Diabetic Foot Care Before and During the COVID-19 Epidemic: What Really Matters?
Vilma Urbančič‐Rovan
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic reached Europe at the beginning of the year 2020. It posed an enormous toll on people and the economy and had a significant impact on health care systems. Health care delivery had to be modified in order to fulfill the increased demands due to the epidemic and to prevent infection spread. The first case in Slovenia (2,095,861 inhabitants) was confirmed on 4 March 2020. The COVID-19 epidemic was officially declared on 12 March. All preventative medical activities, including those of foot clinics (foot screening and perfusion pressure measurement) were suspended by a decree of the government and fully resumed only after 15 May 2020. The outpatient foot clinic at University Medical Centre Ljubljana has been running daily without limitations since then (with two full-time and one part-time nurse and one doctor, a consultant diabetologist), in spite of the strong second wave that began in mid-August. During the lockdown period, the clinic remained open for all foot ulcer patients without signs or symptoms of COVID-19 who have not been in contact with COVID-19 patients. Strict measures to limit …