Cancer care disruption and reorganisation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: a patient, carer and healthcare worker perspective

PONE-D-21-09913

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Reviewer #1: Cancer care disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic is very important issue that the authors highlighted well.

It is such a shame that Melbournians/Victorians are underrepresented in this study. It would have been very useful if we could have seen those results by State as the impact of COVID 19 was different across Australia and Victoria was the only state that was experienced stage 4 harsh lock down for 110 days. We also know that men have lower survival from most cancer types than women. So, the effect of COVID 19 might be more for male cancer patients.

I think the authors addressed the research question well considering the limitations of the data. Hopefully, future studies could shed more light on this important issue. I think these results are tip of an iceberg, definitely underestimated the real impact of the pandemic on cancer diagnosis, treatment and palliative care.

Reviewer #2: Dear Editor,

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted cancer care worldwide.

Disruptions have been seen across all facets of care. While the long-term impact of

COVID-19 remains unclear, the immediate impacts on patients, their carers and the

healthcare workforce are increasingly evident. This study describes disruptions and

reorganisation of cancer services in Australia since the onset of COVID-19, from the

perspectives of people affected by cancer and healthcare workers.

This paper well describe actions taken in place to fight service disruption due to covid pandemic.

. ata from the paper can aid to build national programs to avoid service disruption during pandemic. It is well conceived and written and we recommend publication. No revision should be provided by authors.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No