Anesthesia in Patients with Unknown COVID Status & Asymptomatic

Key Points

• Once there is evidence of community spread, asymptomatic patients with unknown COVID status are treated as patients with positive COVID status during the pandemic.  Thus anesthesia management in both groups of patients is the same.
   
• Again only perform emergency surgery (limb or life threatening) to preserve hospital capacity.
   
• The same infection control protocols are applied.  That is, full PPE precaution (airborne) and the same personnel, environmental, and equipment protection protocols are applied. Use the same strategies to prevent droplet and airborne transmission.
   
• See the Anesthesia in Patients with Positive COVID Status or Suspected Positive section (see previous section) for details.