LAUSR

The incidence of acute stroke during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is either increasing, decreasing, or neither.1–3 Published data fails to support a firm conclusion, whereas anecdotal reports and nonpeer-reviewed case series posted on preprint servers—although newsworthy—do not help clarify the effect of severe acute respiratory syndromecorona virus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) infection on the frequency of thrombotic events.1,4 One can speculate that fear of infection may lead potential stroke patients to refuse or delay calling for emergency medical services.5 However, the virus may be linked to thrombotic risk, which, in turn, could lead to an increased incidence of stroke, especially severe stroke.4 Therefore, a crucial need for data exists to characterize and understand the effect of the COVID19 pandemic on stroke care.