The diversion of healthcare resources to manage the COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected the ability of many health systems to maintain standards of care for patients with other medical conditions. Hospitals in the worst-affected countries are struggling to keep pace with the number of admissions from the coronavirus alone, and have almost zero capacity to cope with other conditions. Even in countries that are not as badly affected, many hospitals have now deferred elective surgeries, redirected any upper respiratory tract infection or pneumonia cases to isolation wards, and cancelled or postponed non-critical outpatient clinic visits.
This also means that people are deferring their health checks, including screening tests to pick up cancer incidence. The latter in particular means there will be patients who would otherwise have been identified through routine screening as being in need of urgent medical attention, and these are now missed or delayed – which means the window of opportunity for seeking early or effective treatment may be closed, resulting in morbidity or mortality that could have been avoided. The situation may be compounded when the supply chains for essential medicines are disrupted, a reality that is starting to happen in several countries which are key producers of medical supplies
In England, many will die because cancer treatment is postponed https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/04/coronavirus-crisis-is-stopping-vital-cancer-care-doctors-say
They, and those dying of Covid-19, are fatalities caused by the long-term underfunding of and disdain for properly resourced health systems and healthcare professionals.
In Saudi Arabia the lock down has resulted in depletion of medications. There is no warfarin available. Antimicrobials are in very short supply. Shipping charges have increased significantly. The situation is likely to be similar in other countries. We must urgently determine which medications are effective for this condition to avoid wastage.
This is going to result in excess deaths beyond those directly due to Covid-19
How can we maintain supplies of blood for transfusion during the Covid-19 pandemic?
https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_can_we_maintain_supplies_of_blood_for_transfusion_during_the_Covid-19_pandemic
An unfortunate adverse effect of social distancing for the Covid-19 pandemic has arisen. There has been a dramatic fall in the number of blood donors in Saudi Arabia a result of social isolation during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Supplies of blood are being depleted. This is likely to be a global phenomenon
If insufficient blood of the correct type is available a woman may die as a result of not being transfused blood for severe acute bleeding following delivery of a child, for example. This will be most challenging for patients with rare blood group
Patients may die as a result of not being transfused blood severe acute bleeding due to stress ulceration, for example. If the patient has severe or critical Covid-19, the cause of death is actually the Covid-19 but it is likely to be coded as GI tract bleeding.
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The correlation between stressful life events and psychiatric illness is stronger than the correlation with medical or physical illness. The relationship of stress with psychiatric illness is strongest in neuroses, which is followed by depression and schizophrenia. There is no scientific evidence of a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the immune system changes and the development of cancer. However, recent studies found a link between stress, tumour development and suppression of natural killer (NK) cells, which is actively involved in preventing metastasis and destroying small metastases.
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Attention to some diseases gradually decreases, this shouldn't be so because it has been proven that when there are diseases that can reduce immunity, there is a possibility to have COVID 19 if come in contact with a victim.
