By Cortney Murchie
For all eye care professionals, 2020 was meant to be
our year. Now, just 4 months in, we are all too well aware that COVID-19, has
halted life as we know it and left us all in limbo.
Given the uncertainty of this time, we have had to
adapt and change the way we practice. All of us charting unknown territories
that has forced some offices to close their storefront and operate completely
online, while some remain open taking emergencies only.
I personally did not anticipate the magnitude to which
this would affect us and our industry. I still held hope that this would be
under control as rapidly as it appeared even when the optical events we were
all looking forward to were held in question by the threat of COVID-19. MIDO, held
in Milan, Italy, and arguably the most prestigious international eyewear show, was
the first to officially be rescheduled, initially to July 2020 and then to February
2021. Still, I did not fathom the impact it would have on the entire world.
Then, Vision Expo East, held at the Javits Center in
New York City, where ECPs congregate for a four-day divertissement that includes
one of the most dynamic showings of optical collections in North America
officially announced March 3 that it would be cancelled and consolidated with
Vision Expo West in Las Vegas this September. This announcement was when it
finally started to hit me. This wasn’t going away anytime soon, and the way in
which we operated was going to change.
The Javits Center in New York City has since been converted into a field hospital for COVID-19 patients as NYC has become a hot zone for the coronavirus, further putting into perspective, the degree that this is not only affecting our industry but the entire world.
On March 11, the World Health Organization announced that
COVID-19 was officially being declared as a global pandemic.
Here in Alberta a state of public health emergency was
declared on March 17, 2020 and shortly thereafter Optometry offices were open
for emergencies only. I had watched fellow Opticians from around North America
deal with this earlier, yet nothing prepared me for how this would make me
feel. I went from seeing patients daily for adjustments, repairs and frame
selection to spending just over a month watching webinars and doing continuing
education at home. I’ve been left missing the comradeship and communication
with my co-workers and patients.
The impact COVID-19 has had on my life both
professionally and personally has been profound – as it has been for most
people – and I find comfort in talking to friends and other ECPs about what
this means to them and what it means to you.
Over the next few weeks, I will be talking to fellow
ECPs around North America regarding COVID-19 and how it is affecting them and
how they feel this could impact our industry as a whole.
Together we are stronger, and we can help each other
navigate through this pandemic and shift our focus to ways in which this will
change our daily operations.
