DR. SARALA SANKAR

DR.BHAGWATI WADWEKAR

Abstract

A Retrospective study was done to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmology outpatient and emergency statistics during the Lockdown period and Prelockdown. The data were taken from the electronic medical records of patients who visited the ophthalmology OPD & emergency services. Patients with ocular complaints from the period of 25th March 2020 to 31st July 2020(Lockdown Period) and the corresponding period in last year:25th March to 31st July 2019

A total of 3201 patients visited the hospital during both Lockdown and Pre-lockdown phases. During the lockdown, 8.6% emergency, 91.4% OPD. During Pre-lockdown, 6.1% emergency, 93.9% in OPD. The ratio of patients near and far from the institute was 8:1 during lockdown compared to the Pre-lockdown ratio of 4:1.There was a significant reduction in the number of patients visiting hospitals in OPD and emergency during the lockdown. The COVID 19 pandemic has affected ophthalmology practice in hospitals.