A Message from ESCRS President Rudy Nuijts - Friday May 1, 2020

Dear Colleagues, Today we bring you the first results of our COVID-19 survey, which was taken from April 5 to April 24. We are grateful to all of you who responded and will share the results over the next few weeks. In general, we see that ophthalmology clinics have been shut down across Europe with the exception of emergency surgeries. Almost 90% of respondents reported doing less than 15% of their normal volume and 60% have reported doing no surgeries at all. We can see that we are facing an enormous backlog of surgeries and patient visits when we will finally open our clinics. Most members participating in the survey believe openings will begin in May and June. In the Netherlands, clinics will gradually open from May 4th onwards with protocols for PPE and social distancing in place. We also hear today on plans to open-up clinics and practices from Arthur Cummings in Ireland, Philippe Sourdille in France and we share the concerns of our colleagues in India. In reply to a presentation from Philip Bloom, president of the United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery on the role of Aerosol Generating Procedures (AGPs) we received correspondence from Rashmi Nigram. We have included this letter here with Philip Bloom’s reply to facilitate a scientific discussion. As always, any of the opinions or recommendations expressed in this exchange are not those of the ESCRS but based on guidelines of specific societies in certain countries. Although we are looking for confirmation of our own uncertainties in these moments, these discussions belong to the heritage that makes Europe unique. Stay safe and well.