2 Outreach eye camps run by the Aravind Eye Care System, which cater to rural populations, also ceased operating due to the restrictive measurements. Moreover, most private eye clinics were closed during the acute phases of the pandemic. Ophthalmic care was also provided by private multispecialty hospitals but they were overwhelmed by the inflow of COVID-19 patients. Secondary and tertiary hospitals belonging to the Aravind Eye Care System network in south India, which handle 4.6 million outpatients per year, were among the few eye hospitals in the country that remained open throughout the pandemic. In India, hospitals were able to remain open for emergencies and critical care. 4 Although the pandemic adversely affected access to eye care, the number of sight-threatening conditions occurring would nevertheless have been expected to remain the same and any delays in care could have led to an increasing number of individuals becoming irreversibly blind or experiencing a reduced quality of life. 2, 3 A similar pattern was seen in the United States of America (USA) and was possibly repeated worldwide. During the acute phase of the pandemic, patient numbers at one tertiary eye care hospital in India fell to a mere 3.5% of the previous year’s figure. Despite the stepwise reopening of outpatient eye care following expert committee guidelines, 1 we witnessed a drastic decline in clinic visits and procedures, which reflected travel restrictions, unemployment-related financial challenges and fear of infection. In India, emergency health-care services continued but regular outpatient services were suspended and elective surgery deferred. During the early stages of the pandemic, many countries adopted stringent measures to contain the disease. Although the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic generated tremendous suffering worldwide, it also provided an opportunity to study patient behaviour.
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