Sharing Our Experience of Operating an Endoscopy Unit in the Midst of a COVID-19 Outbreak

Han, Jimin; Kim, Eun Young

During the COVID-19 outbreak, both healthcare personnel and patients are at risk of infection via person-to-person contact, aerosol, and contact with virus-contaminated fluids. 3 The symptoms of COVID-19 are known to be mainly respiratory symptom, but some patients may complain of GI symptoms. 7 For example, an 85-year-old man came to our outpatient clinic complaining of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and general weakness. He did not have fever, cough, or dyspnea. One week later, he was confirmed to have COVID-19. The patient' s GI doctor had not been infected despite prolonged close contact conducting history taking and physical examination in an exam room. Both, the gastroenterologists and patient wore a KF94 facial mask each respectively and handwashing was done immediately after physical contact with the patient. All the other personnel in the outpatient clinic wore KF94 facial masks. Such patients may visit outpatient clinic and will likely undergo endoscopic examinations due to their GI symptoms. Safety measures to protect healthcare personnel are therefore always needed in outpatient clinics given that the personnel can incidentally be exposed to COVID-19 patients.