Less Than Half of Patients Hospitalized "With Covid" are Actually There for Covid-Associated Illness, Says County Health Department

January 7, 2022 - Dr. Ferrer, Los Angeles County Director of Public Health, announced yesterday that the number of patients hospitalized with Covid that officials have been publicizing does not actually constitute individuals hospitalized because of their infection with Covid-19.

The percent of patients in the hospital with the direct cause of Covid-19 was 75% at the beginning of November. By the end of December, only 45% of the patients in the hospital with Covid were there as a direct result of the virus. 55% of patients had entered the hospital for other reasons and, during a routine Covid test, turned up positive.

The number of individuals publicized as in the hospital with Covid has risen sharply over the past month, from 562 hospitalized on December 1, to 2,661 hospitalized on January 6. Using the new data from LACDPH, the real number of persons hospitalized as a direct cause of Covid has only risen from 421 (75% of 562) to 1,197 (45% of 2,661).

"And while COVID-positive patients do represent a substantial strain on the healthcare system regardless of the reason for their hospital admission, there are likely to be less COVID positive patients requiring ICU care and ventilators than last winter," reads yesterday's LACDPH press release.