As many of you may be fully aware, the world is currently facing a crisis that threatens the lives of millions across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus, now officially referred to as COVID-19, a pandemic. A pandemic is the spread of a disease across large areas of land, spanning several continents and countries. While COVID-19 originated from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, it has now made its presence felt around the world.
Due to the severity of the situation, much of the world has been affected. The virus has taken the lives of countless individuals and infected thousands more. Many businesses across all industries have been impacted, with many being forced to temporarily close their doors for the foreseeable future. Dallas is no exception.
Starting Monday, March 23rd, Dallas County residents have been ordered to stay at home except for essential work and errands. Residents who violate this stay-at-home order may be subject to fines or even jail time. To combat the spread of this virus and flatten the curve, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced strict limits that prohibit social gatherings of any kind. In this order:
Only necessary businesses may remain open. Dallas County has advised those that can work from home to do so. They deem essential work:
Why these regulations are so strict is because of the belief that COVID-19 has a strong foothold in the community. So far, of the infected residents, about 40% of them had not traveled outside of the state, which implies that the virus is spreading within the community. To keep the virus from spreading throughout the DFW area, these restrictions have been put in place. Texas Partners Healthcare Group is an essential business because we provide healthcare services to our patients.
COVID-19 is just one virus in a family of coronaviruses, which can cause illness in animals and humans. These viruses originate from animals, and they are zoonotic, which means they travel from animals to humans. Coronaviruses can cause illnesses that range from something as minor as a common cold to severe and life-threatening illnesses. MERS and SARS are two infamous coronaviruses that plagued the world in the past 20 years, but COVID-19 has outpaced both in terms of spread and fatalities.
COVID-19 originated from a food market in Wuhan, China, first appearing in December 2019. Common symptoms of COVID-19 are:
The incubation period, or the time between catching a virus and reporting symptoms, for COVID-19 ranges from one to 14 days.
According to WHO, around one in six people develop serious symptoms and fall severely ill, requiring hospitalization. Fortunately, they also state that 80% of patients recover from the disease. Older people and those with preexisting health conditions are at a much greater risk.
Here are some important facts regarding COVID-19 as of March 24, 2020:
To follow the ongoing pandemic, visit WHO’s Novel Coronavirus Situation dashboard for updates.
As we mentioned previously, Dallas County issued a stay-at-home order for all residents, which prohibits them from leaving their homes, except for essential work and errands, like getting groceries or visiting the doctor. Dallas County officials made this difficult decision after careful consideration after more COVID-19 cases were reported.
As of writing this, in Dallas County, there have been:
Dallas County has provided a list of regulations residents need to follow at this point, which includes:
If you are a resident of Dallas County and are curious how this affects you and your livelihood, you can visit Dallas City Hall’s website from resources and updates regarding what the situation in Dallas County is.
Texas Partners Healthcare Group is deemed an essential business because we provide the public with expert pain management services and other healthcare services. It has and always will be our mission to work to ensure that our patients’ health and safety are adequately cared for. With that in mind, that also means we have to make changes during this pandemic.
Texas Partners Healthcare Group will remain open in the coming weeks with appointment modifications. However, for the safety of our staff, our patients, and our community, we will be moving our in-office appointments to telemedicine. We will contact our patients via phone during their appointment times.
At the time, we are not allowing walk-ins or in-person visits, and we will also be canceling all non-urgent procedures for the time being. These changes were put in place for the safety of our patients and community and fall in compliance with Texas Medical Board and Center for Disease Control recommendations and regulations.
At Texas Partners Healthcare Group, we put our patients’ safety above everything else, which is why we have had to make the difficult decisions we made. We still intend on working diligently to bring our patients the best care possible throughout this troubling time. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We’d be happy to answer your questions.