An estimated 5,319 more US COVID-19 patients were hospitalized each day after states began allowing nonessential businesses to reopen in spring 2020, but a rise in the death rate lagged by more than a month, a study late last week in JAMA Health Forum finds.The study, led by a Purdue University researcher, used University of Minnesota COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project data on daily per-capita coronavirus-related hospitalizations in 47 states from Apr 16 to Jul 31, 2020.
The investigators also used data on daily state deaths collected by the New York Times and an interrupted time series design to estimate trends in daily hospitalizations and deaths before and after state reopenings.Hospitalizations began rising after 12 daysOn