The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday urged people not to rush to emergency rooms (ERs) to get a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm whether they have contracted COVID-19, but to go to a testing station instead to preserve emergency medical capacity for critical patients.
With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing every day, a number of physicians have said on Facebook that some emergency rooms in Taipei and New Taipei City have been crowded with people who are not ill, but are waiting to get a PCR test to clarify whether they have been infected.
“We would like to stress that people should not go get a test just because they want to ... which is a waste of medical resources,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Photo courtesy of the Hualien County Environmental Protection Bureau via CNA
ERs should be reserved for people who need emergency treatment, and people with COVID-19 should only go when they develop signs or symptoms of worsening conditions, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.
“People who have been exposed to confirmed [COVID-19] cases, but do not have any symptoms do not need to get tested,” he said.
People who have been informed about exposure to a confirmed case through the social distancing app, have visited the same place at around the same time as a confirmed case, or are concerned about being infected can perform an antigen rapid test at home, Lo said, adding that if they test positive, they can go to a community COVID-19 testing station to confirm if they have been infected.
Lo showed a chart made by the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine on who should get tested or go to an ER for emergency treatment under what conditions.
The chart listed the following early warning signs or symptoms: shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; continuous chest tightness or chest pain; mental confusion or disorientation; skin, lips or nails turning blue; no fever but a heartbeat of more than 100 beats per minute; unable to eat, drink or take medicine; and reduced urinary output in the past 24 hours.
“We urge people to protect the medical resources of ERs, and not crowd ERs for COVID-19 testing,” he said, adding that cross-infection among patients at the ERs can be avoided if people go to community testing stations to get tested.
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