A study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluated the number of admissions for 6 common emergency conditions (stroke, myocardial infarction, COPD, heart failure, pneumonia, and appendicitis) and COVID-19 for the first 16 weeks of 2019 and 2020. The study participants came from a pre-established cohort of adults enrolled with the VA from 2008-2018. The authors found a decline by 42% fewer patients admitted to the VA hospital during weeks 11-16 compared to weeks 5-10. The authors compared these declines to the same timeframe for 2019, during which they found no change from weeks 5-10 to weeks 11-16.

*The authors attribute the decline in emergency condition admittance to minimizing risk for contracting SARS-CoV-2.