Evergreen Health – Seattle WA:
UPDATE 1 pm March 7: This announcement has been scrubbed from Evergreen Health’s main page. The link below is to the page CACHED by Google.
New Screening Protocols
In partnership with the CDC, we have updated our screening guidelines for COVID-19.
“As of March 3, 2020, we have halted performing nasopharyngeal testing in our outpatient clinics, including all five urgent care locations.”
Here’s why:
- The CDC has determined that COVID-19 is now endemic, meaning that the virus is now considered to be regularly found in our region amongst our population. Previously, only individuals who had previously known risk factors (including history of travel, exposure to a confirmed case), were considered high risk for acquiring the disease.
- There is increased risk of transmission when performing any nasopharyngeal testing.
- It is safe to see patients with respiratory illnesses with both patient and clinician masked similar to any flu season.
- We will be setting up a Respiratory Clinic for assessment and testing for patients with respiratory symptoms. More information will be available as soon as plans are finalized.
We hope this update will provide more context and reassurance as it pertains to understanding your safety risk, which is similar to the risk of exposure we experience every cold and flu season in our communities.
Read more at (CACHED) Evergreen Health
