Suggestions of management on emergency responses to epidemic outbreaks in outpatient or emergency departments of tertiary teaching hospitals

Background Patients infected with the alpha,beta,and delta strains of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)usually exhibit fever,dry cough,nasal congestion,sore throat,loss of taste or smell,runny nose,conjunctivitis,fatigue,myalgia,diarrhea,and other symptoms,[1]while patients infected with the omicron strain present mild symptoms,including nasal discharge,sore throat,sneezing,headache,and cough.[2]Some patients deliberately conceal the relevant medical history,which makes it difficult to find in the pre-examination screening in outpatient or emer-gency departments.Outpatient and emergency buildings are usually linked to each other,and some older floors are poorly ventilated.Once patients with COVID-19 see a doctor in an out-patient or emergency building,especially patients infected with the omicron strain,an outbreak of the epidemic in a large area is easily possible.