Patients in hospital for labour, broken bones counted as Covid cases

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that analysis of Covid-19 hospitalisations in two major local health districts has found that women being admitted to give birth and people suffering from bowel obstructions, broken bones, and mental health issues while also testing positive to Covid-19 were inflating the daily hospitalisation number.Health Minister Brad Hazzard said a “snap shot” taken over two days this week in a major Sydney hospital found that on day one, 50 per cent of the Covid patients were admitted for reasons other the virus and on day two “close to 40 per cent” were admitted for non-Covid reasons.Hospital dataThe findings come as NSW cracked four-figures for hospitalisations with 1066 people being treated in hospital on Sunday as another 18,278 cases were recorded.Mr Hazzard said the new year period was always challenging for the health system but the preliminary analysis showed that Omicron is not landing people in hospital at the rate that it may appear. “We know that the new year period, the NSW hospital system is always under pressure and as staff are feeling it – Covid is adding to the pressure,” Mr Hazzard said. “Interestingly though, in the early sampling of figures, a reasonable proportion of cases being classified as Covid hospitalisations are actually people with other reasons for admission. “Heart attacks, births, falls, none of that stops just because there is Covid. They come into hospital, they have a swab taken and it confirms Covid. This shows us its out in the community, but we aren’t necessarily seeing that as the primary reason for all of the admissions.”Daily Telegraph - News Feed latest episodeBut while the findings are promising for Covid-19 fears — Mr Hazzard said they create complex challenges for the frontline staff in determining the appropriate ward to treat patients who have other health issues along with Covid.A NSW Health spokesman said it was “expected” that as Covid-19 cases grow in the community, more people will present with conditions other than the virus as their main reason for needing healthcare.“Since the arrival of Omicron, NSW Health has been investigating the characteristics of the variant and its impact on case numbers and how many people are being hospitalised as a consequence of their Covid-19 illness,” the spokesman said.“Over the last weeks, small sampling of patients with Covid-19 admitted to hospital in two local health districts has shown that some patients were in hospital for non-Covid- 19 related illness or injury.“These illnesses or injuries could include women who were admitted to hospital because they were in labour, or people who were suffering appendicitis, or bowel obstruction. These also include people seeking mental health support and care.”NSW Health is currently analysing the remaining data beyond the two LHDs to determine the true hospitalisation rate of Omicron across the state.NED-5192-DT-App-Banner

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January 03, 2022 at 12:46AM
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The Daily Telegraph can reveal that analysis of Covid-19 hospitalisations in two major local health districts has found that women being admitted to give birth and people suffering from bowel obstructions, broken bones, and mental health issues while also testing positive to Covid-19 were inflating the daily hospitalisation number.Health Minister Brad Hazzard said a “snap shot” taken over two days this week in a major Sydney hospital found that on day one, 50 per cent of the Covid patients were admitted for reasons other the virus and on day two “close to 40 per cent” were admitted for non-Covid reasons.Hospital dataThe findings come as NSW cracked four-figures for hospitalisations with 1066 people being treated in hospital on Sunday as another 18,278 cases were recorded.Mr Hazzard said the new year period was always challenging for the health system but the preliminary analysis showed that Omicron is not landing people in hospital at the rate that it may appear. “We know that the new year period, the NSW hospital system is always under pressure and as staff are feeling it – Covid is adding to the pressure,” Mr Hazzard said. “Interestingly though, in the early sampling of figures, a reasonable proportion of cases being classified as Covid hospitalisations are actually people with other reasons for admission. “Heart attacks, births, falls, none of that stops just because there is Covid. They come into hospital, they have a swab taken and it confirms Covid. This shows us its out in the community, but we aren’t necessarily seeing that as the primary reason for all of the admissions.”Daily Telegraph - News Feed latest episodeBut while the findings are promising for Covid-19 fears — Mr Hazzard said they create complex challenges for the frontline staff in determining the appropriate ward to treat patients who have other health issues along with Covid.A NSW Health spokesman said it was “expected” that as Covid-19 cases grow in the community, more people will present with conditions other than the virus as their main reason for needing healthcare.“Since the arrival of Omicron, NSW Health has been investigating the characteristics of the variant and its impact on case numbers and how many people are being hospitalised as a consequence of their Covid-19 illness,” the spokesman said.“Over the last weeks, small sampling of patients with Covid-19 admitted to hospital in two local health districts has shown that some patients were in hospital for non-Covid- 19 related illness or injury.“These illnesses or injuries could include women who were admitted to hospital because they were in labour, or people who were suffering appendicitis, or bowel obstruction. These also include people seeking mental health support and care.”NSW Health is currently analysing the remaining data beyond the two LHDs to determine the true hospitalisation rate of Omicron across the state.NED-5192-DT-App-Banner