We report here the case of a 27-year-old man who consulted by telemedicine during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, due to foreign body sensation and left eye redness. Examination revealed unilateral eyelid edema and moderate conjunctival hyperemia. A few hours later, the patient experienced intense headache and developed fever, cough and severe dyspnea. A nasopharyngeal swab proved positive for SARS-CoV-2. This case demonstrates that conjunctivitis can be the inaugural manifestation of the COVID-19 infection. It illustrates the interest of telemedicine in ophthalmology during the COVID-19 pandemic, since moderate conjunctival hyperemia can be the first sign of a severe respiratory distress.