LAUSR

The global pandemic caused by transmission of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and resultantCOVID-191 has created a crisis worldwide for health, healthcare and society. Doctors and healthcare workers will confront fears, and endure risks, making many difficult life-or-death decisions to treat patients and support colleagues as we confront this pandemic. United, in common purpose, we shall prevail against this generational challenge reliant upon our medical professionalism. On 31 December 2019, the WHO China country office was notified of a severe contagious novel pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China, and concerned by the severity of illness and rapidity of spread, it was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 31 December 2019.1 The infection due to SARS-CoV-2 and the resultant coronavirus sisease first identified in 2019 was named COVID-19 by the WHO and declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020.1 2 COVID-19 is asymptomatic or causes mild illness in most, but in a significant minority causes severe interstitial pneumonia and type-1 respiratory failure with florid systemic inflammatory response leading to multisystem organ failure and death. Worldwide, millions of people have been infected and hundreds of thousands have died, and among them are many front-line healthcare workers and surgeons.1–4 Epicentres have been overwhelmed by the demand for critical care support even in countries with well-resourced healthcare networks and have had to divert any available resource to cope with the pandemic surge.1 2 5 6 Our doctors will be asked to make many challenging decisions as this global pandemic now rages across Europe, the UK and Ireland. Doctors will face unique challenges while managing the pandemic, including the personal risks of infection and the professional challenges of healthcare rationing, clinical priorities and working within a severely restricted health service.7 Doctors are …