Effect of COVID-19 on the detection and management of colorectal cancer in England

We read with interest the Article by Eva Morris and colleagues,1 published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and welcome the valid concerns raised. Analysis of populationbased data has provided a rapid insight into the effect of COVID-19 on referral and management of patients with colorectal cancer in England during the first wave of the pandemic and the subsequent recovery period. This study documents changes made to investigative and treatment pathways in response to national guidance in the UK2 and the subsequently reduced capacity to investigate patients presenting with bowel symptoms. Armed with our knowledge of treating patients alongside the threat of COVID-19, it is all too easy to forget the extent of our ignorance and fear when the pandemic began, particularly regarding the unknown