Researchers analysing data on COVID-19 patients in China noticed how few of them wore glasses.
Their observation was all the more apparent in a country in which at least one in three of the population has myopia. When the group investigated further, they found that only 16 (5.8%) of the 276 in-patients who tested positive for COVID-19 at one hospital in Hubei province, over several weeks in early 2020, wore glasses for more than eight hours per day. These 16 were also the only study participants with myopia.
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The number of people with glaucoma, AMD and cataracts is set to increase over the next 10 years. This new online tool will be a critical planning resource for commissioners and providers of eye health care.
The College, The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) and the Federation of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians (FODO) back the Government’s commitment to put patients in the driving seat and give them more control and choice over their care.
One thing is certain: I wasn’t expecting the events of the last 10 weeks to take place when I wrote my last Optometry in Practice editorial in February this year.
