Transmission of infection among health care personnel performing surgical tracheostomies on COVID-19 patients.

Background: Staff and patient safety are of paramount importance while performing a surgical tracheostomy (ST) during the corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim was to assess the incidence of COVID-19 infection among the healthcare personnel (HCP) performing ST on COVID-19 patients.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-two HCP participating in 71 ST procedures performed at our institution between 26th March 2020 and 27th May 2020 were identified.