Week 2/28

For my proposal I decided to continue studying how pandemic death surges have impacted mortuaries, whether that be in hospital or private. This research topic hits the hearts of many people because it is something we neglect to think about. Hospital deaths during the Covid pandemic rose to almost triple the amount than the beginning of the surge (Fig 1). As time goes on scientist predict that "Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the Veterans Health Administration had a more than five times higher risk for in-hospital death and increased risk for 17 respiratory and no respiratory complications than did hospitalized patients with influenza. The risks for sepsis and respiratory, neurologic, and renal complications of COVID-19 were higher among non-Hispanic Black or African American and Hispanic patients than among non-Hispanic White patients", according to the CDC (Center for Disease and Control) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Cates et al., 2020). Research done in this area helps the understanding of implementing an emergency objective on death during a pandemic. The research I am doing is in observance of what is going on and if we are adequately prepared for a circumstance that requires a high death toll. 

 

America has the highest death rate amongst any other country and yet we have no preparation and also have yet to adequately solve how to deal with the continuing death surge. In the article, Americans Are Dying in the Pandemic at rates far Higher than In Other Countries, it states that "Overall deaths in the United States this year are more than 85% higher than in places such as Germany, Israel and Denmark after adjusting for population size. Deaths in the U.S. are 29% higher than even in Sweden, "which ignored everything for so long," Emanuel says. Sweden made a point of refusing to order strict social restrictions and never went into a full lockdown. "We have 29% more mortality than we should have if we'd followed Sweden's path and Sweden virtually did nothing" (Beaubien,2020). With this being said, I expect to find that mortuaries are needing plans put into place for future pandemics and that cause a rise in death tolls. I also believe that there is a correlation in hospital becoming a more septic place due to lack of space to store the bodies. As seen below in Table 2, a variable of related covid deaths are charted on a table to shows the 30 day period before and after patients were diagnosed. 

 

 

Figure 1

Table 2

 Reference:

Cates J, Lucero-Obusan C, Dahl RM, et al. Risk for In-Hospital Complications Associated with COVID-19 and Influenza-Veterans Health Admistration, United States, October 1, 2018-May 31, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1528-1534. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6942e3external icon

Beaubien, J. (2020, October 13). Americans are dying in the pandemic at rates far higher than in other countries. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/13/923253681/americans-are-dying-in-the-pandemic-at-rates-far-higher-than-in-other-countries

Asch DA, Sheils NE, Islam MN, et al. Variation in US Hospital Mortality Rates for Patients Admitted With COVID-19 During the First 6 Months of the Pandemic. JAMA Intern Med. Published online December 22, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8193