Otolaryngology Surgery in Time of COVID-19—What PPE to Use When?

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. We wish to share the policies on personal protective equipment (PPE) instituted by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore in consultation with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). NCID is the designated frontline healthcare facility to treat patients with COVID-19 in Singapore. It is physically linked to TTSH, the designated hospital that treated Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003. Our otolaryngology department provides outpatient and inpatient services to both TTSH (1500 bed capacity) and NCID (330 bed capacity), the largest inpatient healthcare facility in the island nation.