Is COVID test Necessary before all elective surgeries?

IS A COVID TEST NECESSARY BEFORE A CATARACT SURGERY AS PER PROTOCOLS?

Dr D P Prakash FRCS

AMERICAN EYE CARE & LASIK CENTRES 

*Lives are more important than protocols *

Protocols aren’t necessarily made to protect lives but to create a process.

*Protocols keep changing but everyone has only one life.*...

So to answer the question whether it would be prudent to do a COVID test before ANY SURGERY ???? *My answer would be a definitive YES!!*

If you don’t have the facilities or patients don’t want to do it due to financial issues then TRUST IN GOD and do the surgery if you want to.

Otherwise since it’s an elective surgery plan it accordingly  

keeping the safety of yourself, your staff and your valuable patients in mind. 

*When would you do the test ?*

Do it as close to the surgery as possible. I’m aware of a chip based RT PCR test for covid that can give results in just 40 minutes. That would be the ideal. But if you do not have access to it inform the patient and his attendees to socially quarantine themselves after giving the samples until after the surgery is done. 

It would also be prudent to do periodic covid testing of ourselves and OUR OT Staffs in the interest of everyone’s safety .