Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this scenario, managing acute medical conditions, such as stroke, requires a timely treatment together with proper strategies that minimize the risk of infection spreading to health care workers and other patients. We report the case of a 79-year-old woman, who was admitted for a wake-up stroke due to occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery. She was treated outside the COVID-19-dedicated track of the hospital because she had no concomitant signs or symptoms suggestive of SARS-CoV-2 infection nor recent contact with other infected individuals. Post-mortem nasal and pharyngeal swab was positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

We propose that hyperacute stroke patients should be tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection at admission and then managed as having COVID-19 until cleared by a negative result. We are aware that such measure results in some delay of the acute treatment of stroke, which could be minimal using well-exercised containment protocols.

冠状病毒疾病19（COVID-19）是由严重的急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的新兴传染病。在这种情况下，管理急性医疗条件（例如中风）需要及时进行治疗，并采取适当的策略以最大程度地减少感染传播给医护人员和其他患者的风险。我们报告了一名79岁妇女的病例，该妇女因左中脑动脉闭塞而被唤醒。由于没有伴随SARS-CoV-2感染的征兆或症状，也没有与其他感染者的近期接触，因此未在COVID-19专用的医院治疗该病。死后鼻拭和咽拭子对SARS-CoV-2感染呈阳性。

我们建议应在入院时对超急性中风患者进行SARS-CoV-2感染检测，然后将其治疗为COVID-19，直至结果为阴性。我们知道，这种措施会导致中风的急性治疗有所延迟，而使用完善的遏制措施可以将这种影响降至最低。