Covid-19 preparedness for Orthopaedic practice in public health care system

Abstract

The impact of COVID – 19 has a challenge to balance the work of combating the virus on one hand and continuing to treat the routine non-covid problems on the other hand. Apart from trauma and other emergencies which require immediate surgery, there are a lot of acute and chronic painful conditions along with post-operative follow up cases which cannot be postponed from orthopaedic consultation for a long time. Universal guidelines for COVID-19 preparedness stands good for both private and public health care systems, but addressing social distancing, personal hygiene and health awareness among patients attending public hospitals pose a great challenge. Due to the huge patient load in public hospitals, compared to private hospitals, these government run institutions are particularly at risk of becoming a hotspot for virus transmission if adequate precautions are not taken. In this article, we discuss feasible cost-effective strategies against COVID transmission to continue treating orthopedic patients in a safe environment.