COVID-19 Discharge from hospital stay patient advice leaflet
This leaflet contains information for people with COVID-19 who have been discharged from hospital stay
- Publication date:
- 01 March 2020
- Date range:
- March 2020 - March 2021
Information on COVID-19
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus strain that first emerged in China in December 2019.
In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe disease. The new coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020. The most important symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of any of the following:
- a new continuous cough
- a high temperature
- loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
For most people COVID-19 will be a mild illness. However if you have any of the symptoms listed you should self isolate at home.
If I have COVID-19 what does that mean?
The severity and duration of symptoms for people who have COVID-19 can also vary although symptoms are reported to reduce in most cases within 7 days of symptom onset.
Most people who have COVID-19 will not require admission to hospital and can be sent home to recover naturally. Others will require monitoring in hospital and a small proportion will require treatment in intensive care.