More than two million people in the U.K. have missed cancer screening, treatment, or tests due to the disruption of health services caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a 1 June BBC report.
Cancer Research UK estimates that 2.1 million patients have been unable to screen for bowel, breast, and cervical cancer, and 290,000 people with cancer symptoms have not been referred for testing, the BBC said. The number of patients undergoing cancer treatments has also decreased, with 6,000 fewer receiving chemotherapy and 2,800 receiving radiotherapy in the past 10 weeks; usual operations to remove tumors fell by 40%, according to the report.
Cancer Research UK said that frequent testing of National Health Service (NHS) staff and patients -- up to 37,000 tests per day -- is needed to return services to normal, the BBC reported.
