Who is hospitalized for Covid in New York City as incidents increase

Since early July, the average number of coronavirus cases in New York City has quadrupled, from about 250 to over 1,000 per day. This is due to the prevalence of the more contagious delta.

Hospitalizations are increasing, but not so fast, thanks to vaccinations and improved treatment.

Still, hospitalizations have increased by 90% since July 4th, Over 300 people He is currently admitted to Covid-19 in New York City. Doctors say they are most often unvaccinated, or vaccinated but immunocompromised.

“A week and a half ago, our hospital system had 50 patients,” said Dr. Mangalana Rasimhan, senior vice president of critical care at Northwell Health, the state’s largest medical system. increase. “Now it’s doubled.”

To find out who was hospitalized, city officials provided the New York Times with a breakdown of the ages of people hospitalized in Covid-19 between June 15 and July 12. Mount Sinai and Northwell also provided demographics and vaccination data for the patient population. The information shows:

Patient is young

According to the city’s Ministry of Health, young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 were the most predominantly hospitalized for Covid-19 between June 15 and July 12, according to the city’s Ministry of Health.This is consistent with National trends It shows that the average age of Covid patients is young and distorted. This is mainly due to the fact that more older people are vaccinated.

Of the 627 people hospitalized during that period, 18 percent were between the ages of 25 and 34. The second most common age group for hospitalization was people over the age of 75. The city did not provide information on the status of vaccination.

In the city Complete vaccination rate 57% of people between the ages of 25 and 34 and 70% of people between the ages of 75 and 84.

Hospitalization of children by Covid-19 in the city is still rare, but it does happen. During the month, nine children under the age of four and ten children between the ages of 5 and 12 were hospitalized with Covid-19.

Two private hospital systems have stated that the average age of the people they are hospitalized is declining, reflecting trends throughout the city, but the average age of their system remains above 50 years. ..

As of July 27, the average age of 109 patients admitted to the Northwell System was 63 years, but decreased to 57 in unvaccinated patients. At Mount Sinai, the average age of Covid patients admitted this month was 55, down from the early 62 years of the pandemic.

Some inpatients are vaccinated

Coronavirus vaccines are very effective in protecting against serious illness, but they do not guarantee it. This is especially true for a subset of older people and immunosuppressed people whose immune system did not respond strongly to shots.

As of Wednesday, there were 14 unvaccinated patients and 3 partially vaccinated patients in the regular patient wards of Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, the president of the hospital system. David Reich said. And perhaps surprisingly, four out of five Covid patients in the intensive care unit were vaccinated.

Two of them were “quite elderly” and the other two were organ transplant recipients who were taking medication to keep their immune system under control. Fifth are young, morbidly obese, unvaccinated people.

“It’s a scary time for us, because we don’t have 100 percent, even though we have a very effective vaccine,” Dr. Reich said. “So, if you’re a vulnerable person, tell us that you should probably take some precautions, even if you’re vaccinated.”

In the Northwell system, 10-15% of patients admitted with Covid-19 in recent weeks have been vaccinated. Similar to Mount Sinai, vaccinated and severely ill people are receiving chemotherapy, high-dose steroids, the elderly, or other immunosuppressions.

“I haven’t seen any other healthy people vaccinated in the hospital without any problems,” said Dr. Narasimhan.

Even among the elderly, vaccines still offer great protection.Nursing home outbreaks and case rates nationwide Some of those peaks.. According to Dr. Narasimhan, there have been several recent outbreaks in a local nursing home. But in most cases, she said, the sick person “seems to be able to deal with the infection differently than before she was vaccinated” and could be treated as an outpatient.

“Vaccinated older people do not yet have many serious breakthrough illnesses,” she said.

Race breakdown remains the same

According to hospital executives, the current most likely serious illness is the same as in the previous wave. Factors such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure make people more susceptible to serious illness.

The racial breakdown of inpatients seems to be similar to the previous wave, with a few exceptions. Northwell has noticed a slight increase in the proportion of unvaccinated white patients. Mount Sinai also noticed a slight increase in white patients and a decrease in Asian-American patients, but warned that the sample size was too small to reach a conclusion yet.

Hospital executives have also noticed that Delta is much more infectious than previous variants of the virus. According to Dr. Narasimhan, at Long Island Jewish Hospital, adult families such as grandparents, parents, and grown-up children can drive together for 10 minutes or have a meal.

The hospital also “definitely” saw cases where vaccinated people infected unvaccinated people with Covid-19, she said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccination reduces the risk of symptomatic deltas increasing by a factor of 7 and severe Covid-19 by a factor of 20. Still, vaccinated people can carry a significant amount of the virus. This is the main reason for CDC. Recommended now Even vaccinated people in highly contagious areas such as New York City and Long Island wear masks indoors.

Have good news

Among all the horrifying developments, there is also hopeful news.

Northwell and other hospital systems are using monoclonal antibodies well to keep people with Covid away from the hospital. Under an emergency use authorization, treatment can only be given to patients over the age of 65 or at high risk of developing severe Covid.

Like other antiviral drugs, monoclonal antibodies should be given promptly within a week of the onset of symptoms. One of the problems is that some people do not get tested or seek treatment until they are out of breath due to the onset of pneumonia. Pneumonia tends to occur around the 8th day. It’s too late at that point, Dr. Reich said.

According to him, the message, especially for those with risk factors, is “even if you are vaccinated, you will be tested.”

Another positive sign is that hospitals are well below their peak for Covid inpatients. (In April 2020, nearly 19,000 people were admitted to Covid’s hospital in New York City.) As a result, hospitals can provide adequate care without overwhelming.

Despite the increased infectivity of the Delta, both Mount Sinai and Northwell reported that the proportion of patients going to intensive care was about the same as in previous waves, another promising development. Dr. Rahul Sharma, Head of Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell, said his doctors are aware that people are getting sick faster and less ill than in previous waves, which could lead to positive results. He said he was highly sexual.

All of this is why city and state mortality rates have remained low so far. In New York City, about three people die from Covid-19 per day. This percentage has been stable for the past month, even with more cases.