Awareness of surgical smoke risks and assessment of safety practices during the Covid-19 pandemic

Cases of pneumonia of unknown aetiology occurred in the Wuhan city of China in December 2019. It was revealed that the pathogenic agent of pneumonia in these patients was ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2’ (previously known as 2019-nCoV). In February 2020, this disease was identified by the WHO as coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The pandemic was declared on 11 March 2020, as the disease continued to spread rapidly and began to appear in the USA, and in parts of Europe. Covid-19 was a new virus and little was known about it. Guidelines were updated in the light of new information and experiences gained everyday. Further updates have continued in the coming months and years.