Table 2. Health-care costs for close contacts, suspected cases and confirmed cases of COVID-19, China, January–March 2020 .
| Cost component | Probability of using services | National unit cost, ¥ | Resource use | Cost per person, ¥ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close contact diagnosed as COVID-19 negative | ||||
| Case identification | 1.00 | 15.68 per case | 1 | 15.68 |
| Nucleic acid test | 1.00 | 70.00 per test | 2 | 140.00 |
| Medical observation | 1.00 | 35.00 per day | 12.24 | 428.40 |
| Total | 584.08 (US$ 84.53) | |||
| Suspected case diagnosed as COVID-19 negative | ||||
| Outpatient consultation | 1.00 | 12.60 per consultation | 1 | 12.60 |
| Nucleic acid test | 1.00 | 70.00 per test | 2 | 140.00 |
| Other laboratory tests | 1.00 | 282.10 per test | 1 | 282.10 |
| Computed tomography scan | 1.00 | 140.00 per scan | 1 | 140.00 |
| Hospital bed days | 1.00 | 77.00 per day | 2 | 154.00 |
| Medical observation | 1.00 | 35.00 per day | 7 | 245.00 |
| Total | 973.70 (US$ 140.91) | |||
| Confirmed case, non-severe | ||||
| Identification and diagnosisa | 0.45 | 636.30 per case | 1 | 286.34 |
| Identification and diagnosisb | 0.55 | 549.92 per case | 1 | 302.46 |
| Inpatient carec | 1.00 | 389.40 per day | 14 | 5 451.64 |
| Medicinesd | 1.00 | 27.50 per day | 14 | 385.04 |
| Treatment for pre-existing conditions | 0.26 | 10.50 per day | 14 | 38.22 |
| Follow-up appointment | 1.00 | 12.60 per appointment | 2 | 25.20 |
| Total | 6 488.90 (US$ 939.06) | |||
| Confirmed case, severe | ||||
| Identification and diagnosisa | 0.45 | 636.30 per case | 1 | 286.34 |
| Identification and diagnosisb | 0.55 | 549.92 per case | 1 | 302.46 |
| Inpatient carec | 1.00 | 592.79 per day | 28 | 16 598.11 |
| Medicinesd | 1.00 | 1394.95 per day | 28 | 39 058.64 |
| Treatment for pre-existing conditions | 0.26 | 645.25 per day | 28 | 4 697.44 |
| Oxygen therapy | 1.00 | 3.42 per hour | 112 | 383.38 |
| Follow-up appointment | 1.00 | 12.60 per appointment | 2 | 25.20 |
| Total | 61 351.57 (US$ 8 878.66) | |||
| Confirmed case, critical | ||||
| Identification and diagnosisa | 0.45 | 636.30 per case | 1 | 286.34 |
| Identification and diagnosisb | 0.55 | 549.92 per case | 1 | 302.46 |
| Inpatient carec | 1.00 | 771.58 per day | 42 | 32 406.43 |
| Medicinesd | 1.00 | 1 628.43 per day | 42 | 68 394.24 |
| Treatment for pre-existing conditions | 0.26 | 481.03 per day | 42 | 5 252.80 |
| Tracheostomy and tracheal intubation | 1.00 | 175.00 each | 1 | 175.00 |
| Use of ventilator (including muscle relaxants) | 0.71 | Day 1: 1 892.38; Day 2 onwards: 1 402.38 | 30 | 30 218.58 |
| Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation | 0.12 | Day 1: 42 000.00; Day 2 onwards: 7 000.00 | 20 | 21 000.00 |
| Artificial kidney | 0.17 | Day 1: 5 600.00; Day 2 onwards: 4 200.00 | 20 | 14 518.00 |
| Plasma exchange | 0.17 | 4 900.00 per exchange | 5 | 4 165.00 |
| Follow-up appointment | 1.00 | 12.60 per appointment | 2 | 25.20 |
| Total | 176 744.05 (US$ 25 578.01) | |||
COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; ¥: Chinese yuan; US$: United States dollars.
a Identified from close contacts.
b Identified from suspected cases.
c Hospital bed days, nursing, blood gas analyses and laboratory tests.
d Anti-infective medicines and nutrition support.
Notes: Details for each individual cost component are in the data repository.8 For the confirmed cases, we assumed that 45% of them were identified from close contacts, whilst 55% were identified from suspected cases. Therefore, the cost of identification and diagnosis for all confirmed cases was calculated as the multiplication of the cost per case and 0.45 for close contacts and 0.55 for suspected cases.