The role of palliative care during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

摘要

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing life-threatening illnesses. In this regard, palliative care eases patients' suffering by means of early identification, assessment and treatment of pain and other related physical, psychosocial, and spiritual problems (WHO, 2020).