Orthopedic clinics under the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: Time to revisit the safety measures

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the seen in each and every field of the globe and is true for orthopedic clinics as well. As the second surge of COVID-19 pandemic is fading away, number of patients in orthopedic clinics of hospitals, nursing homes, and even private chambers is increasing day by day. Very soon we will see a sudden surge of patients in orthopedic OPD (outpatient department) as the cold cases have been differed for the last one and half years. Visiting/handling the increasing number of patients in the same space of consulting and waiting area will be a challenge and it is quite possible that we may commit a mistake by compromising the protective guidelines, as we did during the beginning of this year. However, the first surge was fading away, which resulted into the entry of second surge of COVID pandemic. Therefore, it is time to revisit the situation in terms of safety measures while attending the patients in orthopedic clinic.