DON'T PANIC: Take online quiz to check your risk of contracting COVID-19

Self-test can provide much-needed assurance to people fearing the contagion

The novel coronavirus pandemic has upended the world, killing more than 30,000 and infecting well over half a million across the globe. The World Health Organisation (WHO) advises “testing, testing, and testing” to contain the spread of the deadly contagion. Large-scale testing, however, is a major challenge for different countries for varied reasons.

In Pakistan and elsewhere in the developing world, authorities discourage the PCR test for the novel coronavirus until the patient has critical symptoms.

Suspected COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms are advised to stay at home in self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor their symptoms because stats show an overwhelming majority of COVID-19 patients – 80% to be precise – do not require hospitalisation and get well with simple symptomatic treatment.

This is flu season. But due to the coronavirus scare, health-conscious people start having panic attacks if they sneeze, cough or get a sore throat. And they wanted to be tested rightaway to rule out COVID-19, but we do not have enough labs and kits to test everyone in Pakistan.

The Fourthman Concepts, a Nigeria-based information communications technology (ICT) corporation, has prepared a simple online symptoms checker for COVID-19.

The symptoms checker is not a replacement for medical diagnosis by a certified health practitioner, but it can help people taking the quiz to assess their risk of getting the mysterious virus.

The online quiz asks a few simple questions about your health and travel history and let you know based on your symptoms the level of risk you have of contracting the highly contagious disease. Depending on the answers, you risk could be “low”, “medium”, “high” or “severe”.

The questions include:

1. Do you have cough?


2. Do you have a cold?


3. Are you having Diarrhea?


4. Are you having sore throat?


5. Are you having body aches?


6. Are you having a headache?


7. Do you have fever (Temperature 37.8 °C and above)?


8. Are you having difficulty breathing?


9. Are you experiencing fatigue?


10. Have you traveled recently during the past 14 days?


11. Do you have a travel history to a COVID-19 INFECTED AREA?


12. Do you have direct contact with or are you taking care of a positive COVID-19 PATIENT?

If your risk of contracting the virus is “high” or “severe” and you have symptomatic, you can consult your physician or contact the coronavirus helpline in your respective country for proper diagnosis.

According to its Facebook page, the Fourthman Concept specializes in modern-day software development, information communications technology consultancy and DNA computing which happens to be a new field in the computing world.

If you want to check your symptoms, you take the quiz here.

(NOTE: Symptom checkers are intended for informational purposes only. They are not a substitute for professional medical diagnosis.)