Abstract
Purpose: COVID-19 reached Belgium in February and quickly became a major public health challenge. It is of importance to evaluate the actual impact of COVID-19 on patients and staff in Belgian radiotherapy departments (RTDs). This was evaluated through a weekly national survey sent to departments measuring key factors that were affected by the pandemic.Materials and Methods: The Belgian SocieTy for Radiation Oncology (BeSTRO) together with the Belgian College for physicians in Radiation Oncology invited all 26 RTD to participate in a survey that started on March 2nd and was re- submitted weekly for 4 months to assess variations in time. The survey focused on: (1) the COVID-19 status of patients and staff; (2) the management of clinically suspected COVID patients and COVID positive patients; (3) the impact of COVID-19 on RTD activities; (4) its impact in radiotherapy indications and fractionation schemes.Results: Seventy-three percent of 26 RTDs completed the first survey and 57% responded to all weekly surveys. In the RTD staff, 24 members were COVID-positive of whom 67% were RTTs. Over the study period, the number of patients treated dropped by a maximum of 18.8% when compared to March 2nd. In 32.3% of COVID-positive and 54% of COVID suspected patients, treatment was continued without any interruptions. Radiotherapy indications were adapted within the 1st weeks of the survey in 47.4% of RTD, especially for urological and breast tumors. Fractionation schemes were changed in 68.4% of RTD, mainly for urological, breast, gastro-intestinal, and lung tumors.Conclusions: Between March and June 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an important decrease in treatment activity in RTD in Belgium (18.8%). The COVID-19 infection status of patients influenced the continuity of the radiotherapy schedule. Changes in indications and fractionation schedules of radiotherapy were rapidly incorporated in the different RTD.
Highlights
In December 2019, the Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) that a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin had been detected
The cause was quickly identified as being a novel coronavirus tagged as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) [1]
The epidemic has become a pandemic with the global spread of COVID19 leading to RTD having to reorganize and reschedule their daily throughput in accordance with government and institutional recommendations
Summary
In December 2019, the Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) that a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin had been detected. The epidemic has become a pandemic with the global spread of COVID19 leading to RTD having to reorganize and reschedule their daily throughput in accordance with government and institutional recommendations. On behalf of the Belgian SocieTy for Radiation Oncology (BeSTRO) and the Belgian College for Physicians in Radiation Oncology, we decided that it was important to monitor the impact of the COVID pandemic on RTD and their treatment activities. This was realized through a weekly survey that was sent out to all departments
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