results of an international study suggest that having “COVID-19-free” areas in hospitals could prevent tens of thousands of surgical patients from experiencing complications or death in Canada alone.Researchers looked at data from 9,171 patients undergoing elective cancer surgery in 55 countries, including Canada, from the start of the coronavirus pandemic to the middle of April 2020, and discovered that complications and deaths after surgery were lower for patients whose treatment took place in so-called COVID-free areas.At the same time, the study found only 27 per cent of patients were cared for in these protected areas.