Massachusetts Now Differentiating Between ‘Primary’ Or ‘Incidental’ COVID-19 Hospitalizations
On Monday, Massachusetts began reporting whether or not a patient was hospitalized as the primary result of COVID-19, or if they were simply admitted to the hospital for another ailment and happened to test positive for COVID-19. This is markedly different from the way Massachusetts and other states have been recording COVID-19 cases for the past two years.
The Boston Herald reported that the Department of Health announced last week that “hospitals will start on Monday reporting whether admissions are primary or incidental to COVID-19.” It should be noted that GOP Governor Charlie Baker had been saying for quite some time that cases were possibly being over-counted.
“When you call the hospitals and you talk to them one at a time, or the systems, a significant number of the people who they … count as COVID-positive are not in the hospital because they have COVID,” Baker said in the fall of 2020. “They’re in the hospital for some other purpose and they got tested positive when they came in.”
But now the Omicron variant is surging to record highs, and often presenting a milder form of COVID-19. The result is that patients concerned about COVID-19 are heading to the hospital emergency room, only to be shortly discharged due to non-severe cases. – READ MORE
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