Although the pandemic has scared a number of people from even leaving their houses, physical therapy patients are already attending at nearly the same rate as before COVID-19.
As Florida has been one of the most affected states in this pandemic, a number of health centers in different parts of the medical field have been negatively hit by the pandemic, But physical therapy centers ae thriving with as much as a 20% increase in patients at one PT clinic in South Florida.
Megan Melcon, an administrative assistant at Doral Physical Therapy, said the clinic is almost as busy as before the peak of the pandemic. On average they were seeing three to four patients per hour. But, because Doral Physical Therapy is an essential business, the therapy center never closed down. However, they experienced a very low amount of patient visits at the peak of the pandemic.
Jorge Perez is an athletic trainer at Doral Physical Therapy. He explained the types of measures they are taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19. One includes questionnaires. If any of the answers to questions like if the patients have been in contact with someone with COVID-19 or out of the country in the last 15 days is “yes,” clinic workers have the right to tell the patient to leave the facility.
They are also “cleaning as soon as the person uses a table, or a machine, or any type of equipment in the facility during their stay.”