Pediatric Otolaryngology Divisional and Institutional Preparatory Response at Seattle Children’s Hospital after COVID‐19 Regional Exposure
Sanjay R. Parikh, Randall A. Bly, Juliana Bonilla‐Velez, John P. Dahl, Sean Evans, David L. Horn, Kaalan Johnson, Scott C. Manning, Henry C. Ou, Prasanth Pattisapu, Jonathan A. Perkins, Kathleen C.Y. Sie
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel coronavirus resulting in high mortality in the adult population but low mortality in the pediatric population. The role children and adolescents play in COVID-19 transmission is unclear, and it is possible that healthy pediatric patients serve as a reservoir for the virus. This article serves as a summary of a single pediatric institution's response to COVID-19 with the goal of protecting both patients and health care providers while providing ongoing care to critically ill patients who require urgent interventions. A significant limitation of this commentary is that it reflects a single institution's joint effort at a moment in time but does not take into consideration future circumstances that could change practice patterns. We still hope dissemination of our overall response at this moment, approximately 8 weeks after our region's first adult case, may benefit other pediatric institutions preparing for COVID-19.