TY - JOUR T1 - Primary care and COVID-19: cutting the Gordian knot – the Greek experience and algorithm JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00468-2020 VL - 6 IS - 3 SP - 00468-2020 AU - Ioannis Tomos AU - Konstantinos Kostikas AU - Georgios Hillas AU - Petros Bakakos AU - Stelios Loukides Y1 - 2020/07/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/6/3/00468-2020.abstract N2 - The novel human coronavirus that is now named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The disease is mild in most people (∼80%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, in many countries the crisis has quickly overwhelmed the capacities of healthcare systems, leading to major challenges in their ability to respond [1, 2]. In Greece, we managed to control the pandemic by eliminating the number of cases and by keeping mortality rates within acceptable limits. As of 4 July 2020, the National Public Health Organisation reported 3511 cases (55% male) with 192 deaths; 517 patients were hospitalised. 811 (23%) of the total cases were linked to travelling abroad, while 1933 (55.1%) were linked to exposure to a confirmed case. Following extended discussions with primary care physicians and after fully considering our experiences during hospital emergencies, these findings suggest that primary care in Greece may have played a key role in the management of suspected cases of SARS-CoV-2, perhaps relieving the referral hospitals from suspect and mild cases, and critically contributing to our success story during the pandemic.The Greek experience reveals that harmonised collaboration among primary care, secondary facilities, designated hospitals and official authorities results in prompt and accurate management of the pandemic-related crisis of COVID-19 https://bit.ly/3eSHVhG ER -