Update from the front lines:
10 positive Covid-19 out of 75 patients that we’ve tested in the past 4 days.
That’s in our neighborhood family practice. Not an ER, not a hospital.
That’s 13.3% of our tested patients.
5 were hospitalized.
That means 1/2 of our positive Covid-19 patients were very sick. But we only test high risk and sick people.
It takes 6 hours, with 1 physician and 2 MAs to test 20 people. Along with 100 gloves (we double-glove), 3 disposable gowns, caps, and 6 masks (you have to take it off to get a drink). And 9 pages of paperwork for each test.
We don’t get paid anything for the test itself. We get paid for an office visit, about $80. The same we’d get paid to see you for a cold. Except we wouldn’t die if we caught your cold.
A week ago when we started testing, I thought we’d find one positive.
After all, the health department reported only 7 confirmed tests in our city of 180,000. But there’s lots more.
Family doctors know things before the health department.
I felt the need to tell you this stuff.
There so much I don’t know so I feel compelled to tell you the little bit that I do. And I talk more when I’m scared.
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