If you have or suspect you have COVID-19

If you receive a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 infection you should:

• Stay at home until your symptoms are gone.
• Follow the advice of the diagnosing doctor or healthcare facility.
• Seek the advice of your neurologist/MS specialist healthcare team as soon as possible regarding any changes needed to your MS treatment and other medicines. Advising your MS specialist healthcare team also helps them to gather as much information as possible about COVID-19 and MS.

Further information is available here.

Whilst vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19, the Australian Government continues to ensure that Australians have early access to safe and effective treatments as they are approved for use by the medical experts. This includes the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) approval of the oral anti-viral treatment for COVID-19 Paxlovid® (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir) and provisional approval of the oral anti-viral treatment Lagevrio® (molnupiravir).

These are prescription-only medicines for people who have a high risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease and must be started as soon as possible after a diagnosis of COVID-19. If you are diagnosed as COVID-19 positive, you should immediately notify your GP and your treating neurologist/MS healthcare team to determine if you meet the criteria for treatment with these medications. Both medicines are subsidised through the PBS for eligible people.

You may be eligible to be prescribed PBS-subsidised Paxlovid® or Lagevrio® if you test positive for COVID-19 through a nucleic acid test or Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and are:

• 70 years of age or older, regardless of risk factors and with or without symptoms, or
• 50 years of age or older with two or more risk factors for developing severe disease, or
• A First Nations person, 30 years of age or older and have one risk factor for developing severe disease, or
• 18 years of age and are moderately to severely immunocompromised or have been previously hospitalised due to COVID-19 and are now re-infected.

See below for more information:

• Fact sheet – Paxlovid®
• Fact sheet – Lagevrio®
• Department of Health and Aged Care – Updated eligibility for oral COVID-19 treatments

The Disability Gateway is a free, Australia-wide service. The Disability Gateway assists all people with disability, their families and carers to locate and access services across Australia.

Disability Gateway: 1800 643 787.

The Disability Gateway is available Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm (AEST/AEDT)

Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 020 080
Health Direct Hotline 1800 022 222

• Australian Government, Department of Health
• Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
• ​New South Wales (NSW) 
• Northern Territory (NT)
• Queensland (QLD)
• South Australia (SA)
• Tasmania (TAS) 
• Victoria (Vic.) 
• Western Australia (WA) 

MS Plus: (ACT, NSW, TAS, VIC): https://www.msplus.org.au/
(Plus Connect: 1800 042 138)
MS Queensland: www.msqld.org.au
(NeuroAssist Line: 1800 177 591)
MSWA: https://mswa.org.au/
(MSWA Client Services line: 1300 097 989)