Will a tumor pandemic come after the COVID-19 pandemic? Head and Neck cancer perspective.

The COVID-19 pandemic demands a reassessment of head and neck oncology treatment paradigms by posing several challenges for oncology services, with unprecedented pressure on the regional health care system. Since February 2020 this has severely disrupted health-care services, leading to accumulating clinic caseload and substantial delays for operations. The head and neck cancer services have been faced with the difficult task of managing the balance between infection risk to health-care providers and the risk of disease progression from prolonged waiting times. Herein, we share our experience in Firenze (Italy) and propose our action plan on the management of head and neck cancer services via multi-institution collaboration.

Impact of COVID-19 on otolaryngology in Italy: a commentary from the COVID-19 task force of the Young Otolaryngologists of the Italian Society of Otolaryngology.

OBJECTIVE: The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 is having a dramatic effect on most medical disciplines. Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery is one of the most engaged disciplines, and otolaryngology specialists are facing a radical change of their role and daily activities that will have severe impact on the return to the ordinary. In this paper, the COVID-19 Task Force of the Young Otolaryngologists of the Italian Society of Otolaryngology comment on the changes that occurred for otolaryngology in Italy during the pandemic. Changes include organizational rearrangement of Otolaryngology Units, with merges and closures that affected a significant portion of them; reallocation of otolaryngology personnel, mainly to COVID-19 wards; reduction of elective clinical and surgical activity, that was mainly limited to oncology and emergency procedures; and execution of screening procedures for SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare providers and patients in otolaryngology units in Italy.