What To Do If You’re Sick
For medical or health advice, contact your health care provider or Health811 toll-free at 8-1-1.
If you are having difficulty breathing or experiencing severe symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately.
If you are unsure what your next steps should be, complete the online self-assessment.
We can all do our part to protect ourselves and others from the spread of illness, especially during respiratory illness season. This includes using the layers of protection that we know help keep ourselves and others healthy, including:
- Staying home when you are sick and wearing a mask until day 10 from symptom onset
- Staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots
- Washing your hands often
- Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze
- Regularly cleaning high touch surfaces
- Wearing a tight-fitting, well-constructed mask in indoor public settings, especially if you are at higher risk of severe infection
- Visitors and patients should follow any requirements for masking in hospitals, long-term care homes, and other health care spaces
- Optimizing indoor air quality
- If you are at high risk of severe illness, talk to your health care provider about antiviral treatment options in case you get sick
If you have symptoms of COVID-19
Stay home and self-isolate until all of the following apply:
- your symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours (or 48 hours if you had nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea)
- you do not have a fever
- you have not developed additional symptoms
Do not leave your home except to seek medical care or for a medical emergency. If you have severe symptoms like chest pain or difficulty breathing, go to the nearest emergency department.
To help prevent the spread of illness in our community, you should continue to take additional precautions for up to 10 days after your symptoms started.
Testing and Treatments
Please be advised that rapid antigen test (RAT) kits for COVID-19 are no longer available for public distribution at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, and they will not be restocked in the future.
If you are at higher risk of severe outcomes of COVID‑19, you may be eligible for PCR or rapid molecular testing, and antiviral treatment options. You should see your health care provider as soon as possible if you develop symptoms.
For information on eligibility, or to learn more about testing and treatment, visit the Ministry of Health’s Testing and Treatment page.