procedure and participants
As shown in Figure 1, a total of 5,866 persons were treated in the
outpatient obstetrics and gynecology department at Wuhan Union Hospital
from March 12, 2020, to April 26, 2020. A total of 1,054 persons
received “online” telemedicine services, and 4,812 persons received
“offline” outpatient services. All “offline” outpatients were
required to test their temperature and collect a medical history
before
their visit. Those who had the following were transferred to designated
outpatient clinics: body temperature greater than 37.3℃, respiratory
symptoms, and a COVID-19 or exposure history. Eligible patients entered
the waiting area and signed a notification confirming that they had no
symptoms of or exposure history to COVID-19. If any of the outpatients
need inpatient treatment or outpatient surgery, such as diagnostic
scraping, cervical biopsy, etc., a series of COVID-19-associated tests
were carried out, including SARS-CoV-2 NAT of throat swabs, chest CT
scan and a SARS-CoV-2-specific serological test. Others volunteered to
undergo these tests to be able to get back to work or escort
hospitalized family members. All outpatients who were tested were
included in the study. If the test results had a positive finding, the
patients were sent to the designated outpatient clinics, and an
infection card was reported for the first time. Patients with negative
test results were admitted to the hospital or outpatient clinics for
follow-up treatment. Emergency patients were placed in segregated wards
or underwent emergency surgery under protective measures in cases that
were too critical to wait for the results of the COVID-19 tests. If the
tests were negative, the emergency patients were then transferred to a
regular ward. All enrolled patients were followed up until discharge
from the hospital or May 8, 2020 (for patients had not been discharged
or admitted). The requirement for informed consent was waived due to the
retrospective data collection and the urgency to collect data on the
emerging SARS-CoV-2. This study
was approved by the Ethics Committee of Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji
Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
[approval No.2020(0218)].