What do I do if I get Corona
Feeling sick and do not have a general doctor ? Find someone in Doctolib or SOS Medecins and take an appointment. France is no more doing Corona testing since sometime except some cases, and you will not be taken to the hospital unless you have a severe case of respiratory problem.
Also, please read the new advisory published the French authority.
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As per this FAQ document from the French government, if we have respiratory infections and fever above 37.5°c, we need to stay at home, avoid contact with others as much as possible and contact a local doctor, and follow his/her instructions.
In case of cough and / or high fever or respiratory difficulties, we can contact the emergency numbers 15 or 114. We do not call the emergency numbers earlier and first contact our local doctors, as the idea is not to disturb 15 / 114 by calling them till a later state, to help them stay less saturated.
The following image, from the website of French government of health, gives similar instructions.
In case you are sick, you can also go for a self evaluation, in this link : https://www.covid19-medicaments.com/
The only medicine suggested that you can take by yourself without consulting a doctor, is paracetamol. You should not take more than 1000mg of paracetamol at one go, and not more than 3000mg in 24 hours. Unless you are a doctor yourself, or suggested by a doctor, no medicine apart from paracetamol should be taken, since some are said to aggravate your condition.
In case you have a general question on Corona virus, you may call 0800 130 000. They are open 24*7, however, they are not health professionals. You may also want to go through this article where views of a couple of Indian doctors on this is shared.
You can also consider to create an account with SOS Medecins, an association of health professionals, established in 1966 and helps in urgent cases. It is a good idea to create an account now, as you may be too tired to do it later.
Lastly, in case your French is not good enough to have a conversation, do not hesiate to contact one of the volunteers who gave their names as voluntary oral translators, in case of need.
All the best friends. Hope neither you and nor someone close to you will ever need to use these services.
Sourav Choudhury is a social entrepreneur living in France since 2003 and working for the cause of Indian community of France, since 2007. He is founder of multiple projects: the largest social network of the Indian community of France, a French language school for english speaking expatriates, this website, and few other projects.