Almost a third of patients recovered from Covid are readmitted to the hospital in five months and up to one in eight dies from Covid-related complications.
A survey by Leicester University and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that of 47,780 people discharged in the first wave, 29.4 percent returned to the hospital in 140 days and 12.3 percent died.
The long-term devastating effects of the coronavirus can cause many survivors to develop heart problems, diabetes and chronic liver and kidney disease.
Study author Kamlesh Khunti, professor of diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester, told the Telegraph that this was the “largest study of people discharged from hospital after being admitted with Covid.”
Professor Khunti said: ‘People seem to be going home, getting long-term effects, coming back and dying. We see that almost 30 percent have been readmitted, and that is a lot of people. The numbers are so big. ‘
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and the alarming statistics are based on initial data. In other developments:
- The NHS figures revealed that one in six Covid-19 patients in English NHS hospitals arrived without the virus, but has been infected there since September;
- Another 671 deaths were recorded, the highest number for any pandemic Sunday so far, along with 38,598 new cases;
- NHS England Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens said a patient is being admitted to the hospital with a coronavirus every 30 seconds;
- Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption started a fight after saying on TV Deborah James, a stage 4 bowel cancer sufferer, that his life was “less valuable” than other people’s;
- All travelers arriving in Britain are forced to quarantine in hotels under plans to further block the country’s borders;
- England rugby star Maro Itoje asked all students to have a laptop while he promised to fight the ‘digital divide’;
- The parks remained packed, despite the prime minister warning people to ‘think twice’ before leaving the house;
- Dominic Raab has warned the public that it is “too early” to book this year’s summer vacation.
Paramedics transport an ambulance patient to the emergency department at Royal London Hospital
It turns out that 671 more people died from Covid-19
But Professor Khunti said he was surprised to find that patients were returning to the hospital with a different diagnosis and that many developed additional complications.
He added: ‘We don’t know if it’s because Covid destroyed the beta cells that make insulin and you get type 1 diabetes, or if it causes insulin resistance, and you develop type 2, but we’re seeing these amazing new diagnoses of diabetes. ‘
Kamlesh Khunti, professor of diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester
The government currently records a death as related to Covid if the patient dies within 28 days after a positive test.
But the actual death toll could be much higher if thousands of Covid survivors return to the hospital with serious health problems months after contracting the disease.
In December, ONS estimated that one in 10 people who caught Covid went on to suffer from Covid for a long time, with symptoms that lasted three months or more.
Common symptoms of long Covid include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath and problems with memory and concentration.
Although vaccines are considered more important for the elderly, who are at greater risk of dying if they get Covid-19, research shows that it is also crucial to bring vaccines to adults of other ages.
He found that mortality rates were 14 times higher among children under 70 with coronavirus (86.2 per 1,000 person-years), compared with those without (6.1). Readmission rates were also four times higher (556.6 vs 127.0).
Children under 70 were affected by lung, heart, kidney and liver problems, and new cases of diabetes, weeks or even months after they recovered from Covid-19.
But the risks were still greater for those over 70.
He found that mortality rates were 14 times higher among children under 70 with coronavirus (86.2 per 1,000 person-years), compared with those without (6.1). Readmission rates were also four times higher (556.6 vs 127.0)
The Leicester researchers wrote: ‘Individuals discharged after acute Covid-19 face high rates of mortality, readmission and multiple organ dysfunction compared to the background levels that exist for these individuals, and the relative increase in risk is not limited to the elderly nor uniform among ethnic groups. ‘
In response to the study, Christina Pagel, director of the clinical operational research unit at University College London, tweeted: ‘This is such an important job. Covid is much more than death. A significant burden of long-term illness after Covid’s hospitalization. ‘
NHS England Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens said someone was being admitted to the hospital with Covid “every 30 seconds”.
The NHS chief, who was appearing on the Andrew Marr program, said that hospitals have seen a huge increase in patients since Christmas and added that there are cases new enough to fill an entire hospital every morning. He also revealed that a quarter of admissions are for people under 55.
Sir Simon said: ‘The facts are very clear and I am not going to lighten them up, hospitals are under extreme pressure and staff are under extreme pressure.
“Since Christmas Day, we’ve seen another 15,000 increase in the number of patients admitted to hospitals across England, which is equivalent to filling 30 hospitals with coronavirus patients.
“Surprisingly, every thirty seconds, across England, another patient is admitted to the hospital with coronavirus.”
It turns out that 671 more people died from Covid-19 today, representing the biggest increase on Sunday.
The increase in the death rate occurs despite the hope that infections may finally be decreasing. A series of official data and scientific estimates published this week offered the strongest evidence that the strict blocking restrictions worked.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge believe that the R-rate – the average number of people for whom each infected person passes the disease – may have dropped to just 0.6 in London and the southeast. The value must be less than one for an outbreak to decrease.
Public Health England revealed that weekly Covid cases have dropped in all age groups except over 80, despite the spread of the highly infectious variant first detected in Kent, which authorities feared could not be contained.
In more positive news, he also revealed that a 24-hour trial for Covid vaccines in the next 10 days.