Long COVID infections are leading to higher rates of health system use: study
The biggest increase in health-care use was within a smaller subset of the population — about one per cent of people who tested positive for COVID-19. These patients spent an extra week or more in hospital over the following year compared with people who weren’t infected, according to the study.
Cumulatively, this adds up to a substantial increase, especially within a health system that is strained for reasons beyond the pandemic, McNaughton said. And it has health practitioners worried about the unsustainability of increased demand fuelled by COVID-19, she said. “I don’t know what the definition of ‘collapsed’ is because people kind of envision this moment where a bunch of people die. This is collapse already happening,” Atzema said of Canada’s health system.Doctors say health system has ‘collapsed’ as patient surges fuel ER closures