Quick clinic updates for Level 4 - please help us help you! :)
Hi guys!
Just a few quick updates to make life easier for everyone:
Repeat prescription - please email nurse at nurse.baysidemedical@gmail.com for repeat prescriptions. This is quicker than ringing us. If we need to consult you to repeat your medications we will let you know. Pharmacies are open at Level 4 and you can collect your medications from them. We will email your scripts to them. Please wear a mask when you enter the pharmacy.
We are NOT doing covid19 swabs for people who are doing it for contact tracing purposes or if you only have minor cold symptoms. We simply do not have enough swabs and PPE to do this. I know it’s a pain in the arse to go to the testing sites because it can be a long wait, but please help us save the PPE and swabs for people who are really sick. Please go to the community testing centers, locations can be found at: https://www.arphs.health.nz/public-health-topics/covid-19/where-to-get-tested
We ARE doing covid19 swabs for people that need to be examined if they are unwell - such as people with shortness of breath, coughing up phlegm, very sore throat/tonsils/sinus, history of asthma or COPD etc. So if you are moderately to severely unwell - please come in so we can see you. We will greet you in the carpark in sexy PPE gear (yellow is the current supplied colour) and we will examine you and swab you.
Phone and video consults are available. Please call us to make bookings, and the nurse and receptionist can help give you an idea if it’s appropriate or if we need you to come in to be examined. Please wear a mask if you come in.
Front door will be locked in general to avoid people accidentally coming in and contaminating the clinic. It already happened today by mistake - you know who you are! :) We will work with a “one person at a time” system. Patients who are coming in can wait in their cars and we will ring you to come in. Please ring us when you arrive for your appointment and we will unlock the door for you.
Few thoughts that might be helpful…
How long will the lock down probably last in Auckland?
2 weeks at level 4 as a bare minimum, followed by level 3 for 3-7 days. The reason for this is that there is clearly community spread and it takes 1-14 days for symptoms to show after an infection. Most people will display symptoms 4-6 days after exposure, and be infectious for 2-3 days before symptoms appear. Usually most people will be considered cured 3 days after their symptoms settle down (i.e. cough, fever etc. Loss of smell, fatigue etc can last months). That’s why MIQ is for 14 days. That’s the logic folks. The great thing about a 14 days lock down is that even cases that don’t go and get tested will burn themselves out - as long as they obey the lock down and aren’t going around spreading the virus. Not like those pesky Sydneysiders - unfortunately if you look at their numbers there is always something like 60-100 people who were infectious and roaming around the community. That’s why the strict level 4 lock down is in place. Even if we don’t find every case - we simply don’t have to. We can just let people get better by themselves and recover and be non infectious. Don’t forget guys - 99% of people don’t die, 90% of people don’t have to go to hospital. Don’t always just focus on the bad numbers, flip it around sometimes.
What to do in the lock down if you’re bored
Try to lose weight rather than gain weight. You know what - work on your summer bod right now so that you are all ready for summer. It’s like swotting early.
Play with your dog - see picture. More walkies - everyone is happier.
Finally complete that video game that you’ve played to 40% completion that you haven’t gotten back to.
Try watching one of those arty movies on Netflix rather than the action flicks you normally watch.
Start jotting down all the eating places you want to go to once lock down ends. I mean - you have to put back all that weight that you lost right? That was the whole reason you lost the weight in the first place.
Improve your relationship with your kids, knowing full well it’ll only last until lock down ends. But hey - it was a great 2-3 weeks.
Grumble about the lock down, then do a bit of research and find out that everywhere else is just a little to a lot more shit than our situation. Feel grateful.
Work on your temper. Get annoyed multiple times a day and see how quickly you can calm your rage by remembering a time when you are calm. These are techniques taught by neurolinguistics programming classes where they get you to link an emotion that you want with a sound or action (i.e. clicking your tongue, snapping your fingers, saying “yeah!”). Try it - it might work. If it doesn’t - well - you’ve got plenty of time to try something else.
Have a laugh. Have a great week guys!
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