Dear Providers and Staff,

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to churn in the state of Texas where there are still over 3,000 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed each day.  The good news is this is well below the 10,000 cases/day noted just a few months ago.  Also, we have not yet seen any increase in cases due to schools reopening.  Yet with most of the population still susceptible to this virus, we continue to proceed cautiously with a continued focus on mitigations (masks, distancing, etc.), widespread rapid testing, and vaccine development.

Most relevant to us as clinicians right now is the fact flu season will soon be upon us. I’m sure you’ve seen in the news stronger than usual promotions for the flu vaccine.  Obviously, co-infection or serial infection with COVID-19 and the flu significantly increases the risk for adverse outcomes.  Since the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 can overlap, I have included this guidance from our ID colleagues on the approach to testing.

Of note, before a patient’s appointment, we will continue to screen for these symptoms, and if found then he or she will be redirected to their PCP and the original appointment will be rescheduled.  In other words, we should not be seeing many of these patients in our specialty clinics.

Let me know if you have questions.

b