Educate and Communicate
Many patients will inevitably turn to their family physicians as “trusted and credible sources of information.”5 In fact, family physicians may be considered more reliable by patients than public health organizations. This may be due to the longstanding relationship between a patient and their family physician, but also due to mistrust amongst some groups of governmental organizations, including public health organizations.5 Therefore, family physicians have a duty to remain up-to-date with the best evidence as the pandemic progresses, and public health organizations must maintain open lines of communication with primary care.6 Family physicians have the opportunity to provide patients with advice on individual preventative measures, self-management of symptoms and to correct sometimes detrimental misinformation.7
Another opportunity for family physicians that may be overlooked and under-utilized is to emphasize with patients with COVID-19 the importance of isolation. Case-contact tracing and reinforcing self-isolation is one of the core responsibilities of public health. Nevertheless, when a patient is diagnosed, there is an opening for their family physician to contact them and reinforce public health measures.8,9 Similarly, if a patient were to identify themselves to their physician as a contact to a case, the role of quarantine can be emphasized. In this way, family physicians help to slow the spread of COVID-19.