A cross-sectional study of patients presenting for hospital-based screening for COVID-19: risk of disease, and healthcare access preferences.

Amanda Rojek; Martin Dutch; Daniel Peyton; Rachel Pelly; Mark Putland; Harriet Hiscock; Jonathan Knott

Re-directing well patients or those with only mild illness will require accurate triaging as well as alternative services. Possibilities for alternate services to conduct triaging incorporating epidemiological and clinical histories include a hotline, community-based screening service, GP practices, or self-screening via an app/online service. Those patients who do warrant testing for SARS-CoV-2 could then be directed to an appropriate service, with well patients being directed to a community clinic or general practice and unwell patients being referred to ED with their specialised services in critical care. Our data suggest patients are willing to be screened in the community, as demonstrated by the small proportion of patients who reported that they thought the illness was too specialised for GPs to manage.