COVID in NY: How many 'incidental' hospitalizations, breakthroughs? What we know

As New York’s daily COVID-19 cases shatter records, authorities are racing to better gauge the highly contagious omicron variant’s threat to New Yorkers and hospitals.

Among the most pressing questions: How many New Yorkers are hospitalized directly due to COVID-19, and how many patients were admitted for other health conditions and then tested positive for COVID-19?

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday said answers would be forthcoming, as hospitals statewide would begin tracking and reporting the so-called incidental positive COVID-19 test results among patients admitted for other conditions.

“I just want to always be honest with New Yorkers about how bad this is,” Hochul said at a media briefing in Rochester, referring to the massive omicron wave fueling 87,000 new cases on Saturday alone.

“Yes, the sheer numbers of people infected are high, but I want to see whether or not the hospitalizations correlate with that,” she added, addressing the more than 10,400 COVID-related hospitalizations statewide.

The hospitalization tally is up from about 3,100 on Dec. 1 and is at the highest point during the pandemic since early May 2020.

Meanwhile, a limited number of hospitals in at least 13 other states have reported varying levels of incidental COVID-positive patients, ranging from 12% during prior coronavirus variants to up to 50% amid the ongoing omicron surge.

The answers on incidental COVID positives, however, would not change the fact many hospitals in New York faced staff shortages due to a mix of pandemic burn out, national competition for medical workers and refusals to comply with the state vaccine mandate.

“Hospital capacity is still hospital capacity. You either have beds for sick people or you don't,” Hochul said Monday, adding state officials are considering further steps to aid hospitals if conditions worsen.

Previously, Hochul’s administration has deployed the National Guard and other federal emergency medical staff to help health care facilities, while requiring some short-staffed hospitals to halt elective care.

How many COVID vaccine breakthrough infections in NY?

Another rapidly evolving debate over omicron involves the rising number of infections among fully vaccinated Americans, meaning they received at least two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, or one Johnson & Johnson dose.

New York has reported about 447,000 breakthrough infections overall through Dec. 28, the latest state data show. That corresponded to 3.4% of the population of fully vaccinated New Yorkers ages 12 and above.

Further, about 16,600 COVID-19 hospitalizations among fully vaccinated New Yorkers have been reported, which corresponds to a fraction, or well below 1%, of fully vaccinated New Yorkers in the same age group.

While the latest New York breakthrough data reinforced studies suggesting COVID-19 vaccines sustained a level of protection against omicron, the variant has contributed to a spike of 220,000 breakthrough cases, or 97%, from Dec. 13 to 28.

But the number of New Yorkers who received a booster shot and then were infected remains unclear. That statistic is not tracked as part of the breakthrough case analysis, according to the state Department of Health website.

Meanwhile, federal health authorities, including the nation’s top infectious-disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci, have indicated the definition of fully vaccinated will soon be redefined to mean received a booster shot.

Moderna and Pfizer have released studies showing their respective booster shots offered the best protection against omicron.

In New York, students returning to SUNY or CUNY schools for the spring semester will be required to have their booster shots against COVID-19, effective Jan. 15, as part of Hochul’s plan to combat omicron.

About 4.8 million additional doses, including boosters, have been administered to New Yorkers as of Monday, reflecting about 34% of the 14 million fully vaccinated population in the state.

COVID testing: SUNY campuses, Syracuse University to open for public COVID-19 testing.

More on omicron variant in NY: New York COVID cases surged 64% last week. Hospitalizations up 82% in last month.

How many incidental COVID hospitalizations?

While New York appears poised to become the first state to track and report incidental COVID hospitalization, prior research suggests the findings could influence public-health policies related to omicron.

For example, Florida-based Jackson Health System hospitals on Monday reported on COVID positives among their 439 patients.

Among the findings:

• 220 patients, or 50%, were admitted to the hospital primarily for non-COVID reasons, the health system wrote on Twitter.

• Of the 439 patients overall, 96 are vaccinated; 46 of whom are immunocompromised transplant patients.

The American Academy of Pediatrics also studied nearly 2,300 children hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 2020 to May 2021 in 14 states, including New York.

Among the findings:

• About 718, or 31%, of the children tested positive but “were not likely related to COVID-19.”

• Another 81 cases, or 2.6% were excluded from the study due to incomplete records.

In California, an analysis found COVID-19 positives were incidental in about 12% of 346 randomly selected cases reported to Los Angeles County Public Health from August to October 2020, according to a Journal of Hospital Medicine article.

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David Robinson is the state health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network New York. He can be reached at drobinson@gannett.com and followed on Twitter: @DrobinsonLoHud

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: NY COVID: How many incidental hospitalizations and breakthrough cases?