COVID Hospitalization Rate Not as Frightening as it Appears, Dr. Katz said

By Yehudit Garmaise

While the major increases in hospitalization among children and adult are frightening, said Mitch Katz, MD, the CEO of NYC’s Health and Hospitals, what people have to understand, is that we now test everyone who comes into the hospital at the time of admission: Every adult, every child.”

As a result of the increased testing for COVID positivity, while many more hospital patients are testing positive, not all patients primarily need the services of hospitals because of COVID.

“When you look at the headlines, you may see that we have an 80% increase in hospitalization,” Mayor-elect Eric Adams said this morning. “However, many of those patients are simply coming into hospital for other reasons beside COVID positivity. Facts can spread fear.”

Dr. Katz explained, later in the day, that the high rate of community transmission of COVID right now is skewing the hospitalization rate somewhat: making it seem higher than it actually is.

“We test everybody on the way in, in order so that we can make sure that we keep people who are COVID-positive separate from people who are COVID-negative,” said Dr. Katz, who explained that the high rates of hospitalization right now are deceiving because many patients are being hospitalized for pre-existing conditions and only find out that they are COVID-positive because they hospitals are testing them.

“What has to be clarified,” said Dr Katz, who added that the COVID positivity of many patients is secondary to their main needs for hospitalizations. 

“[Many patients] did not come to the hospital because they had shortness of breath and coughs,” Dr. Katz pointed out. “Some of the patients are in traumas, some of them had exacerbations of diabetes or congestive heart failure. 

“We are both dealing with people who have COVID symptoms, and we are dealing with children and adults who sprained their ankles, and they also have COVID. We might have an adult with congestive heart failure, and they have COVID. So, [in the hospitals we have] a mix of people who are being hospitalized due to COVID because COVID is making them sick and people who are being hospitalized for other things and have COVID because there is so much community transmission going on.”

In some cases, patients’ infections with COVID are exacerbating patients pre-existing conditions, Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi, MD, told BoroPark24.

“For someone who is coming is with emphysema, that is worsened because he or she is having a COVID infection,” said Dr. Chokshi, who added that healthcare professionals are also seeing patients who were in accidents or have an injuries, but then after getting  tested upon admission, they are found to have COVID.

In those cases, Dr. Chokshi said, COVID doesn’t cause or worsen the injuries and traumas. 

Although reasons for patients’ hospitalizations can be hard to disentangle, Dr. Katz pointed out that “It’s very rare to see a highly sick person who has gotten two mRNA vaccinations.

“People who are hospitalized are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or have serious underlying conditions.”

In addition, the majority of the children who are hospitalized are unvaccinated: either because they are younger than 5-years-old and ineligible, or they are older than 5, and simply have not gotten vaccinated, Dr. Chokshi added. 

“So, we are redoubling our messaging and our efforts for parents,” Dr. Chokshi said. “If your child is eligible to get vaccinated: that means anyone ages 5 and up. Please, please get your child vaccinated to help protect them during this Omicron wave.”

Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office