Clinical organization of ear, nose and throat diseases departments during the COVID-19 outbreak

Currently, the world has been engulfed by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus infection, namely severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 pandemic. The healthcare workers are on the frontline with an increased risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. In particular, otolaryngologists are at a unique risk due to the close contact with mucus membranes of the upper respiratory tract and are among the most affected healthcare workers in hospitals. This situation necessitates some changes in the daily routine of the otolaryngology clinics. In this review, we present the changes of the paradigm and provide additional data regarding the clinical organization of the Otolaryngology Department of Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine.

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