A recent study published in the British Journal of Surgery has projected that the COVID-19 pandemic will cancel or postpone more than 28.4 million elective surgeries worldwide in 2020, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Orthopedic surgeries will be hit hardest, with 6.3 million procedures expected to be affected, according to the study.
The study is based on a 12-week period of peak disruption to hospital services due to the pandemic. Each additional week of disrupted service would cause 2.4 million more cancellations.
Researchers analyzed elective surgery information from surgeons at 359 hospitals in 71 countries and used the data to estimate the pandemic's global effect.