Bill Harvey: Arise

Things are moving quickly. I was just about to press ‘send’ when the announcement pinged through that the ‘OFNC, in consultation with other UK optical bodies, has confirmed that optical practices in the UK that are providing urgent and essential eye healthcare are key health services and should continue to function where possible during the Covid-19 crisis.’ This is a good thing. The primary care sector is going to be key in helping the hospital sector to manage the predicted peak of infected people affected by SARS-CoV-2 and needing intensive hospital care in the coming months.

Way before forcing our authorities last week to allow the remote prescribing of specs and contact lenses, I think most of us had already decided that continuing routine practice was irresponsible. Isolation works. It was shocking to hear of high street clinics still going ahead with routine eye testing clinics aimed specifically towards at-risk groups. As one colleague put it, this was the optometry equivalent of toilet roll hoarding. Without full PHP or safe physical distancing, one person will infect 406 people after 30 days. With 50% reduced exposure, the number is just 15.