COVID-19 severity changes in Minnesota hospitals

An unprecedented surge of COVID-19 has filled Minnesota hospitals this month, but doctors are seeing fewer critically ill patients and a more manageable pandemic wave.

Minnesota on Wednesday reported more than 1,500 COVID-19 hospitalizations and more than 8,000 occupied inpatient beds in total — levels that generally indicate overcrowding. However, an increasing share of COVID-19 patients have been admitted for other reasons and their mild or asymptomatic infections have been discovered during routine screening.

Half of the most recent COVID-19 patients at HealthPartners hospitals in Minnesota and western Wisconsin were such “accidental” cases, said Dr. Greg Siwek, infectious disease specialist at HealthPartners. “It’s not like omicron can’t lead to serious outcomes; it certainly does. But the number of new consultations we’re getting for critically ill COVID patients is significantly lower than it used to be. a few months ago.”

Even accidental COVID-19 presents challenges. Many patients admitted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul for inpatient psychiatric care have tested positive, limiting their access to therapy, he said.

The feared rapid spread of the omicron variant coronavirus has been announced in Minnesota. It produced a seven-day rate of new infections on January 10 that almost doubled the previous record, and it reached its apparent peak in 31 days.

The winter 2020 pandemic wave took 60 days to peak, and last spring’s alpha wave took 50 days. The delta wave lasted 150 days last summer and fall. State health officials believe the delta surge was prolonged because many Minnesotans were immune in the fall, due to infections and vaccinations in early 2021, which declined in the winter. .

Booster doses have been shown to be protective against severe disease. Sanford Health reported Tuesday that 32 of 231 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals in Minnesota and the Dakotas had received boosters. Among 29 patients placed on ventilators, 23 are unvaccinated while five had received the initial round of COVID-19 vaccines and one had received a booster dose.

Minnesota ranks second among states with more than 53% of fully vaccinated residents receiving boosters, but its progress has been patchy. The rate of fully immunized residents is 72% in Hennepin County and 64% in northwest Beltrami County. The rates of vaccinated residents who received boosters were 56% and 45% respectively.

The exact number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations that are accidental is unclear. While HealthPartners screens all incoming patients for COVID-19 unless they have had previous infections within 90 days, the Sanford and CentraCare systems only test patients with suspicious symptoms or viral exposures. Limited testing likely reduces their number of incidental cases.

Additional reports in Iowa on Monday indicated that COVID-19 was a secondary cause in 404 of 929 hospitalizations.

Minnesota’s strongest indicator of the declining severity of the pandemic is the number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations requiring intensive care. Cases in intensive care rose from 299 on January 1 to 230 on Wednesday, even as cases not in intensive care rose from 1,015 to 1,313.

Cases of COVID-19 pneumonia in the ICU remain as severe as ever, with poor outcomes and high death rates, said Dr. Cameron Berg, emergency physician for North Memorial Health. Minnesota on Thursday reported 57 more deaths from COVID-19 and 14,633 other confirmed infections.

Secondarily diagnosed COVID-19 remains a problem, as it can be difficult to analyze the infection’s underlying role in heart disease or stomach problems and even complications from traumatic injuries, he said. added. “Sometimes it’s hard to know what is attributable to COVID and what is another condition with COVID being coincidence, if you will.”

The flu had contributed to overcrowding of COVID-19 hospitals, but Minnesota on Thursday reported a drop in those cases, from more than 100 in the last week of December to 50 last week.

Infections among doctors, nurses and other caregivers have also reduced the number of staffed beds in hospitals during the latest wave. Minnesota has entered into a $40 million contract to provide 600 nurses and other caregivers to address those shortages. More than 100 were sent last week to work 60 hours a week for 60 days at 26 hospitals in Minnesota. Another 100 were expected this week.