Get lemonade, spare pyjamas, some simple food and a thermometer.
That was the advice from a coronavirus patient, speaking on RTÉ's This Week radio programme.
Dr Clare Gerada is a UK-based GP who is recovering from the virus in self-isolation at home.
"I'm feeling quite tired, as if I've just run a marathon," she said.
"But all the systemic systems, the temperature and headache have disappeared."
Dr Gerada contracted the virus while attending a conference in New York.
She said: "I started feeling unwell at the beginning of the week, but it didn't get bad until the middle of the week.
"It's really been a three or four-day illness with very high temperature, cough, and pain all over.
"The pain is difficult to describe, it really just feels as if your body is on fire.
"I got a terrible dry cough, which really irritates you and hurts you because there's nothing that you can bring up, because it's like sawdust."
Pleased to say am on the mend after an unwelcome visit from Covid_19 (courtesy of New York) . At least now I have immunity I can help out in the front line of care with less fear.
— Clare Gerada (@ClareGerada) March 13, 2020
Dr Gerada said she spent the past few days in bed as the virus took hold.
"I took to the bed, I knew before I got the result that it was Covid-19 because the window for seasonal flu had passed.
"I was desperate to go to the bed, I just had to go to bed, it was calling me. The only place you can be when you're sick is in bed.
"I got some lemonade, some paracetamol and a thermometer, and just went to bed for the next three days.
"I didn't want to eat. My husband, who came up with a scarf around his face to stop being infected from me, brought me some yogurt and honey, which was about all I could bear.
"On the third day I had some chicken soup, which was fabulous, but I didn't really want to eat because your mouth feels like sawdust.
"It is very similar to the flu, but it seemed to be longer and slightly more severe, which makes sense because none of us have any immunity. So it was on par with the flu but worse."
Dr Gerada did not suffer any breathing difficulties, which are common in people with an underlying medical condition, or among the elderly.
"I am not in a risk group because I have no underlying health problems, but if you do have underlying health problems, or if you're elderly then you have to be careful," she said.
"I also knew that even though my breathing was harder I wasn't having any lung problems. But people who do get lung problems, especially if they're getting breathless, they need to seek help."
Woken up feeling almost back to normal after my #Covid_19 illness. by tomorrow should be completely back to normal (just lighter).
— Clare Gerada (@ClareGerada) March 14, 2020
Asked what advice she has for people who want to prepare for the virus, she said: "There are two things to prepare for: You have to prepare for being ill and you have to prepare for being in isolation.
"For being ill, make sure you have enough pairs of pyjamas or nighties because you'll sweat. Make sure you have food that you want to eat when you're unwell.
"For me it was yogurt and honey, but you might want to eat cornflakes, but just make sure you've got that.
"And for the two weeks of isolation, make sure you have enough food, and things to do for that two-week period."
She said medication was of very little benefit.
"I took paracetamol, but it didn't really work. It helped to take the pain away, but it didn't bring the temperature down. I had a fan in my room."
Dr Gerada is now recovering, but feels there is a stigma attached to the virus.
"I did feel a bit like typhoid Mary. It is very odd, especially in America. I got it at a conference in America.
"I didn't arrive there with coronavirus, but it was as if I brought it there, the finger is pointed at you.
"But saying that, very soon lots more people are going to have it so I'm just going to take it on the chin and realise that people are just trying to find someone else to blame."
