With backing from more than a dozen other industry groups, the American Academy of Ophthalmology on March 18 urged ophthalmologists to immediately end all non-urgent care.
AAO said physicians should consider patient medical and social circumstances to determine the urgency of any case, whether surgical or office-based.
The organization outlined two objectives behind the guidance:
1. Avoid overwhelming hospitals to reduce the risk of human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which is the new coronavirus, as well as the rate of new case development.
2. Conserve disposable medical supplies and make them available to hospitals where they're most needed.
"Already, a handful of our ophthalmologist colleagues have died from COVID-19," AAO's guidance said. "It is essential that we as physicians and as responsible human beings do what we can and must to reduce virus transmission and enhance our nation’s ability to care for those desperately ill from the disease."
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