SCREENING AND DIAGNOSIS DURING COVID-19

The body temperature of all patients upon arrival at endoscopy units, clinics or inpatient wards should be checked and documented. All admissions to hospital should be screened for COVID-19 by chest computed tomography (CT) scan and be confirmed by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens. COVID-19 should be diagnosed on the basis of the WHO interim guidance. Isolation precautions should be taken for those awaiting test results.([FOOTNOTE= https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11695-020-04578-1],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

All patients should be asked about recent history of fever or respiratory symptoms, family members or close contacts with similar symptoms, any contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and recent travel to high-risk areas.