Seems like a personal choice.

FWIW, I'm going in for my annual physical on Wednesday.

I personally wouldn’t. See if you can get a new one in a month.

All of the hospitals and clinics in our area have cancelled all appointments/procedures that are not necessary. If it is optional, I would totally skip it. Risk to you is infection. And health care workers are overwhelmed with COVID.

Rather different reason, but I went for some blood tests last week.
As soon as I approached the door they had the thermal imager to check temp (from 2m away) and had asked I stop where I was and they'd comw to me (so they could do the check).
That was after multiple signs of 'Don't come in if x, y or z.'

Then asked to use hand sanitiser soon as in the building, and before going into the cubicle, and again on way out.

In my case I'd decided i wanted to know the blood results now so if there's a problem its not gone so bad that I'm in a deep hole come May or June when the virus may be at its peak here (in the UK).

Which ever way you decide, hope you stay well.

I'd call your provider with your concerns. Our office has tried to move to tele-health options, when necessary. Untreated cardiac issues may kill/harm more people, if routine issues aren't kept on top of, than covid-19. All medical offices should be doing their due diligence for ensuring your safety/the staff's safety as well as the public health concerns.

We are still seeing active cardiac issues/new patients and are doing strict screening. Routine appointments are being rescheduled or being done via tele-health.

Wearing a mask is an additional protection that you can consider if you do go to your appt, and it doesn't need to be an N-95. We have algorithms for use and if you are actually high risk, you should be at your PCP's office not your cardiologist's office.



Anyway, best of luck and be safe and well. Things are changing on a daily basis and we have updates every day and next week will very, very likely be quite different.

Here's the problem I have.


The virus can be infectious for up to two weeks before patient symptoms are evident. Let that sink in for a moment.


You, anyone you interact with could all be shedding the virus for two weeks, on doors, handles, equipment, stair rails, tables, telephones, ...I could fill the page with examples, all of them from someone who has no symptoms.

Are you going to a large campus hospital? Do you have to park in the same area as the ED is located and go through those same entrances? Has this hospital started setting up clinics and testing sites in common areas such as lobbies or drive thru areas? If so do you have to go by those areas at all to get to where you are going? You should be able to ask these questions to the admin in the dept that you speak with and based on those answers you can make your decision on if you go or not.

Doc here. I’d probably go if I were you. This thing isn’t going to be over in a month. Your risk in 6-8 weeks is probably similar to now as far as covid exposure. Are you high risk if you were to be exposed to covid? Lung disease, obesity, coronary artery disease, etc.

Also depends where you live. In Arkansas we have less than 200 cases (as of now. More coming no doubt) so the risk may actually be higher in a month than now.

^this plus if you cancel it’ll probably be a long wait to get another appointment as most people are probably canceling.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Weird heart rate things could potentially be serious. You indicated that as far as you know, it's not urgent. Did you get the same sense from your cardiologist? The more serious the issue, the more I'd counsel going in - assuming that you can't just do telemedicine. This really does seem like the sort of thing to do by remote, unless you have hearing loss that makes it hard to understand people when on the medical equivalent of Facetime/Skype/whatever.

Against that, I'd weigh the disease prevalence in your area. If you're in New York City, I'd stay home unless it was life or death. If I were in a rural area of the Midwest, there's less reason for concern, and you could probably go in with all the existing precautions. Remember that there are more cases than we have the capacity to detect right now, though.

I'm in a slightly different situation: I get regular allergy shots, and if I put them on pause, I would have to restart from the lowest dose much later on. It's hardly life or death, though; my current allergies aren't very severe. I'm in Minneapolis, which is likely the epicenter of the disease in Minnesota. I'm going in to a student health center. Right now, I think I'm just going to go in every two weeks, the maximum period allowed. I can cycle to campus. I'd be in the student health center for maybe 45 minutes total. They said they have capacity to treat me. Ironically, they asked me to transfer my serum to a local allergist if possible, so as to preserve their own capacity and reduce my own exposure. The local allergist's health system paused all appointments until late April on account of the virus.

If I were you, I would go.

But then again, im the person who started the thread on Sunday about tachycardia... i would love to be seen by a cardiologist in the near future, but that may not be possible.

If you do go, masks and a special set of cloth you will take off as soon as you get home. Be mindful of what you touch when at the office (this includes doors, railings, etc).

Best of wishes