Death Rate Among COVID-19 Patients In ICU Falls: Study

Death rate among COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) across the world has reduced compared to the toll at the beginning of the pandemic, according to a new study.

The result of the study offered a beacon of hope to the coronavirus patients in the ICUs by finding the fatality rate among those in intensive care has fallen by almost a third in Europe, America and Asia.

While new cases continued to surge in some parts of the world, coronavirus-related fatalities were also showing signs of waning, according to a research team headed by Tim Cook, a consultant in anesthesia and intensive care medicine of England’s Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust.

Researchers said, overall, ICU deaths dropped from almost 60% in March to around 42% at the end of May. The difference in ratio meant thousands of lives were saved and reflected the rapid learning process that took place on a global scale as to what types of drugs work against the deadly virus, an article published on WebMD, stated. The experts analysed 24 studies from across the world to come to the conclusion.

Health experts, however, cautioned just because fewer severely-ill coronavirus patients were dying does not mean societies can start returning to their normal routines.

"Any successful treatment, when not coupled with good public health measures to keep the new case rate below the limit of existing health care resources, will erase any gains made over the last few months by simply overwhelming the ICUs that have just become better at treating COVID-19," said Dr. Eric Cioe Pena, director for global health at Northwell Health in New York.

In the case of the United States, COVID-19 death rates were reportedly rising again despite improvements in patient care. A New York Times tally showed as of Wednesday, July 15, the confirmed cases of coronavirus stood at 3.4 million, of which 136,000 were fatalities.

In a Washington Post report, California, Mississippi, Arizona, Texas and Florida broke records recently for the average daily coronavirus fatalities. Despite the grim data, Cook and his team found the odds of ICU coronavirus patients leaving the place alive were better compared to months ago.

Cook said drug therapies and new ICU admission criteria have changed since March. He added all treatment changes combined ensured the survival of ICU patients improved significantly.