• Masks must be worn at all times for the safety of our staff, their families and yourself.
• Only the patient may wait in the lobby and enter the exam room. All family members must wait outside and will be called for if the Provider needs to speak with them.
• No one may enter the lobby without an appointment of some kind. If you do not have an appointment and arrive at our office, you will be asked to please wait in your car and call us for a phone evaluation.
• If you have any symptoms of Covid-19 call the office when you arrive, and you will be directed to special parking at the back of the building and wait for someone to come to your car.

As communities and businesses are opening, you may be looking for ways to resume some daily activities as safely as possible. While there is no way to ensure zero risk of infection, it is important to understand potential risks and how to adopt different types of prevention measures to protect yourself and to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a reminder, if you have COVID-19, have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, it is important to stay home and away from other people.

When you can leave home and be around others depends on different factors for different situations. Follow CDC’s recommendations for your circumstances. In general, the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread. So, think about:

How many people will you interact with?

• Interacting with more people raises your risk.
• Being in a group with people who aren’t social distancing or wearing cloth face coverings increases your risk.
• Engaging with new people (e.g., those who don’t live with you) also raises your risk.
• Some people have the virus and don’t have any symptoms, and it is not yet known how often people without symptoms can transmit the virus to others.

Can you keep 6 feet of space between you and others? Will you be outdoors or indoors?

• The closer you are to other people who may be infected, the greater your risk of getting sick.
• Keeping distance from other people is especially important for people who are at higher risk for severe illness, such as older adults and those with underlying medical conditions.
• Indoor spaces are more risky than outdoor spaces where it might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation.

What’s the length of time that you will be interacting with people?

• Spending more time with people who may be infected increases your risk of becoming infected.
• Spending more time with people increases their risk of becoming infected if there is any chance that you may already be infected.

Currently, there are millions of people across the country not only losing their jobs, but also their health insurance, keeping them from protecting their most valuable asset –THEIR HEALTH. Those who do have insurance are afraid of going into an office for routine care, from fear of being exposed to the virus. For our patients, who are facing loss of health benefits or who want to save healthcare cost, we are now offering membership to Primary Partner’s Direct Care Program. It is an affordable alternative, only $75 a month to receive unlimited access to primary care services without co-pays for deductibles. See the Primary Partner’s website for more in-depth information about the program. Click here to directly go to the sign-up page for the Primary Partner’s Direct Care Program.

Your best defense against Covid-19 is to stay home when ever possible. Wash your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds after touching hard surfaces in public places, and do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Limit any close contact with people from outside your home. Do not touch any one when they come home until they have changed into new clothing and have washed thoroughly. If a family member does show signs of Covid-19 have them isolated in a separate room with limited contact from other family members. Schedule a tele-visit with their primary care physician to be evaluated and receive instructions.

Visit www.cdc.gov/covid19 for the latest information.