The majority of respondents (83 percent) to a recent Pop-Up Poll shared the doctors and staff in their offices locations are keeping masks on for the foreseeable future. This poll, focused on if offices are implementing new masking guidelines, was held in conjunction between Women In Optometry and Review of Optometric Business. Eight percent said that clinical and optical staff are not required to wear masks, and 6 percent said that they have already stopped wearing masks.
In regards to mask guidelines for clinical or optical patients and customers, 70 percent said that they are continuing to ask them to wear masks in both the clinic and in the optical. Twelve percent said that they would no longer ask patients to wear masks, 9 percent said that they have already stopped asking and 6 percent said that they would continue to ask for the clinic but not the optical.
Respondents were asked how likely they were to continue to wearing a mask in the office, rated from a scale of 1 (I am no longer wearing mask/plan to stop right away) to 5 (I will continue to wear a mask when in direct patient contact for the foreseeable future). Two-thirds, 67 percent, rated a 5 and another 12 percent rated a 4. Nine percent rated 1.
Forty-one percent of respondents to the poll were women ODs, and 44 percent were male ODs. Two percent were ODs who did not specify their gender, and the rest were optical staff.
