Our current primary focus at Foxhall Internists remains our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please continue to follow public health guidance regarding social distancing and other precautions, including self-isolation when appropriate. This remains the single most important thing you can do to reduce the risk of transmission of the COVID-19 virus in our community.
The antibody test may indicate that you have previously had a COVID-19 infection, but it cannot be used to diagnose a current infection, and at this time this test cannot confirm that you are immune to COVID-19. We are currently not offering antibody testing to individuals who have not previously had symptoms which were potentially due to COVID-19. Please
click here for further information on this test, and contact your doctor if you are interested in having this test done.
We are using the antibody test developed by Abbott Labs, and this is run on a commercial lab machine. Due to reliability questions regarding the use of antibody "test kits", we do not recommend that these types of tests be used to guide individual decision making on COVID-19 issues.
We continue to offer video, phone, and email consultations with our patients when appropriate during the coronavirus outbreak. Each of our doctors has their own policy on how they are managing this. If you require assistance with any acute or chronic medical issue, please start by contacting your primary doctor's assistant, and they will then advise you on what should be done next.
We remain open to see patients who need an in-person evaluation and/or lab testing, at the discretion of their doctors. We have taken steps to reduce the chance of COVID-19 transmission in our office, and we have stopped seeing patients with respiratory infection symptoms since about the time the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in our area. All patients will be asked to wear a mask during their time in the office. In the interest of limiting the number of people in our office, we kindly ask that you do not have anyone accompany you to your appointment, unless their assistance is required.
We continue to follow the same policy as other outpatient medical practices in the area, including the Johns Hopkins ambulatory clinics, and we are not doing nasopharyngeal COVID-19 testing in our office for patients with acute symptoms of COVID-19. We continue to utilize testing sites run by local hospital systems and public health agencies in the area.
We will continue to provide updated information as the situation evolves. Please also consult the
CDC Coronavirus website and the
CDC Travel website for further information. As always, if you are not feeling well, and especially if you have recurring fevers or trouble breathing, please call your doctor, and call 911 in case of an emergency.
