When to operate after SARS-CoV-2 infection? A review on the recent consensus recommendation of the DGC/BDC and the DGAI/BDA.

Since the eruption of the worldwide SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in late 2019/early 2020, multiple elective surgical interventions were postponed. Through pandemic measures, elective operation capacities were reduced in favour of intensive care treatment for critically ill SARS-CoV-2 patients. Although intermittent low-incidence infection rates allowed an increase in elective surgery, surgeons have to include long-term pulmonary and extrapulmonary complications of SARS-CoV-2 infections (especially "Long Covid") in their perioperative management considerations and risk assessment procedures. This review summarizes recent consensus statements and recommendations regarding the timepoint for surgical intervention after SARS-CoV-2 infection released by respective German societies and professional representatives including DGC/BDC (Germany Society of Surgery/Professional Association of German Surgeons e.V.) and DGAI/BDA (Germany Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine/Professional Association of German Anesthesiologists e.V.) within the scope of the recent literature. The current literature reveals that patients with pre- and perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection have a dramatically deteriorated postoperative outcome. Thereby, perioperative mortality is mainly caused by pulmonary and thromboembolic complications. Notably, perioperative mortality decreases to normal values over time depending on the duration of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Globally Distributed Development during COVID-19

Due to the global pandemic, in March 2020 we in academia and industry were abruptly forced into working from home. Yet teaching never stopped, and neither did developing software, fixing software, and expanding into new markets. Demands for flexible ways of working, responding to new requirements, have never been so high. How did we manage to continue working, when we had to suddenly switch all communication to online and virtual forms of contact? In this short paper we describe how Ocuco Ltd., a medium-sized organization headquartered in Ireland, managed our software development teams - distributed throughout Ireland, Europe, Asia and America during the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe how we expanded, kept our customers happy, and our teams motivated. We made changes, some large, such as providing emergency financial support;others small, like implementing regular online social pizza evenings. Technology and process changes were minor, an advantage of working in globally distributed teams since 2016, when development activities were coordinated according to the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The results of implementing the changes were satisfying;productivity went up, we gained new customers, and preliminary results from our wellness survey indicate that everyone feels extremely well-supported by management to achieve their goals. However, the anonymised survey responses did show some developers' anxiety levels were slightly raised, and many are working longer hours. Administering this survey is very beneficial, as now we know, so we can act.