Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology
Tse, Frances; Borgaonkar, Mark; Leontiadis, Grigorios I.
Introduction
As the number of cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rise in Canada and in the rest of the world, and with the designation of COVID-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology has issued the following guidance for endoscopy facilities to reduce and delay transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving global challenge. As endoscopists and physicians, we have the responsibility of protecting our patients, ourselves and other endoscopy personnel from this infection. To this end, we wish to emphasize the importance of following current guidance and advice from Public Health Agency of Canada on infection prevention and control for COVID-19. It is imperative that all endoscopy facilities, whether they are hospital endoscopy units, out-ofhospital premises or independent health facilities, develop institutional protocols and policies that are consistent with national, provincial and local municipal recommendations for infection control to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to both patients and personnel.
Keywords
Clinical aspects, diagnosis, treatment