More evidence to support taking extra measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
More than 280 or 88% of 320 patients placed on ventilators in New York died, according to a study of 5,700 patients admitted to 12 hospitals in the US states.
The data only had results for 2,634 of the patients as the others were still being treated, but the study is the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the United States.
Ventilators have been considered to be a last hope for the worst-off COVID-19 patients with many countries – including Australia – rapidly increasing production of ventilators to meet demand in hospital intensive care units.
Worryingly, the researchers also found that 70% of patients who needed to be hospitalised did not have a fever – generally thought to be one of the main symptoms of the virus.
