Oxford Eye Hospital has seen it’s records for trauma operations by DIY smashed in the last week. The hospital usually sees one serious injury of it’s kind every two weeks.
In the last seven days, six patients have needed urgent medical attention from the optical hospital.
The eye hospital is now urging everyone to wear eye protection while carrying out household jobs.
Stella Hornby, a consultant who works at the facility based in John Radcliffe Hospital, said: “We’re seeing patients with more serious eye injuries and people have needed operations to repair injuries which could potentially result in sight loss.
“We think this is because people are locked down and they might be doing more DIY or gardening at home without using eye protection.”
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Oxford Eye Hospital has also advised locking up detergents and chemicals away from children
They’ve emphasised that any chemicals that could cause irritations to eyes need to be hidden.
National guidelines on tackling the coronavirus outbreak currently state that people should avoid touching their face eyes, nose, and mouth as much as possible.
Dr Hornby said: “Wearing glasses instead of contact lenses at the moment reduces the risk of contact lens-related complications, and reduces the need to touch your face.”
The hospital usually takes in one DIY injury every two weeks.
If patients have urgent eye problems, they should call the telephone triage number instead of attending emergency departments.
The eye emergency department is offering telephone triage to minimise contact and maintain social distancing.
The government has published guidance for all speciality workers, with the general message being to minimise hospital and GP appointments and push to online check-ins.
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The news comes after coronavirus has led to a spike in hospitalisations across the UK.
Confirmed cases in the UK are set to keep climbing, currently sitting at 84,279.
Deaths from that total have hit 10,612 as of Sunday night.
Easter Sunday saw 737 deaths after a grim week of over 8,000.
Lockdown measures in the UK are set to be extended as the peak of infections are set to come in the next two weeks.
During the government briefing on 9 April Dominic Raab, deputising for Boris Johnson, said that the lockdown measures will “have to stay in place until we’ve got the evidence that clearly shows we’ve moved beyond the peak.”
He said: “It’s been almost three weeks and we’re starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we’ve all made.
“But the deaths are still rising and we haven’t yet reached the peak of the virus.
“So it’s still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.”
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