Have you experienced running out to different local pharmacies when your medication is out of stock? To your dismay, you will probably scratch your head because there are no more over-the-counter
medicines at your local
pharmacies.
Flu season is still ongoing, and Filipinos experience symptoms associated with the COVID-19 virus. Most individuals are experiencing flu-like symptoms, such as coughs, fever, and body pains. It’s good to know that there are proven
home remedies, food, and drinks that you can take as alternatives to ease any flu or COVID-19 symptoms that you can also utilize as preventive measures.
1. Herbal teas to help fight infections – Ginger and garlic are suitable alternative treatment options because of their anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory qualities. Most people can drink between two to four cups daily, as drinking teas have been proven to have a variety of health benefits as well.
2. Plenty of water intake – The Department of Health (DOH) and health experts advise drinking plenty of water. Health experts cannot but emphasize drinking water and having enough intake of healthy fluids. According to a reliable health source, healthy hydration levels help maintain the mucous membrane intact. It can decrease nasal irritation, and the moisture can heal broken membranes so that bacteria can’t quickly get into the body. [1]
3. Cool washcloths to bring down a fever – For fever
symptoms, place cool washcloths on the wrist or forehead to lower body temperature.
4. Warm saltwater to ease sore throat – For cough symptoms, you can instead gargle warm saltwater several times a day if the medicine is out of stock.
5. Suob or steam inhalation for cough and cold symptoms – If you are experiencing cough and colds, you can do breathing steam in a hot bath or with a humidifier, or cover your head with a towel over a pan of hot water. These can help ease your symptoms by helping to moisturize dry or irritated nasal passages and reduce the severity of the cough.
6. Hot compress to relieve chest pain – Hot compress or a cloth dipped in hot water slightly and wrung out can be used and put directly on the chest to ease the pain. If there are any difficulties in breathing, breathing steam is also recommended, and drinking warm water or warm fluids can ease the lungs and help open airways. Caffeine in a cup of coffee or black tea can also help with this symptom. [2]
7. Local comfort food to soothe mental stress – Eating lugaw or rice porridge with more ginger and chicken is a helpful treatment and comfort food that you can also cook up, as it is more common here in the Philippines. Anxiety at this pandemic is shared among everyone because of the ongoing COVID-19 struggles.
8. Vegetables and fruits – You would need a lot of fruits and vegetables high in Zinc, and vitamin C. [3] Fruits and vegetables are essential for a human body’s overall health, as these provide enough essential nutrients to make the body stronger and more immune to diseases.
Getting vaccination: prevention is better than cure.
Getting vaccinated is still the first and best option to prevent ill effects and contract the virus. Now booster shots are made available by the health sectors and the government in respective areas and localities for the people to access. Proper wearing of face masks, washing hands, and adequate disinfection are still preventive ways to be applied consistently.
Ventilation or fresh air in indoor spaces can help prevent the further spread of the virus since airborne transmission of the virus is possible. The DOH has also stressed that adequate ventilation is also vital in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Proper guidelines on ventilation are still unclear, as experts would say. Proper ventilation is done by keeping doors and windows open to help maintain airflow or placing an electric fan by the window for pleasant air circulation. Since the Philippines commonly has hot or humid weather, you can open windows for a few hours or every few minutes.
All details and information in this article are true and accurate as of the publication date. However, while we are making our utmost effort to keep our content as up-to-date as possible, the condition surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be unpredictable, and the situation develops rapidly. Hence, some information and recommendations may have changed since this article was published. For the latest advice, visit DOH and your LGU's official websites.
Sources:
[1] https://bit.ly/3gZh2fP
[2] https://bit.ly/3gKeGRy
[3] https://bit.ly/34EbLHR
[4] https://bit.ly/3gExUIu
[5] https://bit.ly/3Lvdj7D
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