The spread of COVID-19 within U.S. hospitals hit an all-time high in January, with more than 3,000 hospital-acquired infections per week during the month and peaking at more than 4,300, according to an analysis of federal data by Politico.
The surge in hospital transmissions reflected the skyrocketing wave of cases across the overall population, driven by the ultra-transmissible ommicron variant. The previous record for hospital transmission of COVID-19 occurred in January 2020, when federal data showed more than 2,000 infections per week within hospitals.
Still, overall the numbers are likely to be significant undercounts as they only capture patients who spend 14 consecutive days in a hospital and become infected during their stay. The data does not take into account shorter stays or people who test positive after discharge.
Politico noted that the data also doesn’t indicate which hospitals had the highest transmission. And the data doesn’t show how the pandemic virus spread to patients in hospitals, that is, how much was spread from health professionals to patients, patients to patients or visitors to patients.
Several factors may have contributed to the spread in the hospital, including limited availability of COVID testing and people spending long periods in crowded waiting rooms as some healthcare facilities became overwhelmed during the ommicron wave. Lack of maintenance of masking in hospitals by patients and visitors may also have been a source of infection.
Another possibility is relaxed guidance for infected health workers. In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed guidance for health professionals who tested positive for COVID-19. In crisis situations, the CDC allowed infected health workers to return to work without isolating or testing negative. However, health workers were still expected to wear high quality N95 grade masks, which would minimize the spread of the virus.
Officials anonymously told Politico that the CDC is investigating the cause of the rise in hospital-acquired infections. But while there is room for improvement in transmission prevention measures, outside experts noted that infections in hospitals were very low compared to infections in communities. It is almost impossible to reduce infections to zero.
