In the light of the current COVID-19 situation, diagnosing the pink eye or conjunctivitis has now an added dimension of caution. The alert came about after anecdotal sources and researchers raised the alarm about “the possibility of eye infection and the ocular route as a potential infection source.

This and several other reports prompted the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) to issue guidelines, which included warnings that “the virus can cause conjunctivitis and possibly be transmitted by aerosol contact with conjunctiva.”

The circumstances of its infection mode have put ophthalmologists around the globe on the frontline, and it has been especially poignant ever since the passing of Dr. Li Wenliang, the ophthalmologist from Wuhan who warned of the virus in December 2019. It was believed that he contracted the novel coronavirus from a glaucoma patient.

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A Lowdown on the Link between Conjunctivitis and COVID-19