COVID-19 and ophthalmology practice at University Hospital “Policlinico Umberto I” in Rome

COVID-19 is a newly defined disease, affecting the respiratory system. It is caused by a novel coronavirus, called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The growing importance of the outbreak led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and to later officially describe it as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Italy was the first European country to be heavily impacted by COVID-19, with the number of cases and deaths caused by the virus surging in the months of March and April 2020. Ophthalmologists represent a high-risk category for the spread of the infection, mainly because the examination demands close contact with the patient, exposing the clinician to tear, conjunctival secretions and to aerosol droplets.