COVID19 impact on nuclear medicine: An Australian perspective

The COVID19 pandemic will redefine the way we live. The immediate threat from COVID19 to health and to the nuclear medicine community is rapidly changing. It is useful to consider how COVID19 is shaping nuclear medicine practice globally. The COVID19 pandemic requires reconsideration of the risk:benefit equilibrium in nuclear medicine practice[1]. Here, a perspective from an Australian context is provided. Consideration should be given to the interplay between the resilience and crisis management skills developed during the multiple Australian 99Mo crises of 2018 and then 2019, and the challenge fatigue these events have produced. Casting an eye forward, the silver lining, if we can be brave enough to consider, might be more sustainable practices. The nuclear medicine profession is also gifted with inherent capabilities associated with radiation safety management that confer agility in the changing landscape; radiation control provides an infection control barrier in practice, ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principles are transferrable, foundations of radiation safety (time, distance and shielding) translate to infection control and the concept of justification, optimisation and limitation can provide immediate guidance for decision making in the COVID19 crisis.