Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on US Hospitals and Patients, April-July 2020

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Mathew R. P. Sapiano, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Margaret A. Dudeck, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Minn Soe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jonathan R. Edwards, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Erin N. O'Leary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Hsiu Wu, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Katherine Allen-Bridson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Agasha Amor, Lantana Consulting Group; Rashad Arcement, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Sheri Chernetsky Tejedor, Emory University; Raymund Dantes, Emory University; Cindy Gross, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kathryn Haass, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Rebecca Konnor, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Seth R. Kroop, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Denise Leaptrot, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kent Lemoine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Allan Nkwata, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kelly Peterson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Lauren Wattenmaker, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Lindsey M. Weiner-Lastinger, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Daniel Pollock, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Andrea L. Benin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-01-01
• Publisher: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2021
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ice.2021.69
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: INFECTION CONTROL AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 32
• End Page: 39
• Grant/Funding Information: No financial support was provided relevant to this article.
• Keywords: Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; UNITED-STATES; Science & Technology; Infectious Diseases; Life Sciences & Biomedicine
• Research Categories: Biology, Virology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Objective: The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout key regions of the United States in early 2020 placed a premium on timely, national surveillance of hospital patient censuses. To meet that need, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation's largest hospital surveillance system, launched a module for collecting hospital coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) data. We present time-series estimates of the critical hospital capacity indicators from April 1 to July 14, 2020. Design: From March 27 to July 14, 2020, the NHSN collected daily data on hospital bed occupancy, number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, and the availability and/or use of mechanical ventilators. Time series were constructed using multiple imputation and survey weighting to allow near-real-Time daily national and state estimates to be computed. Results: During the pandemic's April peak in the United States, among an estimated 431,000 total inpatients, 84,000 (19%) had COVID-19. Although the number of inpatients with COVID-19 decreased from April to July, the proportion of occupied inpatient beds increased steadily. COVID-19 hospitalizations increased from mid-June in the South and Southwest regions after stay-At-home restrictions were eased. The proportion of inpatients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreased from April to July. Conclusions: The NHSN hospital capacity estimates served as important, near-real-Time indicators of the pandemic's magnitude, spread, and impact, providing quantitative guidance for the public health response. Use of the estimates detected the rise of hospitalizations in specific geographic regions in June after they declined from a peak in April. Patient outcomes appeared to improve from early April to mid-July.