Caring Cancer Patients while Living with COVID-19: An Experience of a Tertiary Cancer Care Center

Murari Man Shrestha; Hari Prasad Dhakal; Binita Gurung; Sajin Rajbhandary; Sachin Shakya; Ranish Shrestha; Sumitra Gurung; Bishwash Sharma; Lahar Maya Bhasinka; Sampurna Tuladhar; Neeraj Joshi; Sunita Maleku Amatya; Kapendra Shekhar Amatya; Saroj Prakash Chataut; Bijesh Raj Ghimire; Sudip Shrestha

Murari Man Shrestha
Hari Prasad Dhakal
Binita Gurung
Sajin Rajbhandary
Sachin Shakya
Ranish Shrestha
Sumitra Gurung
Bishwash Sharma
Lahar Maya Bhasinka
Sampurna Tuladhar
Neeraj Joshi
Sunita Maleku Amatya
Kapendra Shekhar Amatya
Saroj Prakash Chataut
Bijesh Raj Ghimire
Sudip Shrestha

Keywords: Quarantine, Isolation, COVID-19, Cancer

Abstract

COVID-19 has emerged as a serious public health crisis of 21st century affecting millions of people around the
world. First identified in Wuhan China, COVID-19 has spread globally claiming millions of human life and suffering.
The Government of Nepal (GoN) has accelerated control measures through mass media, laboratory testing,
quarantine, isolation and treatment of COVID patients in designated hospitals. With rapid spread of COVID-19, the
government owned as well as the private hospitals and health institutions across the nation face a great challenge
to contain the spread of the novel virus. Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Center (NCHRC) has been managing
uninterrupted treatment services to cancer patients since the beginning of spread of COVID-19 in Nepal. Early
planning and preparedness has been crucial to ensure patient care in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic.