Recommendations for safe and effective practice of interventional cardiology during COVID-19 pandemic: Expert opinion from Jordan and Palestine

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic with a high mortality rate (2% to 5%) and a high infectivity compared with previous known viral respiratory illness. Data has shown that medical personnel were infected more than other people. Therefore, health care providers had to establish new protocols that balance between health care providers’ protection and patients’ benefit, and guarantee the availability of medical resources in cases of emergency. This article presents several recommendations and protocols for invasive management of coronary artery disease in our region during the COVID-19 pandemic especially after the recent increase in the number of cases in our region. We expect that these recommendations will help protect medical personnel in cardiology field from the high risk of infection of COVID-19, and eventually this would keep the cardiology team available in case of emergency. In addition, they will provide safe and effective management of patients with coronary artery disease during this pandemic.