COVID-19 Update
Our office now has limited capability to test for COVID-19!
Only as ordered by our Doctors and after a video or telephone visit.
If you are concerned that you may have COVID-19,
please self isolate, and call for advice on how to proceed.
Below are some general instructions:
If you are only mildly ill, please self isolate and treat as you would for cold or flu symptoms.
DO NOT go to ER just to be tested if you are only mildly ill and do not need emergency services.
If you are having severe difficulty breathing, or serious illness, please go to ER for evaluation for admission. Please call ahead to inform the ER that you are coming and ask for instructions.
If you have been exposed to COVID-19,
please determine if you have had close contact with an infectious person.
Persons who have had close contact with persons positive for COVID-19 will need to quarantine for 14 days from the last exposure to the person positive for COVID-19.
If you develop symptoms while in quarantine, you should get tested for COVID-19.
If you test positive while in quarantine you will move to the isolation designation and will isolate for 10 days from the start of your symptoms.
A negative test while in quarantine, does not end the quarantine, as you have the potential to become infectious for up to 14 days.
If you are a household contact of a person with COVID-19 and the infectious person cannot isolate from you,
you will need to quarantine for up to 24 days. (This is 14 days from the last exposure, as persons are infectious for 10 days.)
Healthcare workers and Frontline personnel may have different isolation and quarantine protocols depending on the the level of risk.
Please contact your employer for more information.
TERMS
Isolation - Isolation is for ill persons while they are infectious. Isolation is for 10 days for most persons. Severely ill and hospitalized persons may be up to 20 days. Isolated persons should stay home, and not have contact with other persons. If an isolated persons needs to have contact with caregivers, the isolated person should wear a mask and the caregiver should wear PPE.
Quarantine - Quarantine is for persons exposed to infectious persons. Quarantine is for 14 days from the last exposure. Quarantined persons should remain at home. They should wear a mask if they need to interact with other persons. If a quarantined person becomes ill, they should be tested, and move to the isolation designation.
Close contact - Close contract is direct contact within 6 feet of an infectious person for more than 15 minutes, when both persons are not wearing a mask. Close contact is being sneezed or coughed on by a infectious person who is not wearing a mask, or being a household contacts of infectious person.
Infectious persons - Persons with COVID-19 are infectious from 48 hours prior to the start of their symptoms until 10 days after the start of their symptoms (20 days for severely ill persons.)
Please call the office for advice on whether you should get tested and how to get tested.
We have the capability to do a video or telephone visit to assess your need for a test.
If our physicians feel you need to have a test performed we will advise you on how to proceed.
Symptoms of COVID-19:
Cough
Shortness of Breath or Difficulty Breathing
or at least two of the following:
Fever >100.4
Chills
Rigors (uncontrollable shaking spells)
Muscle pains
Headache
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Diarrhea
Nausea or vomitting
A new loss of taste or smell.
These symptoms are the same as influenza, which makes diagnosis difficult. If you have these symptoms, please inform our staff before you arrive at our office, so that we can properly advise you on how to proceed, and so that precautions can be taken.
Below are links to important information regarding COVID testing, Isolation and Quarantine
For more information please see PA Dept of Health or CDC link below:
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