By Vivienne Clarke
A member of the National Covid-19 GP Advisory Committee, Dr Ray Walley, has said GPs are dealing with hundreds of calls every day and the most significant workload is the triage of and dealing with the coronavirus.
Dr Walley said he tells his patients not to focus on the testing, but to focus on staying at home, taking fluids and monitoring their symptoms.
Not all the calls are in relation to the coronavirus, he said and a major part of their job is reassuring people. “We know our patients.”
It was so important to tell people that 80 per cent with coronavirus will cope well at home with the illness.
Testing was important as it would identify those who were positive for the virus and would stop its spread. Identifying health care workers would allow them back to work, which was important, he said.
It was important to ensure that PPE (personal protective equipment) was provided to all staff so they could continue to work.
