Nogueira et al showed a counterintuitive consequence of Portugal’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: the non-COVID-19 excess mortality outnumbered the COVID-19 mortality. As international experts have warned, the fear of becoming infected can cause delays in patients seeking healthcare services, and the reallocation of healthcare resources can decrease the availability/accessibility of timely healthcare for other diseases.

Read the Letter to the Editor here (English only).