MONTREAL -- Quebec's cardiovascular specialists are sounding their alarm that some of their patients may die if their needs aren't give a higher priority during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several specialists signed onto a letter sent to Premier Francois Legault and Health Minister Danielle McCann on Friday urging them not to postpone surgeries deemed non-urgents for patients with heart problems.

The doctors said the lives of many patients are at stake and asked for authoriziation to begin operations again, warning that otherwise considerable “collaterial damage” could be the expected in the health network in the coming months.

The Cardiologist Assocation of Quebec said they hadn't received a response as of Sunday.

McCann issued a directive at the end of March putting a stop to all elective surgeries in the province, citing the need to maximize beds for an influx of COVID-19 patients.

Association president Arsene Joseph Basmadjian said the situation can't continue.

“Everyone deserves care,” he said, adding that he fears the government could prolong restrictions on surgeries.

Since the onset of the crisis, people have had a “disproportionate fear of going to the Emergency Room and catching COVID-19, even if they experience symptoms associated with myocardial infarction,” said Basmadjian adding that some patients are waiting so long they only seek medical attention once their condition has worsened to the point of major complications.

Basmadjian said the government could face an even more devastating health crisis in a few months, with a second wave of COVID-19 cases couples with a wave of heart attacks.

He noted waiting lists are getting longer, which will prolong the catching-up period.

It's estimated that about half of all cardiac surgeries planned for the past month had to be postponed indefinitely. Basmadjian said the health of those who were supposed to receive surgery “is deteriorating rapidly.”

“In cardiology, the question of time is crucial and decisive in the treatment and interventions to avoid complications and death,” he said in his letter.

Cardiologists are asked for activities to resume “as quickly as possible” in the following areas: hemodynamics, eletrophysiology, cardiac surgery, diagnostic examinations and cardiac imaging.