Table 1.
Characteristics of COVID-positive hospital inpatients and emergency department patients in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Canada, March 2020 – January 2021.
| Characteristica | Overall | Died | Survived |
|---|---|---|---|
| n = 959 | n = 224 | n = 735 | |
| Age, years | 72 (59, 83) | 82 (74, 88) | 69 (56, 80) |
| Sex, males | 524 (55) | 124 (55) | 400 (54) |
| Region | |||
| Kitchener-Waterloo | 354 (37) | 86 (38) | 268 (36) |
| Hamilton | 605 (63) | 138 (62) | 467 (64) |
| Wave | |||
| 1. March–August 2020 | 307 (32) | 75 (33) | 232 (32) |
| 2. September 2021–February 2021 | 444 (46) | 111 (50) | 333 (45) |
| 3. March 2021–June 2021 | 208 (22) | 38 (17) | 170 (23) |
| Presenting symptoms | |||
| Temperature (C) | 37.0 (36.5,37.9) | 37.0 (36.5, 37.8) | 37.0 (36.5,38.0) |
| Cough | 551 (57) | 102 (46) | 449 (61) |
| Shortness of breath | 551 (57) | 111 (50) | 440 (60) |
| Fatigue | 431 (45) | 84 (38) | 347 (47) |
| Altered consciousness/Confusion | 218 (23) | 89 (40) | 129 (18) |
| Heart rate, per minute | 91 (78, 106) | 89 (74, 106) | 92 (79, 106) |
| Respiratory rate, per minute | 20 (18, 24) | 20 (18, 24) | 20 (18, 24) |
| Oxygen saturation, room air | 95 (92, 97) | 94 (92, 96) | 95 (93, 97) |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Chronic lung diseaseb | 184 (18) | 63 (28) | 161 (22) |
| Chronic cardiac disease | 171 (18) | 62 (28) | 109 (15) |
| Diabetes | 343 (36) | 84 (38) | 259 (35) |
| Chronic liver disease | 31 (3) | 9 (4) | 22 (3) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 132 (14) | 49 (22) | 83 (11) |
| Chronic neurological disease | 118 (12) | 29 (13) | 89 (12) |
| Cancer | 143 (15) | 53 (24) | 90 (12) |
| Obesityc | 106 (11) | 15 (7) | 91 (12) |
| Rheumatologic disease | 90 (9) | 24 (11) | 66 (9) |
| Dementia | 132 (14) | 50 (22) | 82 (11) |
| HIV/AIDs | < 6 | < 6 | < 6 |
| Number of comorbidities | 1 (0, 2) | 2 (1, 3) | 1 (0, 2) |
| Biomarkers | |||
| Blood urea nitrogen, mmol/L | 7.5 (5.0, 12.0) | 11.0 (7.1, 14.9) | 6.7 (4.6, 10.1) |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 72 (32, 151) | 105 (51, 159) | 66 (26, 141) |
| White blood cells, × 109/L | 6.9 (5.0, 9.5) | 7.5 (5.6, 11.2) | 6.6 (4.9, 9.0) |
| Platelets, × 109/L, | 205 (162, 269) | 208 (149, 262) | 203 (164, 271) |
| Neutrophils, × 109/L | 5.0 (3.4, 7.3) | 5.6 (3.8, 8.6) | 4.8 (3.3, 7.0) |
| Lymphocytes, × 109/L | 0.90 (0.60, 1.30) | 0.80 (0.6, 1.3) | 0.90 (0.60, 1.30) |
| 4C risk groups | |||
| Low (0–3) | 75 (8) | 0 (0) | 75 (10) |
| Intermediate (4–8) | 251 (26) | 20 (9) | 231 (31) |
| High (9–14) | 516 (54) | 141 (63) | 375 (51) |
| Very high (15–21) | 117 (12) | 63 (28) | 54 (7) |
| Route of admission | |||
| Emergency department | 896 (93) | 212 (95) | 684 (93) |
| Transfer/direct | 63 (7) | 12 (5) | 51 (7) |
aCategorical variables presented as n, (%). Continuous variables presented as median (q1, q3).
bDoes not include asthma.
cAs defined by staff.