Changes in the proportion and severity of patients with fever or common cold symptoms utilizing an after-hours house call medical service during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo Japan: a retrospective cohort study

摘要

Flow chart of patients who consulted the after-hours house call medical service The operators of the private medical emergency service assess risk factors for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. If infection is suspected, the operators consult a doctor and advise the patients to call a public health center. Then, based on the telephone triage (red, orange, yellow, green, and white), the operators determine whether the patient is to remain at home (white), or they opt to provide the patient with information about nearby clinics or a primary hospital (green), a doctor’s visit to the patient’s residence (orange and yellow), or an ambulance (red)