Facing new COVID wave, Dutch delay care for cancer, heart patients

Dutch healthcare officials said on Friday they have begun delaying operations for some cancer and heart patients to free up space in intensive care units during a record wave of COVID-19 infections. 'These are cancer patients that should actually be operated on within six weeks of diagnosis, and that won't be met in all cases. It's also heart patients,' said a spokesperson for LCPS, the national organisation that allocates hospital resources. 'It's horrible, of course, for the patients.' The National Institute for Health (RIVM) reported a record of more than 23,000 new cases in the previous 24 hours on Thursday, compared with the previous daily high of around 13,000 reached in December 2020.