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Barton Health Advisory

Dr. Matthew Wonnacott, Chief Medical Officer, Barton Health
Submitted to the Tribune

STATELINE, Nev. – Similar to the rest of California, our region has seen a significant increase in positive cases of COVID-19 over the last three weeks. Barton is experiencing high volumes of patients accessing the health system, partially due to the increase in COVID cases. Currently, the majority of positive cases are among people able to recover at home, and the number of hospital admissions are currently stable, although expected to increase as COVID continues to spread.

It is best to utilize the following prompt when deciding whether you should call your physician’s office or visit an emergency department.

● Call 911 or visit the Emergency Department for emergent conditions including: someone having difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chest pain, unexpected extreme weakness, confusion, persistent vomiting, or severe allergic reaction.



● Contact your primary care provider if you are experiencing mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms, including a cough, sore throat, runny nose, or body aches. Your physician is likely to suggest you follow isolation protocols and treat your symptoms at home with over-the-counter medication following label instructions, unless symptoms worsen.

● Visit an urgent care facility if you do not have a primary care provider and need to be evaluated by a medical provider, but it is not an emergency.



● Do not call 9-1-1 or visit an emergency department only to get tested or receive a vaccine.

Many people are in need of COVID tests. Although tests are limited, there are options to receive a COVID test which do not include a visit to the Emergency Department. Barton Health is not a public testing site; Barton Urgent Care and Emergency facilities are available to see patients with urgent or emergent medical needs.

For those needing COVID testing only (including work releases) and do not need to be evaluated by a physician for an urgent or emergent condition, COVID testing may be found at these locations:

● El Dorado County Public Health via LHI: visit LHI.care/CovidTesting to make an appointment for a free PCR test; Spanish speaking residents or those without internet access can call 888.634.1123 to make an appointment. Testing site is currently located in the South Tahoe Recreation Center parking lot. If you are already registered in the LHI system, walk-ins are accepted.

● Test Well, located at 3678 Lake Tahoe Blvd., is a CLIA-certified lab offering same-day PCR test results or next-day testing for eligible individuals; visit testwell.clinic to make an appointment.

● Quick Care Urgent Care, located 2074 Lake Tahoe Blvd offers testing, as well as walk-ins.

● Other testing sites, including pharmacies and LTUSD are available:

○ California residents can visit covid19.ca.gov to find other California testing locations.

○ Nevada residents can visit nvhealthresponse.nv.gov to find Nevada testing locations.

○ LTUSD students can be tested through the school district.

● Rapid/ at-home antigen tests are available for purchase at local pharmacies and online (through retailers like Amazon.com). Continue to check/ call pharmacies for additional inventory.

○ Barton (Emergency Department, Urgent Care, or medical offices) does not have rapid antigen tests available for purchase.

Vaccines:

Vaccination is still the best defense against severe illness from COVID-19. Individuals five years old and over are recommended to receive a vaccination, including a booster for people 12 years and older if they completed their primary vaccination series at least five months ago (Pfizer/ Moderna) or two months ago (Johnson & Johnson).

COVID vaccines and boosters are available locally via:

● Area Pharmacies – Appointments are available via local pharmacies including CVS, Safeway, Rite Aid, Smith’s, Walgreens, Walmart, and Costco.

○ El Dorado County offers vaccines every Wednesday at their Placerville office; call for an appointment: 530.621.6100.

○ Quad Counties offers community vaccination events throughout the Quad-County region: GetHealthyCarsonCity.org (or call 775.434.1988).

● Additional opportunities or clinics can be searched online at Vaccines.gov or by calling 1.800.232.0233.

Indoor mask use is required in both California and Nevada, preferably an N95 or surgical mask. Most importantly, stay home and/ or keep children home, when you’re sick.

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