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COVID-19 – Health Professionals

Last updated: 10:12 am, February 26, 2021

In addition to the information below, please also refer to the general COVID-19 information webpage and information for workplaces.

Find Information About:

COVID-19 Vaccine Information
Addressing Stigma and COVID-19
“Close” Contact – OR NOT?
Current Case Definition
Patient Screening
Laboratory Testing for COVID-19 (Current Status April 13)
Directives from the Chief Medical Officer of Health
Resources for Healthcare Workers
Environmental Cleaning & Infection Control
Guidance Documents from the Ministry of Health
Healthcare Provider Hotline
Peterborough COVID-19 Triage Tool
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Protocol for Lab Testing
Primary Care
Screening by Telehealth
What if I’m a Healthcare Worker?
COVID-19, Pregnancy and Infant Feeding
Is Ibuprofen Safe for Patients with COVID-19?

COVID-19 Vaccine Information

Education Documents
Guidance for Special Populations
Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy
COVID-19 Vaccine Information  – General Public

Healthcare providers are essential to the success of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. As a healthcare provider, you have the opportunity to educate your patients on the facts about the COVID-19 vaccines. This can motivate patients to make an informed choice for their health. At this time, all information below is specific to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine.

Healthcare Provider Education Documents

The first step in educating patients on the COVID-19 vaccine is to become educated yourself. The Ministry of Health has created educations documents for healthcare providers to assist in your practice:

Counselling Special Populations on Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine

There are specific populations that may not be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This may be due to an allergy to a component of the vaccine. It may also be the case that a population was not involved in the clinical trials and information may not be available about the outcomes of receiving the vaccine for those individuals.

Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy

Healthcare providers play a key role in addressing vaccine hesitancy. It is your role to assist patients in weighing the risks and benefits to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Some strategies to consider when addressing vaccine hesitancy include:

  • Honesty and transparency about the risks of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine
  • Provide facts about the COVID-19 vaccine
  • Highlight consequences of not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine
  • Explain benefits to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine

Resources to Assist with Vaccine Hesitancy

Current Case Definition

This information may change frequently, please check back often for updates.

Current Case Definition for COVID-19

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Patient Screening

COVID-19 Reference Document for Symptoms
COVID-19 Patient Screening Guidance Document
TESTED!   Now what?  Follow-up Instructions for Individuals tested for COVID-19 – Patient Handout
Additional Guidance for the Incorporation of COVID Testing into Primary Care
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Laboratory Testing for COVID-19: Current Status (April 13, 2020)

Click here for document provided from PRHC

Directives from the Chief Medical Officer of Health

The following Directives can be found at www.health.gov.on.ca

  • Directive #1 for Health Care Providers and Health Care Entities
  • Directive #2 for Health Care Providers (Regulated Health Professionals or Persons who operate a Group Practice of Regulated Health Professionals)
  • Directive #3 for Long-Term Care Homes under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007
  • Directive #4 for Ambulance Services and Paramedics under the Ambulance Act
  • Directive #5 for Hospitals within the meaning of the Public Hospitals Act and Long-Term Care Homes within the meaning of the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007

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Environmental Cleaning & Infection Control

Cleaning for COVID-19 is the same for other contact/droplet viruses, like influenza.  Additional precautions being recommended do include airborne precautions, however this is out of an abundance of caution.

The Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC) has provided best practices for infection prevention and control in clinical office settings (pg. 29-31), as well as best practices for environmental cleaning . (pg. 107)

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Guidance Documents from the Ministry of Health

Guidance documents and signage have been produced for the health sectors listed below related to COVID-19. These documents currently refer to the previous case definition.

These guidance documents are still valid, but please refer to the new case definition listed above.

  • Guidance for Primary Care Providers in a Community Setting
  • Guidance for Acute Care
  • Guidance for Home and Community Care Providers
  • Guidance for Long-Term Care
  • Guidance for Paramedic Services
  • Guidance for Independent Health Facilities
  • Guidance for Laboratories
  • Guidance for Pharmacies
  • Guidance for Occupational Health and Safety

Click here to access these resources.

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Resources for Healthcare Workers

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Healthcare Provider Hotline

The Ministry of Health can be contacted through the Health Care Provider Hotline for policy guidance related to COVID-19 at 1-866-212-2272.

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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

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Protocol for Lab Testing

Refer to Public Health Ontario for information on the COVID-19 lab requisition, specimen collection and handling and turnaround time.

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Primary Care

COVID-19 Testing and Assessment – New Triage Tool for Local Area (Updated:  June 16, 2020)

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Screening by Telehealth

Telehealth will screen these calls in accordance with the Provincial case definition, and if there are individuals who meet the case definition they will refer them to the Emergency Department (ED). These individuals are provided guidance on how to reduce the risk of transmission while travelling to, and arrival at the hospital. Telehealth will provide the ED with information prior to the individual’s arrival so that the appropriate precautions are used.

Asymptomatic individuals who call Telehealth are provided education as to symptoms and what to do should they develop respiratory illness.

The Ministry of Health can be contacted through the Health Care Provider Hotline for policy guidance related to COVID-19 at 1-866-212-2272

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What if I’m a Healthcare Worker?

Managing Health Worker Illness and Return to Work COVID-19

March 19, 2020

The Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario today issued the following recommendation to all parts of the health sector (including health care workers, health system organizations and employers):

Travel and Return to Work

  • Cease all non-essential business and employee travel outside of Canada until further notice
  • All health care workers who have travelled outside of Canada within the last 14 days (since March 2, 2020), should self-isolate for a period of 14 days, starting from their arrival in Ontario
  • Health care works should not attend work if they are sick
  • For workers who are deemed critical to continued operations:
    • Use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for 14 days
    • Undertake active self-monitoring, including taking their temperature twice daily to monitor for fever
    • Undergo regular screening
    • Immediately self-isolate if symptoms develop
    • Self-identify to their occupational health and safety department

Practice Social Distancing and Facilitate Virtual Arrangements

  • Everyone in Ontario should be practicing social distancing of 2 meters to reduce their exposure to other people. Employers should facilitate arrangements to ensure that this is practiced in the workplace to every extent possible.
  • Where there may be an opportunity, employers should enable appropriate employees to work from home or to work virtually, if not re-deployable.
  • Health system employers should consider a review of how they can provide services to patient groups virtually or remotely.

Ongoing Screening, Self-Monitoring and Self-Isolation

  • Recommendations and tools to specific sectors for both active and passive screening are available on the ministry’s COVID-19 website.
  • The goal of screening programs should be to ensure that no person with clinical symptoms consistent with COVID-19, enters the building – except where they are identified and being clinically assessed by an appropriate provider.
  • Each workplace should have a comprehensive strategy for screening and symptom monitoring where there are inpatients, residential or institutional settings, and tailor their approach to screening to their unique setting. Screening should be focused on patients/residents, volunteers, visitors and staff, and should be done over the phone, upon arrival, at entrances and on a regular basis throughout the day.
  • All health care providers and health care workplaces should monitor for signs of illness. Employees should diligently monitor themselves for signs of illness over the course of the pandemic and identify themselves to their manager and/or occupational health and safety departments if they feel unwell. If a health worker begins to feel unwell while at work, they should immediately don a surgical mask and notify their manager and/or occupational health and safety department.
  • Public Health Ontario has excellent fact sheets on how to self-monitor and self-isolate.

Multiple Locations

  • Health workers who work in multiple locations should identify themselves to their managers and develop an individualized plan to manage their employment across these settings over the course of the pandemic. In some high-risk settings, it may be possible to coordinate arrangements for staff to only work in one institution.

Guidance Document for Mulitple Locations workers

Continuity of Operations and Curtailing Non-Essential Services

  • All health sector organizations should have a Continuity of Operations plan to redeploy resources, whether human resources, equipment or space, to protect critical services. This may include cross training, cross credentialing or formal redeployment to different functions. As part of these plans, organizations should also have minimum thresholds of staffing in place to ensure that critical services continue to operate.
  • Employees with comorbidities should also identify themselves to their employers and consider ways to redeploy away from duties associated with COVID-19.

Return to Work after Illness

  • Health workers should consult their local public health unit and their manager/occupational health and safety department to plan their safe return to work.

Source:

MEMO Managing Health Worker Illness and Return to Work COVID-19 – CMOH

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COVID-19, Pregnancy and Infant Feeding

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada issued a committee opinion regarding COVID-19 during pregnancy. Information can be found on their website.

Breastfeeding FAQs for HCP

Parent Information

Resources:

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Is Ibuprofen Safe for Patients with COVID-19?

Statement from the World Health Organization- March 18, 2020

At present, based on currently available information, WHO does not recommend against the use of ibuprofen.  They are consulting with physicians treating COVID-19 patients and are not aware of reports of any negative effects of ibuprofen, beyond the usual side effects that limit its use in certain populations.  WHO is not aware of published clinical or population-based data on this topic.

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