Please Note: Our knowledge about best practices for COVID19 is changing all the time as new information becomes available. Please refer to our most recent update for the most up to date information.

Dear Patients,
Here is another Covid19 update for you. Some key information at the beginning, especially for those age 20-50. I’m putting a summary first, read on below that for all the details.
 
Summary:

1. Please continue very diligent social distancing. This means, you can interact / do activities with the people who live in your home, but that’s it. No one else. 
2. Many adults between the ages of 20-50 are having severe Covid19 and being admitted to the ICU. Many are even dying. Just because Covid19 is somewhat less dangerous in this age group, does NOT mean it’s ‘safe’. You are NOT “safe” from this. Social distancing applies to you too! When the media refers to ‘mild’ Covid19, that’s actually pretty severe already. It includes people at home who struggle to walk to the bathroom. Moderate is usually in hospital on oxygen, severe is in the ICU, critical is intubated in the ICU.
3. The government currently recommends 14 days isolation after you think you were exposed, and a further 10 days if you have any sort of infectious symptom. Please think of this as the bare minimum. Information on this is still evolving.
4. There were reports of a possible effective treatment with the drugs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. This got badly misunderstood on social media, and some politicians. It is NOT yet known if this is effective. There are serious risks, especially with hydroxychloroquine. It will NOT be used as a general treatment at this time. NO ONE should self-treat with any medications for this (other than Tylenol for those with no liver disease).
5. The MedVoice app has been made free for the next few months. This will help you communicate with me, and keep us efficient during the pandemic. Please try to use it for all your appointments, even video and phone appointments.

So first, a reminder that while children between the ages of 2-10 are only very rarely having severe Covid19, everyone else…again everyone else…can end up in the ICU. Far too many young adults between the ages of 20-50 are ignoring doctor’s instructions and going out and mingling. Not surprisingly, they are starting to represent a larger and larger portion of those in the ICU and dying. As I previously informed you, this is not “just a bad flu”…it's substantially more risky than the flu, which itself is already dangerous. In any case, even if you don’t get very sick, you may spread the disease to others who won’t be so lucky. It may be a family member. We have to do our job as a community. Stay home.
 
The current recommendation is for everyone to stay home as much as possible. Go out for things you *need*. If it can wait, then it should wait. Get your groceries, get your medications. That’s mostly it. You can go out (preferably close to home) with people who live in the same home with you (for a walk /exercise), but STAY AWAY from other people. Give them a wide berth. If you have to talk to them, you need to be a couple of car lengths away. Will it feel weird? Yes. Do it anyways.

About 97% of my patient encounters over the past 2 weeks were done by phone or video.
 
I do have some comments on the reports of a possible effective treatment with the drugs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. This is based on a study from France involving a SMALL number of patients. The study had some huge problems with it (like, a few of the patients in the control group got more sick and were excluded from the study for unclear reasons – the is highly unusual and unscientific). Despite that, it has generated a lot of excitement, because the
results (even taking those irregularities into account) were dramatic. Numerous additional research groups around the world have pounced on this, and started their own (hopefully better designed) studies to look at this further. Hopefully it won’t take too long to get results. Immense resources are being thrown at this, with large teams working around the clock to get the results asap. It’s pretty stunning actually how much is being done so quickly. This has never occurred before in history. 
 
Although this will be extremely good news if it pans out, it is NOT clear yet whether this works. Hydroxychloroquine can have SERIOUS side effects. Two people in Nigeria died, and now one in Arizona, attempting to self-medicate with
these sorts of compounds. Therefore, these medications will NOT be prescribed by us at this time, so please do not ask. We MUST wait for further data. Even if it does work, the question then becomes, ‘who exactly will benefit from it’? Do mild cases really need it? Does it only work if we give it early enough? Can we safely reserve it for those in hospital? We just don’t know yet. Unfortunately, others have not been so responsible in their communications, and there is already a massive shortage of the drug worldwide. This is now a new problem, as both drugs are used for other health conditions. Hydroxychloroquine in particular is used for people with rheumatologic conditions. Without it, their condition may flare, and they end up in hospital…exactly the LAST place we want them right now. The drug companies that make these medications have ramped up production, and hydroxychlroquine is cheap and large amounts can be made in a few weeks, so the shortage shouldn’t last too long. But this underscores why it’s important to report on these developments responsibly, and plan ahead. 
 
Please remember, even if this drug-combo doesn’t work, our situation remains solvable. Information continues to be gathered from other locations where this has been controlled. The original outbreak was in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, in the province of Hubei in China. Hubei has had zero new cases for 4 days in a row now. They have a date posted to end their ‘lockdown’ soon and resume life (in a couple more weeks). Cases in South Korea continue to dwindle. Hong
Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore have maintained a low case count from the beginning, even with kids still going to school, and businesses open. We do need get our surge clearly under control before relaxing anything. But it proves this can be done. We need to learn, and we need to act on it.
 
Lastly, I previously mentioned the MedVoice app to you. This is a program that helps collect information from you in advance of a visit (not just an in-person one, but in advance of video or even phone consults as well). It gathers key details from you, and makes that available to me. It should always be used in association with a visit, NOT on it’s own. You can create a patient account at www.medvoice.ca, and/or download the iPhone or Android app. It will ask you
for my “Doctor ID code”, which is (please call the office for this). I hope most of you will start using it for your video/phone visits with me for the next while as it will greatly improve my understanding of how you are doing, and improve our efficiency quite a bit. It will be free to use during the pandemic. Best time to use it is the day before, or at least 1 hour before we have our video/phone visit.
 
I will continue to update you... Keep well!

Please Note: Our knowledge about best practices for COVID19 is changing all the time as new information becomes available. Please refer to our most recent update for the most up to date information.

Dear Patients,
So I wanted to update you once again regarding Covid19. I’ll review some of the changes in office policies we’ve put in place over the last week, and some excellent actions taken by the government to make family medicine care more accessible. That part is important for everyone to read. Further down I’ll review some of the key improvements in our understanding of this pest, and how that may affect how this evolves (and when we get out of ‘jail’).
 
Office Policies and Access to Care
As much as I am often very frustrated with government policies, they really came through this time, and very quickly. Usually physicians are highly restricted in how we communicate with you (for example we get minimal to no compensation for phone calls). We are now (temporarily) allowed to manage your care over the phone as needed. Various other limits have been removed as well to simplify remote provision of care. The government has made an order that no employer may ask for ‘sick notes’. These were quick emergency measures, and they are looking at some additional changes if this is insufficient. There is a clear recognition that they need to maintain your access to care. 
 
I do encourage everyone to mainly use video consults, as I find I get a better sense of how you are doing when I can see you. However, if this is too difficult for you, or if we run into any technical problems, don’t stress about it, we will just use/switch to phone. The phone may show, ‘unknown caller’ at your appointment time, please be sure to answer that one. Most online booking spots have been switched to “video”, so they are widely available, but if you prefer a phone call, please just make a quick note of that in the message area, and please write the number you want to be reached at. Please also be sure to treat these appointments just like in-office ones, by being available on time. 
 
While I usually discourage video/phone calls for visits in relation to new or worsening symptoms, this will be partially relaxed for now. We can begin a consult that way, and I will determine if an in-office visit will be necessary.
 
The office will be available for select in-office visits, and we have taken a large number of steps to make it safe. First of all, if you came in now, you’d likely find it very empty. All the physicians at the office are doing primarily video consults, and our in-office times are staggered. We will also be spacing out any in-office visits by putting video consults in between, so there will usually be no more than 1-2 patients in the entire office at a time. Most support staff are working remotely. We have designated rooms for possible infections, and no one will be seen in those rooms if they are coming in for some other issue. So please don’t be scared about coming in. Some in-office appointment slots will start being opened up over the next couple of days as well. All the same, the majority of your care will likely be managed by video/phone.
 
Please bear in mind that eventually the government will remove these allowances, but for now I am very thankful to them for taking this valuable, supportive action quickly.
 
Please note that testing for COVID19 is very limited at the moment, mainly to patients in hospital, and potentially affected health care workers.
 
There is a self-assessment tool you can use from home, here:
https://covid19.thrive.health
 
Live updated wait times at emergency rooms and urgent care centers is here:
http://www.edwaittimes.ca/WaitTimes.aspx
 
The COVID19 Situation in BC
The aggressive actions that have been taken with most people staying home was unquestionably the right move. It’s hard on everyone, but it was absolutely necessary. While we will need to wait to see how this evolves, I am very hopeful that these measures will help get this under control soon. 
 
Keep in mind, that because it takes between 5-14 days for people to show symptoms, and (at least) a couple more days to be identified, cases will continue to rise over the next week, even if we have all been staying home all the time. It will look like its just getting worse and worse. What we see today in terms of positive cases, is actually how things were about a week ago. Some time next week, if this goes according to plan, the number of new cases per day
will flatten, and then very slowly start to drop. It may be hard to tell at first, as the number go up and down a bit. If we get a steady drop in new cases, the entire strategy may then start to change, although this depends on many factors. China has had zero new cases a few days in a row now, and restrictions there have started to relax. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore have demonstrated ways to keep society functioning, with people working and schools open, but this depends on first controlling this early surge.
 
There are a growing number of ideas coming up from all over the world about how to control all this using these measures, while enabling the vast majority of people (and eventually everyone) to resume a normal life. Our ability to relax social distancing may depend in part on getting more testing kits. We are very low at the moment, but there are supposedly 800K new ones on their way to Canada. 
 
In the meantime, the amount of information doctors are sharing behind the scenes is unprecedented, locally, nationally, and internationally. The doctors at our office are in near constant communication, many times per day to share ideas and adapt. I have seen the detailed plans for what happens in our hospitals if things do get much worse, and they are very well thought out. Doctors (and many others) everywhere are stepping up. I held a webinar for 150 community physicians the other day to teach them all how to do video consults. This was shared with hundreds of other physicians as well. We had a few days of crisis mode, but are finding our footing, and starting to think ahead. Please continue to be very diligent about keeping away from others, and excellent hand hygiene if
you have to go out. Hang in there! We’ll get past this. 
 
I expect there will be a lot of new information in the next 2-3 days and will update you again. Speak to you soon…

Please Note: Our knowledge about best practices for COVID19 is changing all the time as new information becomes available. Please refer to our most recent update for the most up to date information.

Dear patients, 
I wanted to provide you a further update on COVID19. The changes we are undergoing are happening fast. We will continue to update you and try to keep you informed, and to help you understand how best to work with us on your care.
 
Canada is beginning to adopt some aggressive measures to limit the spread of this virus. Other countries are being much more aggressive still. We are getting very frequent updates from our public health department (sometimes more than once a day). We are very actively monitoring numerous other sources of information on how to manage this. As a team, all the physicians at North Shore Medical Group are actively engaged and communicating with each other to optimize our collective approach.
 
There are three key recommendations you need to follow:

1. Take social distancing seriously. Other countries are suffering a lot, largely because this step came too late. The time, is right now. At our office, we will be making much more extensive use of video consultations to enable this, beginning immediately. More details on this below.
2.  It is absolutely critical that if you will be coming in, and have ANY infectious type symptoms (this includes ANY of the following: fever, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, body aches, sore throat, or even diarrhea), then you MUST call the office on the phone before you come in. We will likely have you wait in your car, or in an open space outside the office until we have a room clear for you. We have had a few patients tell us after they are already in the room that “I’m here for a refill, but by the way, I’ve also had a cough”. This is absolutely unacceptable, and puts us, our staff, and other patients at risk. Always, always call.
3. Be aware that most people will not be getting swabbed/tested for this. Those with mild illnesses should self-isolate at home. We have specific testing criteria, and will not be doing tests ‘on-demand’. The criteria are, respiratory symptoms in those who are:

• Hospitalized, or likely to be hospitalized
• Health care workers
• Residents of long term care facilities
• Part of an investigation of a cluster or outbreak.

 
As we have told you previously, the majority of people have a mild illness and fully recover at home, this should not be taken to mean that this condition is benign. The other 20% of cases are severe. Many patients are in the ICU. While older patients with other health conditions are more at risk, France is reporting that right now, 50% of the patients in the ICU are under the age of 50. Countries are not putting themselves under ‘lockdown’ and destroying their economies for fun. People under the age of 20 continue to fare well, with only 2 serious cases reported world-wide, so
parents should not panic about the well-being of their children who are sick. Young people with the illness can spread it around however, and this can be critically dangerous for other people. So social distancing for everyone is very important.
 
With all that in mind, we are going to be making video consults widely available for the coming weeks. Video consults are very useful whenever a physical exam is not needed. The most likely time a physical exam is needed, is when you have a new, or worsening symptom. However, there is a lot the can be done by video, including reviewing most results, most follow up visits, many refills (which are really about reviewing the health condition the refill is for), and more. Staff will be strongly encouraging video consults instead of an in-office ones. We will be quite liberal with these for the next while, and at worst, if it is determined during a video consult that a physical exam is needed, we can bring you in at a separate time for this. All this will keep the office environment safer for when you do have to come in. The online booking system will gradually start showing many more video consult slots in place of in-office ones, over the next 24-48 hrs. Some in-office spots will remain available each day.
 
Lastly, for the short term (probably about 2-4 weeks, but it is hard to tell), we will be deferring all routine (annual) checkups, and paps. Children due for checkups will have a video consult as an initial visit, and it will be determined whether a subsequent in-office visit will be done. We will be ensuring their vaccines are kept up to date, as vaccination should NOT be delayed with this.
 
If you have not already created a Medeo account:
Please go to www.medeohealth.com, click ‘sign in’ at the top right, then click ‘patient’ on the next screen, then click ‘create account’. Once your account is created, you may then call the office to book an appointment, or use our
online booking site https://booking.medeohealth.com/north-shore-medical-group/. Make sure you pick “video consult” for appointment type. You will receive an email confirmation once the appointment request has been
accepted.
 
A few very important steps for a video consult:

1. Please sign in to Medeo 5 minutes before your appointment time. 
   1. Click the ‘start appointment’ button.
   2. Check the information shown, scroll down and click ‘Continue’.
   3.  You will now have an audio/video check, if all looks well, click ‘continue’.
   4. If you have done everything right, you will see a split screen, with yourself on 1 half, and black, or a message stating “Waiting for the provider” on the other. Please be patient. When the doctor is ready to see you, they will appear. Just like in the office, sometimes things run behind, and you may have to wait a bit.
2. If you are using a computer for the video consult you MUST use Google Chrome as your browser. DO NOT click on the link in the confirmation email and assume it opened in Google Chrome. Open Google Chrome from your desktop, go to www.medeohealth.com, and sign-in that way.
   
3. If you are using a mobile device (smartphone, iphone, ipad, etc), you MUST use the free Medeo app, which you can download from the Apple or Google store. You cannot use any browser on your phone.

We will continue to send you additional updates as we go along. I am hoping to provide some anticipatory guidance on what to expect with this situation, and when we will know if it is resolving. I will try to do that in the next couple of days.

Keep well, we will get through this! While it is a dramatic change in our way of life in the short term, and the effect on the economy is profound, Canada has an opportunity to fare far better than many other countries have. We can (and will) overcome this, and it doesn't have to take that long.

 ​Please Note: Our knowledge about best practices for COVID19 is changing all the time as new information becomes available. Please refer to our most recent update for the most up to date information.

Hi everyone,
I would like to provide you all with some further feedback and guidance regarding coronavirus. There will be an additional update later today or tomorrow. As you know, it has been declared as a pandemic. It has become quite serious. This isn’t the first pandemic the world has had, and thankfully, we have an immense amount of useful information already on how to deal with this one.

Before getting into that, let’s highlight one of THE most important aspects to dealing with a pandemic. That is, slowing it down. Pandemics can happen slow or fast, and this makes a *critical* difference in the consequences. Everything we
do now must focus on slowing it’s pace. 
 
Why?
When an infection spreads around we can get a surge of patients at doctor’s offices and the hospital.  Let’s focus on the hospital. If an ICU has 10 beds, and 20 people all have to go to an ICU today for 1 week that is a big problem. But if we can slow down how quickly people get sick and need the ICU, so there are 10 this week, and 10 next week, there are enough ICU beds for everyone. Same total number of people sick, just a different time frame. We need to enable that. This has become known as ‘flattening the curve’. It is proven to work, as far back as the Spanish Flu of 1918. We need to minimize the strain on doctor’s offices and the hospital so all the coronavirus patients AND all the other usual care can continue to be provided. We’ll tell you how you can help with this below.
 
What is a pandemic?
So now that this is a pandemic, what does that actually mean? A pandemic is when an infection is spreading all over the world in a sustained manner. As opposed to an epidemic where an infection is more localized (usually defined as
1 country). So basically there were a bunch of coronavirus epidemics (in China, South Korea, Italy and so on), but so many countries are now affected that it is reclassified as a pandemic. A pandemic may not cause a lot of trouble, it just depends on how dangerous the virus is. It remains the case that the vast majority of people recover from this coronavirus, but it is also dangerous enough that we need to take this seriously.
 
So what can you do to help?
You have no doubt heard that you should wash your hands. This cannot be emphasized enough. It is likely the single most effective action you can take. Critical times are before you eat, and if you were recently in a public place. Think about what you have been touching…Handrails? Doorknobs? The doors themselves? Countertops? Absolutely any surface on a bus or skytrain? Contact with any of these should prompt you to wash your hands. Nose itchy? Use a tissue. Eyes itchy? Use a tissue. But preferably only after you washed your hands.

Those of you with kids should be on the lookout for them to do the same. Insist they wash their hands when they get home. I know schools have been great about going over this them over the past couple of weeks.

Try not to touch your face. This is actually incredibly hard to do. Most people touch their face without even noticing it several times per hour. This is why it is so critical to keep your hands clean. It is the most likely way you can get infected.

You have probably heard of the term social distancing. What does that actually mean? It literally means keeping your distance. The virus most likely spreads up to about 6 feet around a person. As far as we know so far, it does not linger in the air, and so is mainly an issue when you are close to someone. It CAN however linger on surfaces, possibly for a long time. So avoiding touching affected surfaces, and avoiding crowds, or at the very least trying to stand apart from a crowd will help. Now is not the time for big gatherings and parties. No handshakes. No fistbumps. No elbow bumps.
  
So how do you greet people? It’s called “hello”, and it comes with a smile.
Do not. Do not. Do NOT go out in public if you are sick. If you absolutely must, then that IS the appropriate time to wear a mask. Wash your hands REPEATEDLY, and try not to touch anything. Life will eventually go back to how it was before, and other countries have proven this is possible, but for now staying home when you are sick may literally save a number of lives. If someone can bring something to you, ask them to do so. They can leave it the door for you. Perfectly safe.

Please take extra careful consideration of protecting the most vulnerable. If you have elderly parents, or perhaps family members with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, or asthma, then all the above becomes that much more important. The vast majority of serious and deadly cases remain in people aver the age of 60, and in particular with other health conditions. It is important to recognize however that this is potentially serious at any age, and even among young people the mortality is a few times higher than the flu. There is no known death worldwide in a child below the age of 10. 
 
Office Protocols, a review:
Anyone with any infection type illness MUST CALL the office. There will be specific instructions for you. We will be trying to minimize your time in the office. It may be that the entire story is collected from you remotely, and the only thing that happens at the office is that a swab is quickly done. Further discussion may follow by phone/video consult.
 
We have been taking many steps already to prepare for this, and we will continue to adapt as we go along. All of us however can make a difference, and it mostly takes changing our behaviour for a little while. Let’s encourage each other. Let’s look out for each other. As your physicians, we are there for you!

 Please Note: Our knowledge about best practices for COVID19 is changing all the time as new information becomes available. Please refer to our most recent update for the most up to date information.

Dear Patients,
Not surprisingly we have had a number of questions regarding coronavirus (the official name for this is now COVID-19). It’s natural to be concerned, and there has been a lot of confusion, so this will hopefully clear some of that up. The objective here is to provide practical information on how to properly protect
yourself, and what is helpful for this, and what is not. There is a lot of worldwide alarm, and while rational attention to this is appropriate, panic is not. The information I am providing is largely based on a just completed study of the spread and impacts of the condition among ~45000 cases from China.

How dangerous is it?
While all age groups can be affected, the vast majority of serious cases are people over the age of 50. Among young (under age 50) healthy people, the mortality rate is similar to the flu. For age 50-60 the risk is somewhat higher. After this the risk rises a fair bit. However, the vast majority of people still recover, even in the highest risk groups, even among those who end up admitted to hospital.
In all age groups, severe cases are also much more common for those with other health conditions, in particular heart disease, diabetes, and chronic respiratory conditions (in that order). 

What are the symptoms?
Mild cases show no symptoms at all. When symptoms are present, they most commonly are a fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms such as runny nose and sore throat can occur but are very rare, and their presence suggests a different illness. 

Will there be a lot of this in Canada?
There have been about 2 dozen cases so far in Canada. The vast majority of cases remain in China. In the past 2 weeks there have been significant outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Thailand, Iran, and Israel. Numerous additional cases have now shown up in the USA, and isolated cases in many other countries. While the spread of the virus may yet be stopped, I will not be surprised if we start seeing more cases here in the coming weeks. While other countries are starting to be affected, lost in all the confusion is that the number of new cases in China has actually started to drop. 

What should I do?
Standard infection precautions are important, and recommended at this time of year anyways regarding influenza. The virus is mainly contagious within about 6 feet of an affected individual, mostly while they are coughing. It can also linger on surfaces such as doorhandles, armrests, tables, and counters. It is not yet clear for how long it remains on surfaces.
What are the infection precautions to follow? Washing hands, especially before you eat. This sounds so simple, but is in fact highly effective. We are talking about a good scrub here, which should take about 15-20 seconds of
scrubbing, being sure to get between fingers etc. Also, try to avoid touching your own face. We all do this, a lot. Try to cut down on it. 
Do not wear a mask all the time. Masks should be worn if you are sick to prevent spreading it to others. 

What is the office doing to deal with this?
Several behind-the-scenes changes have been made to prepare for an outbreak here, and seeing affected patients in our office.
For your part, it is important that anyone who is sick, especially if you have fever, cough, or shortness of breath, inform us on the phone. We may decide to do an initial video consult in some cases. We need to know ahead of time so we can minimize your exposure time to others. If we will be seeing you in the office for a respiratory illness, please try to call us 1-2 minutes before your arrival as we may have specific instructions for you.
There is hand sanitizer at the front door and everyone, and I mean everyone, should be using this on arrival, and departure.
 We do have the ability to test for the virus, but please allow us to make the medical decision about whether the test should be done. 

Will there be any treatment for it?
Right now treatment is ‘supportive’. This mainly means providing oxygen to those who need it, which can help a lot. Some people need more advanced respiratory support. Vaccines take months to make, but numerous groups are aggressively pursuing this. There is also extensive evaluation being done with anti-viral medications to assess effectiveness. An anti-malaria drug may have some benefit, but is not recommended for use yet. It will probably be 1-2 months before any medication recommendation becomes available. 

This isn’t the first scary bug the world has had to deal with. There has been far worse in the past. Just like every other time, the best way for us to overcome this is by using our heads.

Please contact the office if you have any questions!