Abstract
Aim: To evaluate clinical characteristics and alterations in the of patients admitted to the ocular emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital during coronavirus disease period in 2019 (COVID-19) and pre-pandemic period. Also, we intended to share our strategy and experience to prevent disease transmission to health-care staff during patient submission.
 Material and Method: In this study, 45901 patients who applied to ED between January and May in 2020 were reviewed retrospectively for ocular manifestations. The five months divided into two groups as the pre-pandemic period and the pandemic period. Clinical and demographic data were collected. The proportion of urgent and non-urgent cases in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period was compared.
 Results: A total of 30,576 patients (66.6%) admitted to ED before COVID-19 and 15,325 patients admitted (33.4%) during COVID-19 era. Five hundred thirty-eight (1.8%) of cases admitted in the pre-pandemic period, and 395 (2.6%) of the cases admitted in the pandemic period were in the real urgent category. Conjunctivitis, blepharitis and hordeolum, dry eye diseases, corneal diseases were the most common conditions in both pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.
 Conclusion: This study showed that admissions to ED for ocular conditions during the pandemic period decreased significantly, and the rate of real urgent cases increased. Yet even during the pandemic period, non-urgent patients continue to come to the ED.
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