Introduction:
Late in 2019 a pneumonia-causing virus, later identified as COVID-19,
has been identified in Wuhan, China(1). Shortly, the
virus spread to 19 countries and a world health emergency was declared
as it reached a pandemic status(2). It was the news
reports from Italy of a healthcare system stretched beyond its capacity,
soaring fatalities, and strict governmental interventions to limit the
spread that alerted most European and North American countries. The
first reported case in the United States was reported on the
22nd of January(3). As it became
obvious that the disease would spread in the US, health care systems
started developing strategies to combat the spread of the disease,
acquiring resources to deal with unprecedented demands, and to train
staff to protect themselves and provide care for a special subset of
patients.