COVID-19: facts and failures, a tale of two worlds
Ce dossier présente un ensemble d'articles concernant la prise en charge des cancers durant la crise sanitaire liée au COVID-19
The new coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a major public health crisis and a colossal political and communication challenge for governments, media, and citizens around the world [1]. From the beginning of the pandemic, the generalized lack of knowledge about this new disease generated an enormous debate across countries regarding the optimal preventive strategies and policies to mitigate its spread [2]. The truth is that even today, after almost a year from the first COVID-19 case report, critical aspects of the disease are still unknown; however, the negative impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has driven the attention of the world towards the governments and institutions, looking for answers to the question: “Could we have done it better?” [3]. In this context, several studies assessing the excess deaths during the last months compared to previous years have shown that despite the preventive measures taken, COVID-19 has left a deadly footprint in most regions worldwide [4]. However, this mark has not been the same for all countries, and these differences are being currently analyzed to comprehend, which interventions seemed to be successful and which failed its purpose [5, 6]. In this commentary, we will discuss the scenarios of two different countries: Denmark and the United States, by analyzing the results from two studies recently published in the European Journal of Epidemiology [7, 8], highlighting the different approaches taken to manage the pandemic by the two governments, and subsequently, the results so far.
European Journal of Epidemiology , commentaire en libre accès, 2020