This page answers some, but not all, of your questions. However, there are many links to resources that answer most of your questions. Remember to pay careful attention to where you get your information from.
The COVID-19 situation changes from hour to hour, anxiety levels are high, but at this point we should contact experts to clarify the rapidly changing landscape. Below is a collection of information that every physiotherapist should and should know. Please take the time to read and, if possible, share with your departments and colleagues.
Physiopedia & Physioplus
The Physiopedia team was very busy creating new content about COVID-19 and everything you need to know as a physiotherapist this week. We have a page dedicated to all the important things you need to know. This includes a page with a summary of all important information – a page dedicated to the virus itself.
COVID-19 Physiopedia Page
You also heard of something called social distancing in the past week. The aim is to reduce the transmission, delay the epidemic peak, reduce the size of the epidemic peak and spread cases over a longer period of time in order to reduce the pressure on the health system. You may be wondering how it all works. Everything is answered on our page on social distancing.
Social distancing
PPE is a hot topic right now, and many people are wondering what different levels of protection are available and when to use them. Visit our PSA page to learn everything you need to know.
Personal protective equipment
Hand hygiene is crucial to reduce infections and to protect ourselves and our patients. If you have any doubts about your technology or need resources for your department, read the following page.
Hand hygiene
To contribute to global efforts to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Physiopedia offers a free online course program (via Physioplus' online learning platform). The aim of these courses is to provide a practicing physiotherapist with the knowledge, practices and skills to play a proactive role in global and local efforts to reduce the impact of this pandemic.
Check out the FREE course
Expert Council for Respiratory Physiotherapists
As always, the Physio Matters podcast team is there. Jack Chew interviewed Rachael Moses, a consultant respiratory physiologist in the UK, who gave us all some excellent common sense advice. Be sure to look around if you are a physical therapist who works on an outpatient or community basis and may need to be transferred to an acute environment.
WATCH @JackAChew ask @rachaelmoses
What is the care of # COVID19 patients?
What are the risks for physios?
How can they be reduced?
What is a fit test?
What could MSK therapists do now?
What could MSK therapists do in the coming weeks and months? Https: //t.co/7uSaHJ8T7O pic.twitter.com/lREJ1Ytpqp
– Physio Matters (@TPMPodcast) March 15, 2020
Rachael Moses also has some written instructions that she has kindly made publicly available through Dropbox. The link is below and is a must for anyone who is in an acute environment and treats patients affected by the virus.
Excellent summary by Rachael Moses
Other resources
Destroying myth at a time like this is crucial and there are some excellent articles on the Internet. ALWAYS make sure it comes from a trusted source and author, and look for evidence to support people's claims. Intagram and Twitter are excellent sources of quick and up-to-date evidence and infographics, but the good is riddled with misinformation. Be vigilant. Below is a list of the truths and resources they come from.
Does Alcohol Gel Kill COVID-19? – Yes.
Are Surgical Face Masks Useful? – The current leading thought is that COVID is transmitted via droplets, which means that masks are useful in collecting these droplets. Of course, this is not infallible since droplets can still be transferred through the eyes and onto your skin and later transferred to your face. It is also worth noting that surgical masks are only useful in the immediate vicinity of people.
There is also a lot of misinformation about the size of the virus and the filtering ability of masks. An infographic that supposedly comes from Unicef has been circulating on WhatsApp and Twitter and claims that the corona virus is 400-500 nm wide and therefore sufficient to be stopped by masks. This is actually not safe and the virus is 50 to 200 nm wide in both cases as explained above. A mask does not always stop the virus unless it is
What is the incubation period for COVID-19? – The WHO reports that this is between 1 and 14 days and the symptoms appear most frequently after 5 days. The 14 days of self-isolation come here.
How long does the virus live on surfaces? – The WHO currently does not know how long the virus lives on surfaces. The current idea is that COVID-19 behaves like other corona viruses and remains on surfaces for a few hours to several days. This is a wide period of time, but this is because everything depends on environmental conditions that vary massively even within a personal home. The sensible advice is to disinfect surfaces regularly if you think they are contaminated.
WHO has some great infographics that you should definitely share with patients, colleagues, and friends. Here's one that shatters the myth that immersing your body in chlorine or alochol will kill the coronavirus.
