Safety at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: How to Keep Our Oncology Patients and Healthcare Workers Safe

Abstract

The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was first detected as a respiratory illness in December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. Since then, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted every aspect of our lives worldwide. In a time when terms such as social distancing and flattening the curve have become a part of our vernacular, it is essential that we understand what measures can be implemented to protect our patients and healthcare workers. Undoubtedly, healthcare providers have had to rapidly alter care delivery models while simultaneously acknowledging the crucial unknowns of how these changes may affect clinical outcomes. This special feature reviews strategies on how to mitigate transmission of COVID-19 in an effort to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with the disease for patients with cancer without infection, for patients with cancer with COVID-19 infection, and for the healthcare workers caring for them, while continuing to provide the best possible cancer care. [Editor's Note: This article includes the most current information available at time of publication; however, recommendations regarding public safety and practice may change rapidly in this situation. Individuals should get the most up to date information from the CDC website.]

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Imaging

“…HCWs were confirmed to be high risk for COVID-19 infections (up to 10%) from initial data in early outbreaks in China, Italy, and Spain 9 . The NCCN issued guidelines for health care worker safety early in the pandemic, based on WHO recommendations 10 . In a study rating different professions’ risk of contracting COVID-19 from work, radiology technologists were one of the highest (a score or 84 out of 100), and sonographers (80 out of 100) 11 .…”

Experiences of healthcare providers of older adults with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Managing the cancer care of an at-risk population for COVID-19 complications requires both internal and external resources from taxed health systems and agencies dealing with an influx of patients. Healthcare providers are coping with the societal shifts and sustained emotional stressors faced by the general population as well as being at greater risk of exposure, moral dilemmas, extreme workloads, and rapidly evolving practice environments (e.g., shifts to telemedicine) [17,18] which may affect the health outcomes of older adults with cancer [19]. Furthermore, as the primary source of medical information for patients, their ability to stay informed and be a consistent trusted resource for patients is hindered by ever-changing institutional and healthcare system guidelines.…”

Speeding tumor genotyping during the SARS‐CoV‐2 outbreak through liquid biopsy

“…To reduce the risk of infection and the number of clinic visits for patients with cancer, several different strategies have been proposed, including postponing/temporarily suspending ongoing treatments whenever possible (eg, adjuvant chemotherapy or elective surgery for less aggressive cancers), preferring oral therapies to intravenous agents and shorter radiotherapy fractionation, switching to regimens with longer intervals, increasing intervals between scans, and replacing clinic visits with telemedicine tools and/or telephone appointments 3,4 . Case‐by‐case evaluations of the risk/benefit ratio of delaying anticancer treatments are crucial.…”