MEDIA ALERT
Contact: Steven Henke
[email protected]
(760) 656-8401
DAP Announces First Three Positive Test Results at COVID-19 Triage Clinic
(Palm Springs, CA) March 20, 2020-- Desert AIDS Project (DAP) announced tonight that three patients at its COVID-19 Clinic have tested positive for the virus. The patients visited the clinic after it was determined in a telephone screening with DAP medical staff that they met certain symptom criteria and should come in for testing. Two patients are greater than age 55 and are believed to be community spread without travel or direct known exposure to a confirmed case. A third patient greater than age 30 also tested positive after coming to the clinic with a minor cough and recent international travel. All three cases are mild and the patients are choosing to self-quarantine at home.
DAP clinicians will continue to care for the patients via telemedicine. DAP case managers will deliver food, household supplies, and any needed medications.
DAP has put safeguards in place to protect non-infected people from COVID-19 while they are on the DAP campus. This includes heavily restricting exits and entrances to the COVID-19 Clinic and controlling pedestrian flow. Clients receiving care are monitored by staff while they are onsite, and anyone entering DAP buildings is screened for symptoms and given masks when appropriate.
DAP believes that offering treatment at the same site as screening and testing is essential to flatten the curve of an epidemic and especially Coronavirus. With every visit to the COVID-19 Clinic at DAP, clients will be evaluated for multiple upper and lower respiratory diseases.
While screening and some testing for COVID-19 are starting to become more available throughout the Coachella Valley, the COVID-19 Clinic at DAP is the only clinic offering treatment for other respiratory illnesses that can present in a similar manner. The uninsured are never turned away.
For more information about Desert AIDS Project's COVID-19 triage clinic and how the innovative approach creates a model for other cities across U.S, click here.
Call (760) 992-0407 Before Visiting COVID-19 Clinic
Before being seen at the COVID-19 Clinic, patients must be screened and referred by a DAP clinician after calling the COVID-19 hotline: (760) 992-0407.
DAP is NOT offering on-demand testing for a-symptomatic clients. Anyone who thinks they might be suffering from COVID-19 should call (760) 992-0407 for information and the opportunity to talk to DAP clinicians about their symptoms.
Raising Funds for COVID-19 Clinic
DAP has launched its COVID-10 Clinic without the budget to do so and has just started a campaign to raise funds. The anticipated cost is at least $575,000 in the coming months to provide this service to the community. Please click here to learn more.
Keeping up on COVID-19
For DAP’s regularly updated Questions and Answers on Coronavirus page, click here.
Preguntas y Respuestas del Coronavirus
For The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) COVID-19 page, click here.
About Desert AIDS Project
Desert AIDS Project (DAP) is a Federally Qualified Health Center in Palm Springs, CA offering DAP Total Care – a combination of medical, dental, counseling, social services, support groups, alternative therapies, in-house pharmacy and lab, and other health and wellness services. DAP’s sexual health clinic, The DOCK, offers STD testing and treatment, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and HIV and HCV testing. DAP’s Get Tested Coachella Valley campaign, the nation’s first region-wide free HIV testing and access to care initiative, was recognized by the White House for helping to bring about an AIDS-free future. DAP has earned a “Four Star” rating from Charity Navigator for the twelfth consecutive year – landing DAP in the top 6% of nonprofits rated. The distinction recognizes that we exceed industry standards in terms of our financial health, accountability, and transparency.
Visit www.desertaidsproject.