COVID-19: Nearly half of virus hospitalizations in Massachusetts are for other issues
Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health on Thursday—for the first time—made a distinction between COVID-19 patients hospitalized with “primary” and “incidental” cases.
Boston 25, citing the newly released data, reported that 49% of the state’s 3,187 patients– hospitalized on Jan. 18–were there because of another matter and diagnosed with the virus once at the hospital.
Medical officials in the state made clear that they have no intention of diminishing the “incidental” cases– pointing out that they will still require special care–but they hope the numbers will better reflect the virus’ impact on the community
Dr. Shira Doron, a Tufts Medical Center’s epidemiologist, worked on the state’s new reporting system and told the station that the data indicate that the vaccines are doing their job.
“At Tufts Medical Center, half of them are vaccinated, and you don’t want to be calling them a vaccine breakthrough hospitalization when they aren’t,” she said.- READ MORE
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