Adapting to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Cancer Centers

Abstract

Starting in December 2019, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began a pandemic that has rapidly swept across the globe claiming many victims and forcibly changing the way of life for many. Healthcare systems around the world have been put under immense pressure and obliged to evolve in order not only to handle the abrupt and extreme rise in COVID-19 infections but also to continue to treat other patients while minimizing the risk of infection and outbreaks. The diagnosis and management of cancer has similarly been impacted. As the pandemic continued, oncological departments and centers adapted new regulations and oncological societies attempted to publish recommendations and guidelines to ensure optimal management while also accommodating for the ongoing pandemic. In this article, we investigate the measures that should be taken by cancer patients in general and attempt to construct guidelines for how oncology departments should be organized and operated during the pandemic.