The nationwide lockdown to contain the COVID19 pandemic has affected millions of lives (and livelihoods), and ophthalmology is no exception. However, social media, telephonic consultation and telemedicine have shown a ray of hope amidst the crisis.
Here we have a report on the current situation, where out of a total of 1260 doctors, 77.5% (976/1260) resorted to some form of teleconsultation or telemedicine platforms, and a majority of these, 90.7% (886/976) were not asking any professional fees from patients; the remaining asked for a considerably lesser fees while only a handful asked for higher fees. Hence, going forward, telemdicine would be a great platform to commence professional medical practice in dire straits like the ongoing pandemic.