Should I come to the clinic?
Our office is committed to providing care to our patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we also feel it is our responsibility to reduce non-urgent visits in order to stop the spread of the virus and protect the health of our patients and staff. Starting immediately, we are taking the following steps…
ADDITIONAL SOURCE: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/ppih/if-ppih-ncov-2019-staff-faq.pdf
PLEASE NOTE:
We are not properly equipped to test for coronavirus/COVID-19 at our clinic.
If you feel you may have symptoms, first go to Alberta Health's COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool, and when in doubt, phone 811.
If required, they will direct you to the nearest testing station.
Priority Testing for COVID-19
Starting March 23, testing will be prioritized for:
· People who are hospitalized with respiratory illness
· Residents of Continuing Care and other similar facilities
· People who returned from travelling outside Canada between March 8 and March 12 (before the self-isolation protocols were in place)
· Healthcare workers with respiratory symptoms
SELF-ISOLATION:
Self-isolation guidelines for those with symptoms have changed. Those ill with symptoms should isolate for 10 days following onset of symptoms, or until well (whichever is longer). Travellers returning from outside Canada will still need to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return as a precaution. Should they start to experience symptoms, they must also follow the 10-day guidance.
If you are immunocompromised (from medication, chemotherapy, etc.) and are unsure whether or not to come in, please phone us first.
If you're sick, you may not have the coronavirus/COVID-19, but there's no way to tell it apart from other viral illnesses, especially in the early stages, and you're putting other patients at risks, including our staff, nurses and doctors, who also have families.
If you are NOT having any signs of upper or lower respiratory illness (fever, cough, runny nose, etc.) then we're happy to see you.
However, do exercise caution and common sense... ask yourself "is it really worth it, can it wait?"
