Medical Centre

National and global spread of COVID-19 is accelerating. To reduce COVID-19-related hospitalisations, intensive care unit admissions and deaths, we recommend that those aged between 60 and 69 years are particularly stringent when implementing public health measures such as social distancing and personal hygiene. In the absence of government guidance, people in this group can make their own informed decisions on how to minimise their risks of COVID-19 infection. This can include using precautionary measures to reduce the risk of infection in a similar manner to that recommended by the UK government for people aged 70 years and over. Read the article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine . DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076820921107

Testing people for Covid-19 infection is an essential component of our strategy to control the global Covid-19 pandemic. These tests come in two main groups: antigen tests and antibody tests. The antigen test is to determine if you currently have Covid-19 infection. This requires swabs to be taken from your nose and throat to look for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 infection. In the UK, this test is mainly limited to hospital patients and NHS staff. There are now plans to extend testing to staff working in care homes. We will also need to expand testing to people in the community who do not require hospital treatment. The antibody test to determine if you have had a previous Covid-19 infection. This is done through a blood test that is then assessed for the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. We believe that once people have been infected and develop antibodies, they should be protected from a repeat infection. Because Covid-19 is a new disease, we d...

During the Covid-19 pandemic, parents may be concerned about taking their children to a general practice or child health clinic to receive their immunisations. If your child is due for their immunisations, please do attend for this. Immunisation is a safe and effective procedure that protects your children from vaccine-preventable disease.