COVID-19: The regional impact of COVID-19 on the certification of vision impairment in Northern Ireland.
Andrew Jonathan JacksonGiuliana SilvestriMichael StevensonJanet SintonJacqueline WitherowRoseleen McCannTanya MoutrayLaura CushleyPublished in: Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) (2020)
It is inconceivable that COVID-19 has reduced the incidence of sight-threatening eye disease. We must therefore assume that a flood of newly presenting sight loss will present once the pandemic has passed. New presentations will include those who would normally have attended during the lockdown period, and patients who, had they accessed ophthalmic care at the appropriate time, would have been saved from severe levels of blindness. The implications of the predicted increase in demand for medical, social and low vision related services are huge.