As the number of COVID-19 cases in this country continues to surge, there has been a rush of Americans seeking to get tested for the coronavirus that causes it. If you’re considering testing but are confused about the various types of tests and what they do and when to get them, here’s a brief overview that might help.

The first thing you need to understand is that there are different types of tests that are used at different times. Certain tests are used to detect if you are currently infected with SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and there are different tests that can determine if you’ve already had the virus.

If you want to know if you are currently infected, there are two types of tests: molecular tests and antigen tests. Molecular tests are typically performed using nasal swabs or throat swabs, but some test saliva or another bodily fluid. Molecular tests look for genetic material that can only come from the virus, which will be present if you are infected.

Antigen tests, which are done using nasal or throat swabs, identify antigens from the virus. Antigens are protein fragments that initiate an allergic response in the body. Antigen tests are more likely to miss an active COVID-19 infection compared to molecular tests. It may be recommended that you get a molecular test if your antigen test is negative but you have COVID-19 symptoms, which include cough, shortness of breath and fever.

You can get these tests from your doctor or state or local health department. Most states have set up testing centers throughout the community to provide easy access for residents. Many centers offer the rapid COVID-19 test, which is an antigen test that provides results the same day as opposed to the 3-5 day wait time for most nasal swab tests. The FDA has also approved a COVID-19 home testing kit.

On the other hand, antibody tests look for antibodies to the virus in your blood, which may indicate that you’ve previously been infected by the coronavirus. Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system that help fight foreign invaders such as viruses. They may help ward off future attacks by the viruses and keep you from getting the diseases they cause a second time.

Unfortunately, researchers are uncertain about how much immunity antibodies to the coronavirus provide against getting COVID-19 again. Research suggests that coronavirus antibody levels may wane over just a few months. Confirmed and suspected cases of reinfection have been reported, but remain rare. Researchers are working to better understand this phenomenon.

Antibody tests are not a good way to determine if you are currently infected with the coronavirus because it can take 1-3 weeks after infection for your body to make antibodies. You may test negative but have an infection in its early stages. Further, you can test positive for antibodies even if you had an asymptomatic infection.

Antibody tests are available through your doctor or a verified laboratory. Typically, results are available within a few days.

The tests for COVID-19 are new and it’s unclear how accurate they really are because there are no “gold standard” tests to compare them to. In addition, these tests were made available by Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. Under an EUA, the makers were permitted to market the tests even though they didn’t receive formal approval due to a public health emergency.

Studies show that the rate of false negative results with molecular tests vary depending on how long the infection has been present but ranged from 20 percent when testing was performed five days after symptoms began to up to 100 percent when testing was done earlier in the infection. False negatives are more common with antigen tests, which is why they are not favored by the FDA as a single-use test for active infection.

The reported rate of false negatives with antibody tests ranges from 0 to 30 percent depending on the research study and when in the course of the infection the test was done. Having an antibody test too soon after infection can lead to false negative results.

Most people who develop COVID-19 have a relatively mild form of the disease and don’t need any special treatment or hospitalization. In addition to symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath, they may also experience a sore throat and tiredness that may last one to two weeks. Other people who are infected may be asymptomatic.

But for some people, COVID-19 is a severe illness that requires hospitalization, sometimes in an intensive care or special COVID unit. The risk for this is higher for people who are older and have chronic health conditions such as diabetes.

Whether you test positive or negative for the coronavirus, take steps to protect yourself and others. Wash your hands often, avoid close contact with others, cover your mouth and nose with a mask when around others, cover coughs and sneezes, clean and disinfect, and monitor your health daily. And follow CDC guidelines if symptoms develop.

In an effort to further combat the spread of Covid-19, the US Food and Drug Administration is encouraging people who have completely recovered from the virus to donate their plasma to help hospitalized patients who are currently fighting the virus.

The FDA made this request on Sunday, August 23, when it gave emergency approval to the expanded use of antibody-rich convalescent plasma for coronavirus patients.

People who have had COVID-19 and completely recovered from it now have plasma that contains COVID-19 antibodies, the FDA reports. These antibodies can help patients with COVID-19 fight the disease, the FDA says.

“Based on scientific evidence, the FDA concluded that this product may be effective in treating COVID-19 and that the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product in hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” the FDA says.

The use of convalescent plasma, or plasma collected from people who have recovered from the disease, is not new. It has been used on more than 70,000 COVID-19 patients already, which is why the FDA’s request amounts to an expansion of the therapy.

The FDA cited at least a dozen studies as support for its recommendation, adding that “it is reasonable to believe” that convalescent plasma “may be effective in lessening the severity or shortening the length of COVID-19 illness in some hospitalized patients.”

Adding that early treatment is critical, an FDA official said that in patients 80 years or younger, those who received convalescent plasma within three days of diagnosis were about 35 percent more likely to be alive 30 days later than those who did not received the plasma.

Accounting for more than 55 percent of the blood’s physical makeup, plasma is the largest of the four components in a person’s blood, the part that carries all the other blood components throughout the body.

The FDA is urging recovered COVID-19 patients to donate their plasma because plasma is not like a drug that can be manufactured into millions of doses. It can only be obtained through donations from a small collection of people.

In order to donate plasma, former COVID-19 patients must have received their original diagnosis through a laboratory test, be at least 14 days removed from positive infection of the virus and meet all other donor qualifications.

The spread of COVID-19, which has been cited as the cause of more than 175,000 deaths in the US alone, has “caused unprecedented challenges to the US blood supply,” according to the FDA, which says one plasma donation can save as many as three lives.

“You can help ensure that blood continues to be available for patients by finding a blood donor center near you to schedule your donation,” the FDA concludes.

For further information about donating plasma, the FDA encourages potential donors to visit the following websites:

AAB

America’s Blood Centers

American Red Cross

Armed Services Blood Program

Blood Centers of America

As the summer rages on, coronavirus infection rates continue to climb across the country. States such as Texas, Arizona and Florida are seeing record spikes on an almost daily basis. As of July 15, there were more than 3.41 million infections and at least 134,000 deaths from the virus in the US, and it’s not done.

Unfortunately, in the midst of all this bad news another negative trend is emerging. Some states are seeing an increase in the number of young people being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19. That flies in the face of a commonly held belief that young people don’t get seriously ill from the coronavirus.

It remains true that the majority of people being hospitalized for COVID-19 are older Americans, and the death rate in the younger population is still very low. But the new reports from hospitals across the country are proving not only that more young people are getting infected but that they’re also getting sick enough to require hospitalization.

At one Arizona hospital, six COVID-19 patients in their 20s were admitted by a physician during one shift on Sunday. Most of those patients, the physician noted, were young, healthy individuals before contracting the virus. Across Arizona, people between the ages of 20 and 44 make up 20 percent of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

At a Houston hospital, more than 60 percent of the patients hospitalized by the coronavirus in March and April were over the age of 55, while about 20 percent were under 55. In June and July, the percentage of patients under 50 climbed to 40 percent.

The rising infection rate in younger people may be explained by the fact that a high percentage are overweight and have a history of smoking or vaping. These risk factors can contribute to the development of a severe illness from the coronavirus. Young people are also more likely to gather in large crowds, attend parties and shun social distancing, believing they are immune to the virus.

And then there’s Florida, one of the worst coronavirus hotspots. According to a report released July 10, at least 31 percent of children who were tested for the coronavirus recorded positive. As part of a state initiate, 54,022 Florida residents under 18 were tested and 16,797 tests came back positive. The positivity rate for Florida’s entire population is approximately 11 percent.

This report comes as Florida, along with many other states, debates the risk of returning students to school this fall. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children and adolescents are “less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease” from COVID-19 infection. But they can still carry the virus and infect others.

In May, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory about a severe inflammatory condition discovered in children believed to be associated with the coronavirus called MIS-C. Florida’s pediatric report notes there have been 13 cases of MIS-C in children under 18 in the state.

To be fair, not all states have experienced a rise in infections and hospitalizations of younger patients. Some states, such as Colorado and Idaho, report that their age distribution has remained fairly flat. In California, the average age of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has decreased, but only slightly, from 64 at the beginning of the pandemic to 57 in early July.

Another key finding in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 is that the most disproportionately affected young people are those of color, especially those who have underlying medical conditions. And young people of color are more likely to experience chronic health conditions associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes.

Common chronic conditions affecting minorities include diabetes, obesity, asthma, hypertension and heart disease. These conditions increase the risk of severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. They affect people of color, including young people, at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites, putting them at higher risk for serious COVID-19 infections.

For everyone’s sake, continue to practice the recommended safety precautions: Wash your hands frequently, wear a mask in public and stay 6 feet away from others.

Most of the news we’ve been reading about COVID-19 lately seems to be bad news: New cases are spiking across the country. Hospital ICUs are filling to capacity with seriously ill patients. And experts are warning of escalating infection rates in the coming months.

But if you look a little closer, you can find some tidbits of good news as well. Here’s one story I came across recently that gave me hope. On July 1, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner the German biotech company BioNTech announced that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine has shown promising results in early testing.

The initial clinical data from the study revealed that volunteers who took low or medium doses of the vaccine in two injections about a month apart developed immune responses to the virus in the range expected to be protective.1 In fact, their immune defenses were stronger than those of the average recovered COVID-19 patient.

The study involved 45 healthy volunteers. Twelve received a 10 microgram dose of the vaccine, 12 received a 30 microgram dose, 12 received 100 micrograms and nine received a placebo. The main side effects were fever and injection site soreness. The 100 microgram dose caused fevers in half of patients receiving it, so a second dose was not given to those patients.

Pfizer’s experimental vaccine generated antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and some of those antibodies were neutralizing. That means these antibodies may prevent the virus from functioning.

The level of neutralizing antibodies in the study volunteers were 1.8 to 2.8 times that found in recovered COVID-19 patients, but researchers aren’t sure yet if higher antibody levels lead to virus immunity. Pfizer is planning large-scale studies to prove that people getting their vaccine are 50 percent less like to become infected. Those studies are set to begin this summer.

For its vaccine, Pfizer used specific genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA. This mRNA contains directions for making a certain protein used by the virus to invade human cells. The mRNA is taken up by the body’s cells, which then follow the directions and make the protein. The body’s immune system recognizes the protein as foreign and make antibodies to disable it if the virus tries to invade.

The vaccine in this study is one of four candidate vaccines being developed by Pfizer. The company reported that additional information from this particular trial will help it to pick a leading candidate and dose level for a much larger study. Based on the initial trial results, BioNTech and Pfizer hope to progress to a larger US trial involving 30,000 participants.

Pfizer notes that if its vaccine proves safe and effective, and is approved, it expects to make up to 100 million dose by the end of 2020 and “potentially more than 1.2 billion doses by the end of 2021.”

The good news is there. But you might have to look beyond the front page.

Even as you read this, researchers are feverishly working to uncover potential treatments for COVID-19, the highly infectious illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. One of the treatments being studied is the use of plasma from people who’ve recovered from COVID-19 on currently sick patients. It’s called convalescent plasma therapy.

If you had COVID-19 and recovered, your body developed natural defenses against the disease called antibodies, which are located in the liquid portion of your blood called plasma. Convalescent plasma, which is donated by people who recovered from COVID-19, contains disease-fighting COVID-19 antibodies. In theory, once convalescent plasma is transfused into sick patients, the antibodies battle the active virus and help the patients get better.

The use of convalescent plasma therapy is not a new concept. It dates back to at least the time of the Spanish flu of 1918. It has also been used to fight measles, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola and other lesser known diseases.

There are several risks associated with convalescent plasma therapy. The treatment is given by transfusion, so blood-borne germs can be transmitted to the recipient, which can cause infections. Another risk is transfusion-related acute lung injury, or TRALI, in which the transferred antibodies damage blood vessels in the lungs.

Transfusion-associated circulatory overload, or TACO, is another risk of convalescent plasma therapy. TACO occurs when your body can’t handle the added blood volume from the transfusion, which can be up to half a liter of fluid. Both TRALI and TACO lead to difficulty breathing and death. Fortunately, these risks are rare.

Several studies have been conducted across the globe to determine the safety and effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for the treatment of sick COVID-19 patients. Doctors in China began experimenting with the therapy in January 2020.

In one of their studies, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in April, the Chinese doctors reported that 10 out of 10 patients who received convalescent plasma improved, whereas three out of 10 patients with the same characteristics who didn’t get the therapy died. Other Chinese studies, as well as small studies from Italy and elsewhere look promising as well.

In the US, a comprehensive nationwide study, the results of which were posted on a public server called MedRxiv May 14, found convalescent plasma therapy safe for use on COVID-19 patients. A team of more than 5,000 doctors from more than 2,000 hospitals and laboratories tested the experimental therapy. Of the 5,000 seriously ill patients treated as part of the study, fewer than 1 percent experienced serious adverse events.

The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Michael Joyner, a physiologist at Mayo Clinic, said researchers will start receiving data on the treatment’s effectiveness in the next few weeks, and he expects to have a “much clearer picture” within the next several months.   

“We’re very encouraged that the treatment is safe,” Dr. Joyner says. “That was really the first hurdle for us. And showing that it’s safe gives us confidence to move on and begin to try to understand the efficacy.”

A study from Houston Methodist Hospital published in the American Journal of Pathology May 26, confirmed that convalescent plasma therapy is safe for COVID-19 patients. In that study, 19 out of 25 patients improved with the treatment and 11 were discharged from the hospital. Houston Methodist was also the first academic medical center in the nation to transfuse plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients into two critically ill patients.

With no adverse side effects caused by the convalescent plasma transfusions, the Houston Methodist study concluded that the treatment is a safe option for patients with severe COVID-19 disease.

While these initial studies are promising, randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) are necessary to truly gauge the overall safety and effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for the treatment of sick COVID-19 patients.

RCTs are clinical research studies in which participants are allocated at random to receive either the new treatment being studied or a control treatment. The control may be the current standard or care, a placebo or no treatment. RCTs are the most effective way to study new treatments without bias.

These clinical trials, which will provide more definitive answers on convalescent plasma therapy for sick COVID-19 patients, are currently being conducted in the US.

Eating right can help you build a healthy immune system.

The coronavirus had only taken the lives of some 3,000 people worldwide when a claim suggesting that eating a Nigerian dish called Yoruba stew or simply consuming a diet rich in pepper could cure someone of the virus within 24 hours.

Within a matter of days, the “pepper soup theory” was determined to be a hoax.

Since then, a number of similar theories claiming that everything from garlic to warm lemon water can prevent or cure the coronavirus have emerged. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that any of these “miracle foods” work either.

Not even a boost in vitamin C, which may help shorten the duration and severity of common cold symptoms, has proven to be an effective remedy against the coronavirus. That’s not to say, though, that diet cannot be an ally in fighting off COVID-19.

While doctors and scientists have so far discovered that proper hygiene and physical or “social” distancing are the best way to avoid contracting the virus, they do not discount the role that eating a proper diet can play in that battle.

It has long been known that adequate amounts of iron, zinc and vitamins A, C, E, B6 and B12 can optimize a person’s immune system. It’s quite possible then that by eating a well-balanced diet, a person’s immunity to COVID-19 can be enhanced as well.

The reason is simple. As the World Health Organization points out, “people who eat a well-balanced diet tend to be healthier, have stronger immune systems and are at lower risk for developing chronic illnesses and infectious diseases.”

That goes for the coronavirus, too. After all, it is now known that older people and those with pre-existing health conditions or a compromised immune system are among those affected most severely by the coronavirus.

So now more than ever, it’s important to limit your intake of processed foods heavy in sugar, salty snacks and fat and increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, nuts and whole grains.

It is in the latter category of foods where the vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers, proteins and antioxidants that the body needs to function best exist, and it is through that proper function that a person can increase their chances of combating disease.

On the other hand, people who suffer from deficiencies of proteins and micronutrients tend to have less energy as well as depressed immune systems and are therefore more susceptible to infection than those who eat a healthy diet.

And let’s not forget the critical role that water plays in this equation. Water is essential because it transports nutrients and compounds in blood, regulates body temperature, promotes waste removal and lubricates joints.

That’s why doctors recommend drinking between eight and 10 cups of water per day to remain properly hydrated. That may seem like a lot to some, but those eight to 10 cups of water can include a cup of tea or coffee as well as fruits that contain a lot of water.

Examples of such fruits include melons of most any kind, especially watermelon, grapefruit, oranges, raspberries strawberries and cranberries. Adding a little lemon juice to water can help you reach your daily water goals as well.

The overall goal, of course, is to avoid developing deficiencies of the vitamins and nutrients that allow us to maintain a healthy immune system, and that includes vitamin D, so simply eating right may not be enough to keep that immune system humming.

Because exposure to sunlight provides us with our best source of vitamin D, it’s important during this time to get outside as much as possible if that is not a normal part of your regular routine.

Granted, that could prove difficult for some. But that’s why the British Dietetic Association (BDA) recommends that people who are quarantined or are otherwise unable to get outside regularly add a daily supplement of 10 grams of vitamin D to their diet.

The addition of that supplement can further boost a person’s immune system, though the best way to those immune systems running strong is to eat properly. And sure, that can include a bowl of pepper soup or Yoruba stew if you’d like.

Just keep in mind that according to the latest scientific research, those and other so-called “super foods” alone will not help you ward off or recover from the coronavirus.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19* a global pandemic. In response, health care providers across the US closed their office doors to all but the most emergent patients as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

Today, these providers are reopening to non-emergent patients, but practices must follow strict protocols to prevent transmission of the coronavirus.

With all the safety precautions in place, seeing your provider in the age of COVID-19 is an entirely new experience. But before you schedule an appointment with your provider, there are a few questions you should be prepared to ask about their process for seeing patients in this new era.

First, ask your provider if they are following the guidelines recommended by the CDC, state medical board, professional societies, and state, federal and local authorities for the screening and management of suspected COVID-19 patients in their practice. New regulations and guidance are issued regularly, so ask if your provider is staying on top of the changes.

Ask if your provider is following the CDC’s patient assessment protocol for triage and early disease detection. All visitors to the practice should be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 and contact exposure. If you have symptoms or have had exposure, are their protocols in place for you to be isolated from other patients and staff?

Find out how your provider is screening patients for COVID-19 symptoms before they enter the office. Are staff members taking temperatures and histories at a station outside the building, such as in the parking lot? Or, are they asking you to wait in your car for a staff member to meet you to take your information and temperature before you go inside?

Does your provider offer alternatives to face-to-face visits, such as telephone or telemedicine appointments or online self-assessment tools? Trained staff should be available to determine which patients may be managed safely at home versus at the office or a community health center.

Does your provider routinely test their staff for symptoms of COVID-19? Do they take staff members’ temperatures before each work shift, and are staff members provided with appropriate personal protective equipment (masks, gowns, gloves)? Does your provider require you to wear a mask while you’re in the office? What happens if someone refuses to wear a mask in the office?

Does your provider follow the recommended protocols for disinfecting waiting areas and exam rooms between patients? Do they have a formal infection control policy that includes transmission-based precautions such as contact precautions, droplet precautions and airborne precautions? Is this policy available for you to review?

Are the waiting areas and other common areas in the office set up for social distancing? Are the chairs spaced to keep visitors six feet apart? Or does your provider ask you to wait in your car until it’s time for you to be seen? Does your provider have protocols for patient movement through the office that limits contact with others?

You may have other questions for your provider as well. But remember, this is an unprecedented time in health care and the changes to practice procedures are new to providers and patients alike. Be patient with your provider as they adjust to the new guidelines and regulations and put them into practice in their offices. The rules are for everyone’s safety and health!

Useful Links:

• WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard
• Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the world
• COVID-19 and Patient Safety in the Medical Offices

*COVID-19, primarily a respiratory illness, is caused by the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2. As of May 21, 2020, more than five million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 328,000 people have died from the infection.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people with COVID-19 have shown a wide array of symptoms that range from mild to severe. The most common symptoms reported are cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.

Other, less common symptoms have also been reported with COVID-19. These include gastrointestinal ailments such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion, inability to wake up or stay awake and bluish lips or face are emergency warning signs that require immediate medical attention.

The most common symptoms of the coronavirus that has stopped the world in its tracks are fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. But doctors are finding that the respiratory disease known as COVID-19 can also cause an eye infection called conjunctivitis.

The discovery of conjunctivitis in COVID-19 patients is rare. As of mid-April, doctors believed that only 1 to 3 percent of all the people who could contract COVID-19 would also suffer from conjunctivitis, most likely during the middle phase of the illness.

According to one report in the Journal of Medical Virology, a study of 30 COVID-19 patients in China showed that only one had ocular secretions or tears containing SARS-CoV-2 RNA, which is the carrier of the coronavirus’s genetic information.

But another study detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine Journal Watch claimed that a third of the COVID-19 patients in that study had confirmed cases of conjunctivitis, a finding that has since been challenged.

Also known as pink eye, conjunctivitis is what develops when the clear tissue that lines the inside of the eyelid becomes inflamed. The result is red, itchy and swollen eyes, and while conjunctivitis is not a serious condition, it is highly contagious.

Children are highly susceptible to conjunctivitis, which is known to spread easily throughout schools and day care centers. However, having conjunctivitis alone does not mean a person also has COVID-19.

Though it can develop as a result of exposure to viruses, conjunctivitis can also be caused by exposure to certain bacteria as well as more common irritants such as shampoo, dirt, smoke, pool chlorine and eye drops.

Though it’s best to be treated for conjunctivitis by an ophthalmologist, home remedies such as warm compresses and over-the-counter medicines can treat its symptoms. No matter the approach, it usually takes about two weeks for conjunctivitis to disappear.

During that healing period, several steps can be taken to expedite the healing process and protect your eyes from further damage. For example, if you wear contact lenses, wear glasses instead until the conjunctivitis is completely healed.

And don’t rub your eyes. Granted, that’s easier said than done, but treating your itchy eyes with moistening drops or dabbing them with a tissue and immediately throwing the tissue away can help you avoid spreading the condition.

Because conjunctivitis is highly contagious, it can be transmitted by the hands just as the coronavirus can, so washing your hands regularly and avoiding handshakes is another way to avoid spreading the infection.

The staff at Coastal Integrative Healthcare in Edgewater specializes in physical medicine and stem cell therapy, but when the impact of the coronavirus hit their community this week they put their skills to work in another way.

Bea Johnson fills a container with Coastal Integrative Healthcare’s own home-brew of hand sanitizer.

After learning that many of the people in and around Edgewater were running out of hand sanitizer, the Coastal Integrative Healthcare staff created a homemade version of the disinfectant that is offered up for free to area residents.

“We started hearing about a lot of at-risk people who didn’t have hand sanitizer or ran out of it, and because you can’t find it in the stores right now, we decided to make it ourselves to help people out,” says Timothy Steflik, DC, at Coastal Integrative Healthcare.

Using a recipe that one of their staffers knew, the CIH staff created about six gallons of hand sanitizer by mixing four gallons of isopropyl alcohol with two gallons of aloe gel. They then added some scents to it to erase the clinical odor of the alcohol.

“The isopropyl alcohol is what kills the viruses and mixing in the aloe gel gave it some consistency,” Dr. Steflik states. “The different scents make it smell nice, and once we had it made up, we set up a tent in our parking lot and distributed it from there.”

“We set up the tent so that people wouldn’t have to come into our building and touch the doorknobs and stuff, so it was just like some of the restaurants and places like that offering curbside service.”

Coastal Integrative Healthcare began distributing its homemade hand sanitizer this past Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. Shortly before that, a line of people, many of whom had brought their own containers, had assembled to take advantage of the giveaway.

“We also gave out some small containers that we made up ourselves to people who didn’t have one,” Dr. Steflik says. “The people we served were really happy because they literally couldn’t find it any of the stores.”

Coastal Integrative Healthcare’s giveaway also benefitted a nearby medical clinic that had run out of the disinfectant.

Coastal Integrative Healthcare remains open during the coronavirus crisis.

“We had several nurses and nurse practitioners come over from the Florida Health Care facility that’s just two businesses away from us,” Dr. Steflik confirms. “And that was important because they’re one of the eight testing centers for COVID-19 in our county and they had run out of it. So we filled up the bottles they brought and then gave them some more.”

Dr. Steflik says he is hoping to make another batch of hand sanitizer to give away to area residents and businesses next week. He’s worried, though, that a shortage of one of the key ingredients will prevent that from happening.

“We’re having a hard time buying isopropyl alcohol right now,” he says. “We have access to it through a distributor that most people don’t have and that’s how we got enough to make the first batch.

But it’s getting harder and harder to find. You can’t even buy it on Amazon right now, but we’re going to keep looking because we want to continue to do what we can to help the people in our community in some way.”