Question

I had written a letter.
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Answer 1

Answer:

To the Editor:

The recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus illness (coronavirus disease 2019; COVID-19) has grown into a global pandemic. As a response, there have been several treatment recommendations published by international, federal, state, and local governing bodies. Here, we aim to help neurosurgeons synthesize these recommendations into an institutional policy that fits the unique demands of neurosurgical practice. We performed a comprehensive review of COVD-19 policies and aggregated multi-disciplinary expertise at our institution to formulate recommendations for scheduling surgery, providing neurosurgical coverage, and engaging in neurosurgical research during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here, we present a neurosurgical algorithm for varying levels of COVID-19 community infection. This algorithm (with an accompanying checklist) is centered around a 3-tiered system of viral “surge” quantification, which we use to triage case scheduling, and a paired coverage model (PCM), which we use to provide inpatient services. COVID-19 represents a challenge to ongoing practice; however, with clear algorithms, checklists, and contingency planning, it is possible to provide focused neurosurgical care during this pandemic.

INTRODUCTION