Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the urologic practice in the emergency departments in Italy

ABSTRACT

Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are causing a rapid and tragic health emergency worldwide [1,2]. Italy was the first European country to experience a virus outbreak, starting on Feb, 21st 2020. It resulted in national quarantine, and the official lockdown of the country's non-essential businesses and services began on Mar, 9th 2020. Although several reports are available in the literature on recommendations for reorganization of the clinical and surgical activities [3-7], to our knowledge, no data is available on the effective impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the outcomes of other medical conditions.