Throughout the pandemic, some people have been at higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19 because they have underlying medical conditions, like asthma, diabetes, heart or lung disease.
iStock/gorodenkoff(NEW YORK) Oncologists have been warning about dangerous gaps in cancer care since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a nationwide study based on data from Veterans Affairs hospitals is raising new alarms. Since March 2020, COVID-19 has caused a disruption in surgeries and treatments for patients with cancer. At different periods during the pandemic, some states have also required health care facilities to suspend elective procedures, many of which include cancer screenings, to preserve resources during COVID surges. "This is an area of tremendous concern," Dr. Norman "Ned" E. Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute, said in an interview in Cancer Prevention Research. "The pandemic has affected cancer screening in a dramatic way…a massive screening deficit over the last 12 months millions of screening events have been missed," Sharpless added. Compared with yearly averages in 2018 and 2019 as a baseline, the nu