Lin Tengfei, Zhao Ziyi, Yang Zhirong, Li Bingli, Wei Chang, Li Fuxiao, Jiang Yiwen, Liu Di, Yang Zuyao, Sha Feng, Tang Jinling
Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China.
Division of Epidemiology, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrate Region, China.
China CDC Wkly. 2022 Dec 30;4(52):1176-1180. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2022.236.
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC?: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, tremendous efforts have been made in countries to suppress epidemic peaks and strengthen hospital services to avoid hospital strain and ultimately reduce the risk of death from COVID-19. However, there is limited empirical evidence that hospital strain increases COVID-19 deaths.
WHAT IS ADDED BY THIS REPORT?: We found the risk of death from COVID-19 was linearly associated with the number of patients currently in hospitals, a measure of hospital strain, before the Omicron period. This risk could be increased by a maximum of 188.0%.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE?: These findings suggest that any (additional) effort to reduce hospital strain would be beneficial during early large COVID-19 outbreaks and possibly also others alike. During an Omicron outbreak, vigilance remains necessary to prevent excess deaths caused by hospital strain as happened in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
关于该主题已知的信息有哪些？：在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间，各国已付出巨大努力来抑制疫情高峰并加强医院服务，以避免医院不堪重负，并最终降低COVID-19死亡风险。然而，关于医院不堪重负会增加COVID-19死亡人数的实证证据有限。
本报告补充了哪些内容？：我们发现，在奥密克戎毒株出现之前，COVID-19死亡风险与当时住院患者数量呈线性相关，住院患者数量是衡量医院压力的一个指标。这种风险最多可增加188.0%。
对公共卫生实践有何启示？：这些发现表明，在早期大规模COVID-19疫情期间以及可能类似的其他疫情中，任何减少医院压力的（额外）努力都将是有益的。在奥密克戎毒株疫情期间，仍有必要保持警惕，以防止像中国香港特别行政区那样因医院压力导致的超额死亡。
