Introduction: Finding a way in daily clinical practice during COVID‐19 pandemic

Twickler, Theodorus B.; Regieli, Jakub J.

Since some months, the Covid-19 pandemic changed our world drastically. At the start of the pandemic, in a single week, our medical communities, both in primary care , nursing homes, as in secondary and tertiary facilities have been forced to stop all regular clinical care and to shift towards hospital care that was ultimately restricted to Covid-19 related disease. The clinical presentation of Covid-19 occurred predominantly in the elderly patients (most > 65 years old) displaying a respiratory disability, and in a small proportion among them displayed a respiratory failure, in association with a broad range of pre-existing co-morbidities. Covid-19 had not been taught in university and to prepare ourselves, we aimed to retract data published from especially Chinese studies. Most literature was published without a peer-review procedure (fast track), and most intervention designs existed of small groups and a not blinded/not randomized inclusion. After an extensive week of patients' contact, we experienced various differences (compared to the prior reports) in their first presentation and in their individual course of disease.