ABSTRACT
The last months of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that implementing informative indicators for infection dynamics, assessing direct and indirect burden of disease and communicating uncertainties of predictions clearly to stakeholders and the public are crucial elements in the pandemic response. To achieve these aims, coordination within the scientific community is crucial to avoid duplication of work and ensure rapid availability of needed models, estimations, and epidemiological studies. © 2021 De Gruyter. All rights reserved.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus/pathogenicity , Coronavirus Infections/physiopathology , Olfaction Disorders/physiopathology , Pneumonia, Viral/physiopathology , Adult , Aged , Betacoronavirus/genetics , COVID-19 , COVID-19 Testing , Case-Control Studies , Clinical Laboratory Techniques/methods , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Olfaction Disorders/complications , Olfaction Disorders/diagnosis , Olfaction Disorders/virology , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , SARS-CoV-2 , Smell/physiologyABSTRACT
The coronavirus pandemic is a major challenge for healthcare systems worldwide. For urology, the expansion of the health-care structures for the treatment of patients suffering from COVID-19 should be supported as best as possible. At the same time, one should aim to ensure adequate care for urological emergencies and urgent urological treatments as far as possible, even during the pandemic. For this, patients must be prioritized individually, alternative therapy concepts must be considered and regional and supraregional cooperation must be used. Outpatient departments are of great importance in the care, examination and coordination of urological emergencies and urgent treatment. Urological clinics must prepare themselves to perform urgent operations and interventions on SARS-CoV2-positive patients. Here, the creation of a separate, appropriately equipped emergency operating room to perform operations and interventions on SARS-CoV2 patients should be considered. Furthermore strictly defined hygiene measures to protect employees in various clinical scenarios should be set up.