Coronavirus (COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2) Office Protocols and Updates:
Evening hours are back at our Charlottesville office! Call us at 434-975-7777 to schedule an appointment.
We are also starting Monday evening well child visits at our Crozet office starting June 15th.
As always, we are open 7 days a week and are available via phone 24 hours a day. Our telemedicine appointments have been a great help during the pandemic and we are continuing to offer these virtual visits.
Our Charlottesville address is: 900 Rio East Court, Suite A, Charlottesville, VA 22901.
Our Crozet address is: 1193 Crozet Avenue, Crozet, VA 22932. (Please do not use this address for mail.)
We can be reached at 434-975-7777 for any questions or to schedule an appointment (in-person or virtual).
To keep our patients and families safe, we are continuing our physical distancing and infection control measures that we started in March. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Our office protocols are designed to prevent novel coronavirus exposure to both patients and staff.
Our Charlottesville office continues to be separated into well and sick areas. At the Crozet office, we will be seeing sick visits sequestered to specific times of the day.
Please wear cloth face masks to your visit per the latest Virginia Executive Order as of November 13, 2020. Remember that cloth masks are not recommended for children under 2 years of age or for those having trouble breathing. We will provide those with vented masks with paper tape to cover the vent (or offer a paper mask to wear on top) while in the building (even if the vent has a filter or is “closed.”)
If your child is being seen for wheezing or asthma, please bring your child’s albuterol and spacer to your visit. This helps us conserve healthcare resources. We are not using nebulizers in the office at this time to protect staff from potentially infectious aerosolized particles.
If anyone in your household has COVID-19, suspected symptoms, or is in quarantine after an exposure, please self-isolate and stay at home. We will be happy to see your child as needed for respiratory concerns, possible secondary infection, or possible coronavirus complications, but remember that we have no specific treatments for mild viral illness at this time. Rest, fluids, and fever reducers are the best ways to manage symptoms. We can also set up a virtual visit as another option.
As the American Academy of Pediatrics HealthyChildren.org website notes regarding fever, “Fever is a physiological mechanism that has beneficial effects in fighting infection. Although many parents administer [medications] to a child to reduce a fever…the primary goal should be to help the child feel more comfortable, rather than to maintain a ‘normal’ temperature. Parents should focus on the general well-being of the child, his/her activity, observing the child for signs of serious illness and maintaining appropriate fluid intake. Parents should not wake up a sleeping child to administer a fever reducer.”
Here are some details about our appointment and triage system:
When you call to schedule an appointment, please let us know if you or your child has:
- Fever, chills, headache, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath / trouble breathing, muscle aches, loss of sense of taste or smell, and/or extreme fatigue.
- Abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, rash or changes in skin color, confusion, or excessive sleepiness.
- Close contact (within 6 feet for a cumulative period of 15 minutes or more) with someone who has had coronavirus (in the past 14 days).
- A diagnosis of COVID-19 (in the past 14 days).
When you arrive for your appointment:
- Please park and call us from your car.
- We will do the appointment check-in for your child in your car and have you wait there until your child’s room is ready.
- We may screen ALL accompanying family members for fever and symptoms so we can send you to the correct entrance.
- We therefore ask that only one parent or caregiver (and not siblings, if possible) accompanies the child to the visit.
This video illustrates our new well and sick visit appointment processes (Please note that we made our video before the statewide mask mandate. To ensure everyone’s safety, as of May 2020, everyone in the building must wear a mask – staff, visitors, and patients over 2 years of age.)
Some general information about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2):
- The best ways to protect yourselves and those around you are to wear face masks, physically distance (staying 6 feet or more apart from non-household people, outside preferable to inside), and wash hands. Medical specialists agree that these simple measures are extremely effective at preventing infection.
- There is no current vaccine or specific medication to prevent or treat mild to moderate novel coronavirus.
- Children seem to be the least affected by this infection, but can be infectious to others even with minimal symptoms themselves.
- It is more important than ever to get a flu shot this year (ASAP). This article explains why: Why Covid-19 Means You Need a Flu Shot This Year.
- Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is a serious health condition, likely related to COVID-19, that all pediatricians are following closely. Fortunately, this syndrome still seems to be rare.
- The groups most at risk from novel coronavirus are the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions (obesity, heart / lung / kidney disease, diabetes).
- The coronavirus is killing Hispanic, Black and American Indian children at much higher numbers than their White peers. The disproportionate deaths among youths echo pandemic disparities among adults. Previous studies have found the virus’s death toll is twice as high among people of color under age 65 as for White Americans. People of color also disproportionately make up “excess deaths” — those killed by the virus without being diagnosed or those killed indirectly by the virus’s wide effects on the health-care system.
- Studies suggest that a significant percentage of people (over 50%?) may be asymptomatic (not feeling ill) when they are infected and are infectious to others. This is concerning because these people may be spreading the disease to others without knowing it. This is why the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asks all of us to behave as if we might be infectious to others, whenever we are out in public.
- The main source of spread is thought to be person-to-person – between those who are in close contact by respiratory droplet or aerosolized virus.
- Those who are able should cover their mouth and nose with their sleeve or a tissue (not their hands) when coughing or sneezing.
- Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds to avoid catching or spreading the virus to others.
- If soap and water are not readily available, one can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60-95% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.
- There is no evidence that coronavirus is transmitted through food.
- For mild to moderate illness, STAY HOME, and avoid contact with others.
- If you think or know you had coronavirus but cannot get testing to prove that you are no longer contagious, you should only leave your sick room and home when ALL of the following are true:
- No fever for at least 24 hours AND
- Other symptoms have improved AND
- 10 days have passed since you started feeling sick (20 days if you are severely immunocompromised).
- (Please note that we still don’t know exactly how long people remain contagious. Those who are severely immunocompromised may remain infectious longer.)
- If you tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms, you can be with others:
- 10 days after your positive test AND
- You still have no symptoms.
- (Please note that we still don’t know exactly how long people remain contagious. Those who are severely immunocompromised may remain infectious longer.)
- If you have been exposed (had a close contact) to COVID-19, then you need to quarantine for 14 days.
- The CDC defines “close contact” as being within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes (cumulative time), starting 48 hours before the person began feeling sick and until that person was isolated.
Information about face masks:
- The CDC recommends that the general public wear “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”
- As of May 26, 2020, Virginia Executive Order 63 requires that everyone 10 years of age and older wear a cloth face covering while in our office buildings.
- While not required under the Executive Order, it is still recommended that children 2-10 years of age wear cloth face masks when appropriate, and as able, for their own safety.
- Cloth face masks are not recommended for children under 2 years of age or for those having trouble breathing.
- Wearing cloth face masks likely protect both the wearers as well as those around them.
- Some people may have coronavirus with very few or no symptoms (possibly up to 40% of those infected), but are still contagious to those around them.
- The CDC is recommending cloth or paper face masks for the general public to save N95 masks for health care providers.
- Please remember to wash or sanitize your hands before and after putting on and taking off your mask.
- Please handle your mask by the straps or sides and do not touch the mask itself (same advice as to not touch your face).
- Please change cloth face masks after each use and wash in hot water.
- Remember that even with face masks, everyone needs to wash their hands and practice physical distancing.
- CDC website with instructions for do-it-yourself cloth face masks.
Information about testing:
While testing in our office requires an appointment and may be limited, based on test availability, the Thomas Jefferson Health Department (TJHD) is offering FREE drive-through testing at various sites for those 6 months of age and up.
- Please check the TJHD website for all upcoming FREE COVID-19 PCR drive-through testing dates and locations.
- You do not have to have symptoms or a history of exposure to be tested. Individuals tested at one of these sites will receive a call within a few days with results.
- You can also call the TJHD COVID-19 Hotline at 434-972-6261 (staffed M-F 8:00 am – 4:30 pm) or email them at TJhealthdistrict@gmail.com to set up an appointment.
- Currently, most available tests are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which involve naso-pharyngeal (NP) or nasal swabs, and provide results in a few days.
- Point of care (rapid antigen) tests, while providing results within minutes, have much higher false negative rates, and negative tests should be followed up with a PCR confirmatory test.
- Antibody (serology / blood) testing is less available, more problematic, and less reliable for the average person at this time.
- If you are exposed to an asymptomatic contact of someone with potential coronavirus, you are not considered “exposed” to the disease. (In other words, asymptomatic “contacts of contacts” are not considered to have been exposed to the illness.)
- Testing will not change treatment of mild or moderate coronavirus illness. We currently have no treatment of mild or moderate illness other than rest, fluids, and supportive care.
- It is important to wear masks and maintain physical distancing because it is estimated that people with no symptoms may be responsible for 40-50% of infections.
- If you are severely ill, with significant respiratory symptoms, then you need to seek medical care immediately, regardless of whether you are COVID-19 positive or not. (If you think you could be positive – call ahead if possible, to let your medical care team know.)
Please call us 434-975-7777 if you still have any questions. We can set up a virtual visit to answer all your questions and review possible exposure timelines if needed. We understand how scary, stressful, and exhausting all of this has been and we are here to help you and your family stay safe.
We are grateful for the opportunity to care for your children and to be able to serve the community. We will get through this together.