COVID-19; A Review for Eye Care Practitioners

Abstract

The spread of COVID-19 is becoming unstoppable and has already reached the necessary epidemiological criteria for declaring it as a pandemic. Given the close distance between the patients and eye doctor during the examination, frequent exposure to the tears and ocular discharge, and the unavoidable use of equipment requiring the close proximity, eye doctors are at a high risk of infection with COVID-19. Based on the 60 manuscripts written about COVID-19 diseases and other coronaviruses, the basics of this new virus, signs and its relationship to the eyes, eye doctors' care procedures against the disease, hygiene measures for sanitization of the environment and ophthalmic instruments, patients' care and attention to the use of contact lens during the COVID-19 pandemic were all investigated in the present study.