Crowded ICUs tied to higher risk of COVID-19 death

COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) at US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals during peak coronavirus patient surges were twice as likely to die than those treated during low-demand periods, an observational study published today in JAMA Network Open suggests. VA researchers studied 8,516 COVID-19 patients, 94.1% of them men, admitted to ICUs at 88 veterans hospitals from Mar 1 to Aug 31, 2020, with 30 days of follow-up.