Grandma Is Coughing a Lot on the Phone. What Should We Do?

The CDC has an interactive symptom checker. All you have to do is answer a handful of questions on the online form and it’ll respond with individualized instruction about what you should do.

A lot of people have been asking right now: “What should I do if I hear my parents or grandparents coughing during a phone call or video chat? When should they call or go to a clinic?”

Your concern isn’t alone. We’re all worried about our older loved ones and relatives right now.

Firstly, you shouldn’t immediately tell your parents to go to the hospital just because you heard them cough a couple times. 

“Our hospitals are safe,” Dr. Ben Weston, medical director of Milwaukee County’s Emergency Medical Services, and told reporters on Monday. But part of the reason for that is because traffic is so low at hospitals. And medical professionals want to keep it that way.

We reached out to a couple Wisconsin health officials — Weston and Sandy Bernier of the Fond du Lac County Health Department — and they both said you should go to the CDC’s website for advisement.

The basic advice right now about seeking medical attention for coronavirus symptoms is to go through the following checklists.

First, do you have a cough AND shortness of breath/trouble breathing? If you (or your parents) don’t answer yes to both questions, it’s advised to self isolate at home. If you do answer yes to both questions (i.e. you are coughing and have shortness of breath), then there’s you can go onto the next checklist. 

The following seven symptoms have been recently confirmed by the CDC. They are:

1. Fever
2. Chills
3. Repeated shaking with chills
4. Muscle pain
5. Headache
6. Sore throat
7. New loss of taste or smell

Now, if you (or your parents) have AT LEAST TWO of those symptoms, in addition to the shortness of breath and coughing, then the CDC and Wisconsin’s health professionals advise seeking medical attention because you might have COVID-19.

Still, that isn’t the full story. If you or your parents are experiencing ANY of the following four “Emergency Warning Signs,” you should call 911 right away:

• Trouble breathing
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• New confusion or inability to arouse
• Bluish lips or face

If you are still not sure, the CDC also has an interactive symptom checker. All you have to do is answer a handful of questions on the online form and it’ll respond with individualized instruction about what you or your loved one(s) should do.

The good news: Testing in Wisconsin is expanding. The new goal is to start processing 85,000 tests weekly, a target that is appearing increasingly feasible since there are now at least 50 laboratories able to conduct tests statewide.

Both the CDC and the state’s top health experts have said that they are now telling physicians that it is OK to order a coronavirus test for everyone they think a test might be beneficial for: not only medical professionals and those whose lives are most at risk.