Fewer cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 epidemic in the Netherlands

The dreadful consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) put an unprecedented pressure on health-care services across the globe.1Rosenbaum L The untold toll - the pandemic's effects on patients without Covid-19.N Engl J Med. 2020; (published online April 17.)DOI:10.1056/NEJMms2009984Crossref Scopus (511) Google Scholar The Netherlands, a country with 17·4 million inhabitants that provides its citizens with universal access to essential health-care services—with the general practitioner as the gatekeeper to secondary care—is no exception in this regard. The first patient with COVID-19 in the Netherlands was confirmed on Feb 27, 2020, in the southern part of the country.2Government of the NetherlandsMan…