COVID-19 and eye care
Scientific brief, 31 March 2023
Overview
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread dramatically over the entire globe affecting all health care systems, since it was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The health implications have been of unprecedented magnitude, with the virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome and the potential to affect almost every organ in the body. Significant progress has been made in understanding the disease, with reported cases of ocular involvement. It is beneficial to also examine the impact on eye care services to better understand the short to long-term impacts for persons needing to access eye care services.
A rapid systematic review was undertaken to inform this scientific brief. The review set out to assess the available peer-reviewed literature to analyse evidence on the following questions:
- What are the ocular manifestations associated with COVID-19 infection and the environmental restrictions placed?
- How has COVID-19 impacted eye care service delivery and education?
- What have been some alternative models of eye care service delivery that have been used during the COVID-19 pandemic?
