Coronavirus Update 3/23/2021
3/23/2021 update with information on COVID vaccines in Arizona for kids over 16 and office location changes for April
*Masks are required for kids over age 2 and adults for all office appointments.*
Patient Instructions for Quarantine
What is Coronavirus?
- COVID-19, is a new strain of Coronavirus. It is in the same family of viruses as SARS and MERS
How is it transmitted?
- Coronavirus is transmitted through droplets spread through cough, sneezing or touch
What are the symptoms and how serious is it?
- Cough, fever, shortness of breath, and/or muscle aches. Some notice significant loss of appetite and/or loss of smell. Symptoms can range from asymptomatic or mild to severe.
- Many people have mild disease, including most children. Most of the serious cases are in older patients and/or patients with complex medical conditions.
- You can find more information on a very rare inflammatory syndrome reported in some children: Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children
How is it treated?
- Currently there is no specific treatment for most patients with Coronavirus. Treatment is supportive care to help relieve symptoms. There are some antibody treatments available to higher risk individuals over age 18 who recently tested positive for COVID-19 and some therapeutics for hospitalized patients.
- There are 3 current vaccines to protect against COVID-19 authorized for emergency use in the United States. The vaccine manufactured by Pfizer has authorization for use in kids 16 and over and there are ongoing trials to look at younger ages. There are many other vaccines currently completing late stage trials as well.
- COVID-19 vaccines are now offered through the state sites for all Arizona children and adults 16 and over. COVID-19 vaccines have not been distributed yet to local clinics, so our office does not currently have COVID-19 vaccines. We are recommending COVID-19 vaccines for all of our patients who are eligable for vaccine. You can find out more information about COVID-19 vaccine distribution from the Maricopa County Health Department.
How can it be prevented?
- Get vaccinated when vaccine is available to you to protect your family and community.
- Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Avoid touching hands to face and eyes.
- Stay at least 6 feet away from those outside of your household and wear a mask or face covering when physical distancing is not always possible.
- For vaccianted individuals, the CDC is still recommending masking and distancing precautions outside of your household unless everyone involved is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (and at least 2 weeks from their last vaccine dose).
- If you are sick, stay home. Cough or sneeze into your elbow if you have no mask. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Clean surfaces regularly with products labeled effective against bacteria and viruses.
- If you are sick it is recommended to wear a mask or face covering over the nose and mouth even at home to prevent spread of droplets that can infect others.
What to do if you are exposed or you think you may have or at risk for Coronavirus?
- If your child has had contact with someone with COVID-19 but is currently asymptomatic, stay away from others and monitor for symptoms for 10-14 days from last exposure. If you child needs a test to return to school before 10 days, they can get tested after 5 days or more following their last date of contact to end their quarantine period after 7 days.
- If you have any symptoms of illness, please schedule an appointment to be evaluated.
- For children over the age of 2 with mild or no symptoms we are offering telemedicine visits to come up with a testing plan that works best for your situation.
- If your child is having any respiratory distress, take them to the ER, and let them know you are at risk for Coronavirus.
- Adolescents over the age of 12 years who have had moderate illness due to COVID (prolonged fevers, bedrest, respiratory symptoms but not requiring hospitalization) are recommended to have a screening EKG prior to return to play of vigorous athletics. Children and adolescents who have had assymptomatic or mild infection should be assymptomatic for minimum 14 days before return to play. Call the office or portal message your pediatrician if you have questions or concerns.
Protecting yourself and the community
- Keep yourself informed and know where to find up to date information (CDC.gov, azdhs.gov, who.int)
- Wash your hands, clean surfaces regularly, practice good hygiene control measures
- Masks are now required in many areas of Arizona when you are out and about and unable to practice physical distancing.
- If you are sick, please stay home!! Refer to the Patient Instructions for Quarantine handout if instructed to self quarantine by your provider.
- Parents and families must continue to make choices they feel is best for their family with regards to returning to day care and school.
- We must all adapt to disruptions in our regular routines (i.e. telecommuting, school closures, event cancellations) and follow advice from our local/state officials.
- Avoid nonessential travel
What is our office is doing to keep your family safe?
- We are keeping well child visits and sick visits separated. We are seeing both well and sick visits at both locations but separating the times that well and sick patients are in clinic. Saturday sick clinic has returned to the Ironwood office location.
- We ask that children and family members who are bringing their children to their appointment during WELL CLINIC HOURS (includes well check appointments) be healthy and free of any signs of illness including fever (100.4 or greater), cough, congestion, sore throat, significant fatigue, body aches, or loss of taste or smell. We also ask that you reschedule your appointment if you have had known close exposure/contact to anyone with COVID in the last 14 days. You can call our office anytime and we will be happy to help accomodate a change in appointment date. This is imperative for us to be able to keep our staff and other patients healthy.
- Conversely we ask that you make appointments for things like musculoskeletal injuries, urinary complaints, wart removal, med checks, anxiety/depression consults, infant feeding issues, etc (ie, your child does not have any illness symptoms) during our well clinic hours to keep you and your family healthy. Please call our office if you are having difficulty scheduling.
- We are offering telemedicine appointments when an in-person exam is not required. Please contact our team to schedule.
- We are currently seeing children of all ages for their well checks.
- We ask that all families and patients (over age 2 -- to the best of their ability) wear a mask for their appointment. This helps ensure our staff and providers stay safe and healthy as well.
- Our staff and cleaning company are taking extra precautions to make sure both offices are appropriately cleaned.
- We are checking everyone's temperature at the front desk during "well" hours and anyone who has a fever will need to be rescheduled during our "sick" hours.
- Our staff and providers are wearing protective equipment and are monitoring frequently for any signs of infection.
Testing for Coronavirus
- We have the capability of doing rapid in-house testing as well as send out testing to local labs. These different test types and their utilization will be based on your child's symptoms and history of illness or exposure and determined by your provider at your child's visit and also based on our testing supply. We are only testing children who are our patients and cannot offer testing of parents.
- If your child has been exposed directly to someone with COVID (close contact is less than 6 feet for at least 15 minutes) but is asymptomatic currently, we recommend quarantining for 10-14 days to monitor for symptom development. If you need a test to return to school sooner than 10 days, you can schedule an in-person or telemedicine visit to schedule testing.
- We are not routinely recommending antibody testing for Coronavirus.
Important Travel Restrictions
- Delay travel plans if able. Travel by car when circumstances permit.
- For up to date information on travel recommendations please refer to: www.cdc.gov
What is the risk for Maricopa County and Arizona?
- The number of cases of COVID-19 in our community has been decreasing this spring and hopefully will continue to fall as more people in Maricopa country get vaccinated. There still is concern for new strains to circulate and cause a new wave of infection potentially among vaccinated individuals. Please remember to continue to practice social distancing, stay at home when able, and wear a mask when out of the house even if you are vaccinated.
- For best up to date information on risk in Arizona and Maricopa county: www.maricopa.gov/coronavirus
Helpful Links & Resources:
CDC Coronavirus Symptom Self-Checker
Patient Instructions for Quarantine
Home Isolation Guidelines
CDC Coronavirus
Maricopa County Health Department
Additional COVID Testing Locations
AAP Guidelines for School Re-entry
AAP Guidelines for Return to Sports
ACC Guidelines for Return to Play following COVID
AAP Guidelines Infants of COVID Positive Mothers
Breastfeeding Guidelines - COVID positive/exposed
COVID Vaccine & Breastfeeding (ABM)
COVID Vaccine & Breastfeeding/Pregnancy (ACOG)
Maricopa County COVID Vaccine Updates
Article on Helping Kids Wear Face Masks
Activity Ideas for Kids
Helping Your Kids Cope
Coronavirus Update 3/16/2020
3/17/2020 - office locations will be split between well (Ironwood) and sick (Deer Valley)
3/16/2020 updates include new testing policies, travel guidelines & recommendations for social distancing.
What is Coronavirus?
- COVID-19, is a new strain of Coronavirus. It is in the same family of viruses as SARS and MERS
How is it transmitted?
- Coronavirus is transmitted through droplets spread through cough, sneezing or touch
What are the symptoms and how serious is it?
- Cough, congestion, fever. Symptoms can range from asymptomatic or mild to severe.
- Most people in China had mild disease, including most children. Most of the serious cases were in older patients and/or patients with complex medical conditions
How is it treated?
- Currently there is no specific treatment or vaccine for Coronavirus. Treatment is supportive care to help relieve symptoms. However, some companies are working on vaccines and treatment, so it may be available in the future.
How can it be prevented?
- Best way to prevent is good hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap/water not available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
- Avoid touching hands to face and eyes.
- If you are sick, stay home. Cough or sneeze into your elbow if you have no mask.
- Avoid crowded events or close contact with people who are sick.
- Clean surfaces regularly with products labeled effective against bacteria and viruses.
- Masks are not recommended for prevention, however, if you are sick and coughing it is recommended to prevent you from spreading it to others
- As masks are in short supply, you can use any thick scarf or bandana to cover nose and mouth to prevent spread of droplets
What to do if you are exposed or you think you may have or at risk for Coronavirus?
- If you have traveled in past 14 days to high-risk areas and are symptomatic call your doctor for medical advice before coming in for appointment.
- If you are having any respiratory distress, go to the ER, let them know you are at risk for Coronavirus
Protecting yourself and the community
- Keep yourself informed and know where to find up to date information (CDC.gov, azdhs.gov, who.int)
- Know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and what to do if you are sick
- Wash your hands, clean surfaces regularly, practice good hygiene control measures
- If you are sick, please stay home!!
- Limit community movement to help slow transmission of the virus. This means avoiding public gatherings, staying home unless it is necessary to go out (i.e. work), keeping your distance from others. If people are less mobile and interact with each other less, the virus has fewer opportunities to spread. This will save lives!
- We must all adapt to disruptions in our regular routines (i.e. telecommuting, school closures, event cancellations) and follow advice from our local/state officials.
- Avoid nonessential travel
- Refer to the Patient Instructions for Quarantine handout if instructed to self quarantine by your provider
Testing for Coronavirus
- There us currently still a limited capacity to test patients for Coronavirus even though LabCorp and Sonora Quest are now offering outpatient testing.
- We are currently testing patients based on symptoms and exposure.
* If your child is well with NO symptoms, no testing is currently recommended for Coronavirus. However, if your child has had direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please call our office for further guidance.
* If your child has had fever (100.4 or higher) and/or cold symptoms (including cough, congestion, shortness of breath) AND has been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please notify our office as they may meet criteria for testing. Please DO NOT come to the office before notifying us so we can take the proper precautions to keep our patients and staff safe.
* If you have fever (100.4 or higher) and/or cold symptoms (including cough, congestion, shortness of breath) without a known exposure to COVID-19, testing is not currently recommended. We do recommend supportive care at home. Continue general precautions to prevent spread of illness like good hand washing and cleaning surfaces regularly. If you develop more significant or severe symptoms, please make an appointment.
Important Travel Restrictions
- Delay travel plans if able. Travel by car when circumstances permit.
- Currently the CDC recommends self quarantine if you have traveled to a Level 3 area, which includes China, Iran, South Korea, Europe (including the UK and Ireland)
- For up to date information on travel recommendations please refer to: www.cdc.gov
What is the risk for Maricopa County and Arizona?
- The current level of community spread is minimal but there are areas of heightened risk.
- For best up to date information on risk in Arizona and Maricopa county: www.maricopa.gov/coronavirus
Coronavirus Update 3/16/2020
3/17/2020 - office locations will be split between well (Ironwood) and sick (Deer Valley)
3/16/2020 updates include new testing policies, travel guidelines & recommendations for social distancing.
What is Coronavirus?
- COVID-19, is a new strain of Coronavirus. It is in the same family of viruses as SARS and MERS
How is it transmitted?
- Coronavirus is transmitted through droplets spread through cough, sneezing or touch
What are the symptoms and how serious is it?
- Cough, congestion, fever. Symptoms can range from asymptomatic or mild to severe.
- Most people in China had mild disease, including most children. Most of the serious cases were in older patients and/or patients with complex medical conditions
How is it treated?
- Currently there is no specific treatment or vaccine for Coronavirus. Treatment is supportive care to help relieve symptoms. However, some companies are working on vaccines and treatment, so it may be available in the future.
How can it be prevented?
- Best way to prevent is good hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap/water not available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
- Avoid touching hands to face and eyes.
- If you are sick, stay home. Cough or sneeze into your elbow if you have no mask.
- Avoid crowded events or close contact with people who are sick.
- Clean surfaces regularly with products labeled effective against bacteria and viruses.
- Masks are not recommended for prevention, however, if you are sick and coughing it is recommended to prevent you from spreading it to others
- As masks are in short supply, you can use any thick scarf or bandana to cover nose and mouth to prevent spread of droplets
What to do if you are exposed or you think you may have or at risk for Coronavirus?
- If you have traveled in past 14 days to high-risk areas and are symptomatic call your doctor for medical advice before coming in for appointment.
- If you are having any respiratory distress, go to the ER, let them know you are at risk for Coronavirus
Protecting yourself and the community
- Keep yourself informed and know where to find up to date information (CDC.gov, azdhs.gov, who.int)
- Know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and what to do if you are sick
- Wash your hands, clean surfaces regularly, practice good hygiene control measures
- If you are sick, please stay home!!
- Limit community movement to help slow transmission of the virus. This means avoiding public gatherings, staying home unless it is necessary to go out (i.e. work), keeping your distance from others. If people are less mobile and interact with each other less, the virus has fewer opportunities to spread. This will save lives!
- We must all adapt to disruptions in our regular routines (i.e. telecommuting, school closures, event cancellations) and follow advice from our local/state officials.
- Avoid nonessential travel
- Refer to the Patient Instructions for Quarantine handout if instructed to self quarantine by your provider
Testing for Coronavirus
- There us currently still a limited capacity to test patients for Coronavirus even though LabCorp and Sonora Quest are now offering outpatient testing.
- We are currently testing patients based on symptoms and exposure.
* If your child is well with NO symptoms, no testing is currently recommended for Coronavirus. However, if your child has had direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please call our office for further guidance.
* If your child has had fever (100.4 or higher) and/or cold symptoms (including cough, congestion, shortness of breath) AND has been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please notify our office as they may meet criteria for testing. Please DO NOT come to the office before notifying us so we can take the proper precautions to keep our patients and staff safe.
* If you have fever (100.4 or higher) and/or cold symptoms (including cough, congestion, shortness of breath) without a known exposure to COVID-19, testing is not currently recommended. We do recommend supportive care at home. Continue general precautions to prevent spread of illness like good hand washing and cleaning surfaces regularly. If you develop more significant or severe symptoms, please make an appointment.
Important Travel Restrictions
- Delay travel plans if able. Travel by car when circumstances permit.
- Currently the CDC recommends self quarantine if you have traveled to a Level 3 area, which includes China, Iran, South Korea, Europe (including the UK and Ireland)
- For up to date information on travel recommendations please refer to: www.cdc.gov
What is the risk for Maricopa County and Arizona?
- The current level of community spread is minimal but there are areas of heightened risk.
- For best up to date information on risk in Arizona and Maricopa county: www.maricopa.gov/coronavirus