COVID – 19
You are all aware of the recent virus and the information we have available is mostly the same with exception of some more advanced medical language and statistics. The following is our physician’s take on the situation and our plan of action for Corinth Family Medicine and Pediatrics.
COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that affects the lungs of different people in different ways. For the young and healthy non-smokers, this typically presents very little risk. In fact, it is similar to the seasonal flu. For our older or immune-compromised patients (yes this includes smokers of all ages), this can be a devastating illness and appears to have a much higher risk than the seasonal flu. This is the reason for the recent containment measures. What is still unclear is the actual rate of infection. While testing has increased dramatically, the number of cases is only slowly increasing. In fact, containment measures have mostly ended in China with very little increase in disease. We are hopeful this will be similar worldwide and this current outbreak will be contained quickly. Until then, we must recommend that everyone follow the direction of local, state, and federal health officials even if those recommendations appear aggressive.
For our part, Corinth Family Medicine and Pediatrics will continue to provide full service medical care with a few appropriate precautions. We ask that all patients over 60 years old or with known immune deficiency avoid or delay non-urgent office visits with us or with any other physician until the current pandemic has passed. We will attend to any needs we can over the telephone. This is for your safety. While incredibly unlikely, we cannot guarantee you would not come into contact with an infected person. If you need to be seen we will make arrangements to see you at a time that will minimize exposure, so please do not hesitate to call. For everyone else, the risk is incredibly low. At this point we will continue current practice guidelines for scheduling of urgent and routine medical care. As always, we will do everything in our power to provide a sterile environment for care. We always disinfect all exam rooms, after every visit and clean all surfaces you may come into contact, multiple times per day. Our staff is diligent in hygiene and very protective of our patients. When scheduling, you may encounter a few additional screening questions per CDC guidelines. Otherwise, we do not anticipate any delay or interruption in care for our patients.
For our pediatric population: as you may have heard already, the risk to children from this virus is much lower than the adult population. As such, there will be little impact on the care of our pediatric patients. Please do not delay needed medical care. If you have any questions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to call. We would recommend that all patients avoid local emergency rooms and urgent care centers, as we always do, unless you truly have a medical emergency. We all need to avoid overwhelming our emergency services and the risk of exposure and substandard care is much higher in an urgent care environment. Our staff is available 24/7 to take your calls, if urgent, to avoid unneeded exposure at these locations.
Finally, do not panic! We know this can all be overwhelming for many of you. This disease has still infected only a minute fraction of the population in the U.S. Most will likely never be infected. Most who are infected, will likely have a very mild course. Rest easy. God is still in control.
