptomatic, there are at least seven days of isolation. After this period, she needs to undergo the Covid test. If the result is negative, you can leave isolation. But if it is positive, you must maintain isolation until the tenth day.
The person who is asymptomatic must stay at home for at least five days in isolation. After that time, it must be tested. If the test result is positive, you must continue in isolation until the tenth day.
André Ricardo Ribas Freitas, professor of epidemiology at the São Leopoldo Mandic School of Medicine, says that a doctor must be sought if the person has any respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath. “It is necessary the diagnosis and that the isolation is done properly.”
For Freitas, Brazil should follow in the footsteps of Asian countries that adopt the use of masks in public transport in periods of flu and low temperatures. “Even if it’s not mandatory, people should keep wearing a mask in closed places.”
The downside of isolation, according to content creator Ricardo Barros, 40, is losing job opportunities — he says he was unable to attend at least two professional events this week.
“Seven days of soaking is a loss. I took great care not to catch it, but we know it’s subject and I knew that at some point this could happen”, he laments.
When the quarantine is over, he should continue to avoid crowded places. “When I go out, I will reinforce the use of the mask and alcohol gel.”
THE GUIDELINES OF THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
5 days isolation
- Symptom-free cases: on the fifth day, if the patient has no respiratory symptoms, no fever and no use of antipyretic drugs, for at least 24 hours, he/she needs to be tested to leave the isolation
- Testing: should be done on the fifth day with RT-PCR or antigen test
- If the result is negative: the person can come out of isolation, but must maintain additional recommendations until the tenth day (read at the end of the list)
- If the result is positive: it is necessary to maintain isolation for up to ten full days
7 days isolation
- Symptom-free cases: on the seventh day, if the case has no respiratory symptoms, no fever and no use of antipyretic drugs, for at least 24 hours, the isolation can be ended
- Testing: is not necessary to come out of isolation under these conditions, according to the new guidance from Health
- How the end of isolation works: those who leave the quarantine after seven full days still need, however, to maintain some care until the tenth day (read at the end)
7 days isolation
- Cases with symptoms: People who have had the symptomatic form of Covid, but who do not present respiratory symptoms, fever on the seventh day and do not need to use antipyretic drugs, for at least 24 hours, can take a test to try to leave the isolation.
- Testing: tests must be of the RT-PCR or antigen type
- If the result is negative: the patient can come out of isolation
- If the result is positive: it is necessary to maintain isolation until the tenth day
10 days isolation
- cases within symptoms: on the tenth day, if there is no respiratory symptoms, no fever and no use of antipyretic drugs, for at least 24 hours, isolation is ended
- Testing: no need to test to get out of isolation
Recommendations that must be followed by the tenth day
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Avoid contact with people with comorbidities
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avoid agglomerations
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avoid travel
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Maintain non-pharmacological care, such as hand hygiene and mask use
Source: Ministry of Health
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