Impact of lockdown and unlocking on symptomatology and emergency department visits during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
J Family Med Prim Care
; 11(3): 976-981, 2022 Mar.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1753784
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a complete nationwide lockdown on March 24, 2020. The months of April and May had stringent lockdown measures followed by a gradual loosening of restrictions in a graded manner.Methods:
This observational study was performed in the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital in south India triage Priority 1 and Priority 2 patients presented during the COVID-19 lockdown and unlock periods spanning from April 2020 to August 2020. The three different lockdown periods and the subsequent unlock periods were categorized as lockdown 1 (LD1), lockdown 2 (LD2), lockdown 3 (LD3), and unlock phase (UL), and a 7-day time period in each were taken for 7-day incidence analysis.Results:
During the 5-month study period, a total of 1,954 patients were analyzed for the study that included 405, 440, 492, and 617 patients during the 7-day time periods in the LD1, LD2, LD3, and UL periods, respectively. The 7-day incidence of COVID-19 suspects increased significantly by 101.9% from LD1 to UL phases, whereas trauma cases increased by 52.9% in the same two time periods. Compared with LD1, in the UL phase, the 7-day ED admission and in-hospital mortality rates increased by 50.3% and 66.7%, respectively.Conclusion:
The number of COVID-19 suspects saw a near-constant increase through the different phases of lockdown, culminating in the UL phase. The stringent lockdown measures resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of trauma with a rebound increase in the UL phase.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
J Family Med Prim Care
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jfmpc.jfmpc_1253_21
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