Reorganization of a Nuclear Medicine Department in Northern Italy During a 2-Month Lockdown for COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has profoundly changed the organization of hospital activities. We present our experience of reorganization of a nuclear medicine service settled in Northern Italy during the pandemic period of March and April 2020 characterized a government-mandated lockdown. Our service remained open during the whole period, performing approximately 80% of the routine practice, while maintaining it COVID-free despite the geographical context characterized by a high risk of infection. Reorganization involved all aspects of a nuclear medicine department, following local, national, and international guidelines for prioritizing patients, telephone and physical triages, deployment of appropriate personal protective equipment, social distancing, and logistic changes for scheduling examinations and disinfection procedures. All staff remained COVID-19-negative despite the unintentional admission of 4 patients who later turned out to be positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. These adopted measures would serve as the basis for safe nuclear medicine services in the post-lockdown phase.