Nuclear medicine operations in the times of COVID-19 : strategies, precautions, and experiences

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has now reached most countries and is straining health-care systems worldwide to their limits. Emergency room and intensive care staff are at increased risk for infection. Nobody knows the exact mortality rates associated with infections. However, given a likely very large number of infected patients, the number of fatalities will be high even if mortality rates are less than 1%. As recent events in Europe indicate, hospitals may simply be overwhelmed by the high number of patients needing care. Strategies to contain the spread of the virus are, therefore, essential. Outpatient hospital-based or free-standing imaging clinics are also exposed to asymptomatic carriers and patients with flulike symptoms. There are different ways to tackle this challenge, and this short article aims to provide you with an overview of different approaches supporting decision making. We briefly summarize strategies, precautions, and experiences from clinics in Europe (Fanti, Herrmann, Hacker, and Meyer), Australia (Hicks, Scott), Asia (Hatazawa, Yun), Africa (Sathekge), and the United States (Allen-Auerbach, Schoder) as implemented by local leadership.