Otolaryngology manifestations of COVID-19: a contemporary viewpoint.

Since the first documented case of pneumonia of unknown origin hailed from Wuhan city, Hubei province, China, back in December 2019, the novel SARS-CoV-2 leading to COVID-19 has swept across the globe afflicted the people in every corner. As of 21 March 2021, the total case number has culminated to over 122 million worldwide, with a mortality rate of 2.2%.1 11 March 2021 marks the first anniversary since WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. With the vaccine challenges that lie ahead, the light at the end of the tunnel remains elusive. We learnt that the transmission routes are via respiratory droplet, aerosols and by contact that may be indirect, which succinctly impose a remarkably high risk to the head and neck surgeons who often deal with aerosol-generating procedures. In fact, the first doctor who succumbed to COVID-19 in Wuhan was an otolaryngologist.2 The acknowledgement of a heterogeneous spectrum of clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, ranging from asymptomatic to severe disease with multiple organ failure, is of paramount importance. Apart from the overall presentation being fever, myalgia and lower respiratory tract symptoms of cough and dyspnoea, extrapulmonary symptomatology of COVID-19 manifested through a variety of ear, nose, throat (ENT) …