Chief medical officer changes coronavirus protocols for GPs

General practitioners have received new protocols in connection with a possible outbreak of coronavirus, the chief medical officer told a press conference on Monday. Cecilia Muller said the new rules were necessary to minimise personal contact. Patients with coronavirus symptoms, or people who have travelled to coronavirus-affected countries or had contact with infected individuals should not visit their doctor but make a phone call first, she said. If coronavirus infection is suspected, the doctor will call an ambulance and the patient will be taken to the nearest infectology department. Samples of such patients will be tested in a central laboratory, and should they prove positive, the patient will be transferred to the South Pest Central Hospital, Muller said.