Symptoms of COVID-19 and how to protect yourself

1. Symptoms

2. Protect yourself

3. What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19

4. How COVID-19 spreads

5. Keeping well during the COVID-19 pandemic

6. Public health advice posters

7. Stay safe guidelines

Everyone should Stay Safe - you are urged to use your own judgement and take personal responsibility for protecting yourself and others.

Symptoms

It can take up to 14 days for symptoms to show. They can be similar to symptoms of cold and flu.

If you have any common symptoms of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), you should self-isolate and phone your GP straight away to get tested for COVID-19.

Common symptoms include:

a fever (high temperature - 38 degrees Celsius or above)
a cough - this can be any kind of cough, not just dry
shortness of breath or breathing difficulties
loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If you're confused about the differences between symptoms of COVID-19, the cold and flu, the HSE has more information.

If you have symptoms

If you have any of these symptoms, you should behave as if you have the virus and self-isolate. People in your household will need to restrict their movements.

You may also need to be tested for COVID-19. Getting tested for COVID-19 is free.

Find out when you should call your GP to be assessed for a test.

Protect yourself

General advice

To protect yourself:

wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand rub if your hands are not visibly dirty
practise good respiratory hygiene, that is, when coughing and sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – discard tissue immediately into a closed bin and clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water
maintain physical distancing, that is, leave at least 2 metres (6 feet) distance between yourself and other people, particularly those who are coughing, sneezing and have a fever
avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth – if you touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your contaminated hands, you can transfer the virus from the surface to yourself

The most important action we can take to protect ourselves from COVID-19 is regular hand washing and good respiratory hygiene.

Read a step-by-step guide from the HSE on how to clean your hands.

Face coverings

Information on when to wear face coverings and how to make them is available here.

People over the age of the 70 or extremely medically vulnerable

As part of the easing of restrictions, the public health advice for those who have been cocooning has been updated. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) have updated their guidance, and this is available online to support those who are cocooning, their families and carers.

It is not possible to eliminate all risk so everyone should exercise their own judgement regarding the extent to which the cocooning guidance applies to them.

What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19

If you do not have symptoms

Everyone in Ireland is urged to stay safe.

However, you need to restrict your movements further if you:

live with someone who has symptoms of COVID-19, but you feel well
are a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19
have returned to Ireland from another country

You need to restrict your movements for at least 14 days. But if the person you live with has had a test and it's negative, you don't need to wait 14 days. You should still follow the advice for everyone - stay safe.

If you think you have been in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19

Visit www.hse.ie if you think you have been:

in contact with someone confirmed as having COVID-19
to a healthcare facility in another country where COVID-19 patients are being treated

You will be put in contact with your local Department of Public Health staff who will give you information and advice.

If you develop symptoms, avoid contact with people by self-isolating and phone your GP or emergency department.

Services for Deaf Irish Sign Language users

You can access the Interpreting Service for Deaf People here.

See more Irish Sign Language videos about COVID-19.

How COVID-19 spreads

You can get the virus if you come into close contact with someone who has the virus. It is spread through droplets that come from your nose and mouth. For example, from someone who is talking loud, singing, shouting, coughing or sneezing.

You can also get the virus from surfaces, for example, when someone who has the virus sneezes. Droplets containing the virus can fall onto surfaces around them. If you touch that surface and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth, you could become infected too.

How long the virus can survive on surfaces

Common household disinfectants will kill the virus on surfaces. Clean the surface first and then use a disinfectant.

COVID-19 can survive for:

up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel
less than 4 hours on copper
less than 24 hours on cardboard

More information on how COVID-19 spreads is available from the HSE.

Keeping well during the COVID-19 pandemic

Infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 can be worrying. This can affect your mental health. However, there are many things you can do to mind your mental health during times like this.

You can see a lot more supports and help here.

Public health advice posters

We have developed public health advice posters that are available for you to download and display in a range of settings.

Stay safe guidelines

We have also developed Stay Safe guidelines to help you measure and maintain distance in different settings.