Clara Laeila Laudette & Alistair Smout

MADRID/LONDON – Using COVID-19 numbers to assess the severity of the pandemic might not be accurate in Omicron era, as many patients are admitted with other causes.

While governments have relied on hospitalisations for determining the necessity of restrictions, the data doesn’t usually distinguish between patients admitted due to COVID-19 and those who are positive during routine check.

Paul Hunter is a Professor of Medicine at the University of East Anglia in Britain.

COVID-19 is the reason for your heart attacks? This is possible. However, we cannot know the individual levels,” he stated.

British Omicron has seen record-breaking case numbers, however, there has been little change in the actual number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals. Government data shows that this is despite the fact that Omicron has been introduced at the beginning of November.

According to Sajid javid, British Health Minister for the British, COVID-19 prevalence in hospitals has increased, but not as much as it did with rises in infection rates. ICU occupancy, however, is unchanged.

Spain, which has seen its death rate remain stable in spite of Omicron surges, is considering whether it will adopt new tracking methods for the virus. But epidemiologists caution that shifting the goals does not affect the fact that many hospitals have too many COVID-19-affected patients.

New York City data showed that 42% patients admitted with COVID-19 had been so-called “incidental” cases. This refers to people being admitted for reasons other than COVID-19 and were only tested during routine tests.

Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said that 30% to 40% of COVID-19-infected patients were actually infected during hospitalisation. Hunter partially blamed Omicron for this infected state.

SYSTEM OVERHAUL

Hunter claimed that the best way to determine the true severity of an outbreak was by using intensive care occupancy. “If you’re in ICU with COVID you’re most likely there due to COVID and not just because.”

Italy’s Regional Governments have claimed that because of the variations in the data on hospitalization for coronavirus, it may be necessary to overhaul the monitoring system. This would better reflect Omicron’s relatively low severity.

Last week, Italy’s Health Ministry stated that it is examining the proposal of the regions for excluding asymptomatic patients hospitalised for any other reason from COVID admissions data.

Critics dismissed the suggestion as an unscientific attempt by regions to prevent hospitalizations in the “red zone”, which would result in tighter coronavirus curbs.

Filippo Anelli president of Italy’s national federation for doctors said that “the change in criteria cannot not be a make up operation that hides the tragic nature of the pandemic.”

He stated that “the numbers of people infected who are admitted to non-critical and intensive care units are overburdening hospitals…and exhausting the professionals, who have been managing this pandemic for the last two years.”

A committee composed of scientists who advised the Italian government suggested that current measures of COVID-19 spread be kept. But, the Health Ministry indicated that the debate on “preliminary measures” was still ongoing.

European countries will be pondering how to identify patients admitted to hospital with largely unresponsive symptoms.

FROM IRELAND to SPAIN

According to Infectious Diseases Society Ireland (which examined approximately 45% of positive COVID-19 admissions to Irish hospitals in January), 58% of patients who tested positive for infection were not showing any symptoms.

The study found that more than 70% of COVID-19 patients were not required oxygen therapy. This suggests they had a milder form of the disease.

A study by Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut revealed that approximately 15% of the people who were hospitalized over the past 18 months in Denmark had test positive for coronavirus. But, the patients had not displayed symptoms and were still admitted for other reasons.

In Spain, however, there are more than 18800 patients with COVID-19. This is 79% higher than previous peak levels.

According to El Pais, approximately 25%-40% of patients who tested positive at hospital weren’t being treated for COVID-19.

Last week, Madrid’s deputy medical counsellor Antonio Zapatero stated that 40% of Madrid patients with positive PCR results are not (being admitted for) COVID.

Simon Clarke, an associate professor of cellular microbiology at Reading University in Britain said that although COVID-19 levels in hospitals partly reflect the severity of the disease, the results should not be overlooked.

Clarke stated, “There is a common misconception that COVID can be treated in hospital. It’s a harmless infection that will often go untreated.”

“There must be recognition that patients admitted to hospital for COVID should not be treated as a reason for being in the hospital.”