A computational investigation of COVID-19 transmission inside hospital wards and associated costs

David Moreno-Martos; Sean Foley; Benjamin Parcell; Dumitru Trucu; Raluca Eftimie; David Moreno-Martos; Sean Foley; Benjamin Parcell; Dumitru Trucu; Raluca Eftimie

doi:10.3934/mbe.2022306

Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering

2022, Volume 19, Issue 7: 6504-6522. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2022306

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A computational investigation of COVID-19 transmission inside hospital wards and associated costs

1.
Population Health and Genomics, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee DD2 4BF, UK
2.
Mathematics, School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK
3.
Medical Microbiology, NHS Tayside, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK
4.
Laboratoire mathématiques de Besançon, UMR - CNRS 6623, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Besançon 25000, France

Academic Editor: Shi Zhao

Received: 23 December 2021 Revised: 04 March 2022 Accepted: 24 March 2022 Published: 25 April 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a particular burden on hospitals: from intra-hospital transmission of the infections to reduced admissions of non-COVID-19 patients. There are also high costs associated with the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, as well as reductions in revenues due to delayed and cancelled treatments. In this study we investigate computationally the transmission of COVID-19 inside a hospital ward that contains multiple-bed bays (with 4 or 6 beds) and multiple single-bed side rooms (that can accommodate the contacts of COVID-19-positive patients). The aim of this study is to investigate the role of 4-bed bays vs. 6-bed bays on the spread of infections and the hospital costs. We show that 4-bed bays are associated with lower infections only when we reduce the discharge time of some patients from 10 days to 5 days. This also leads to lower costs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In contrast, 6-bed bays are associated with reduced hospital waiting lists (especially when there are also multiple side rooms available to accommodate the contacts of COVID-19-positive patients identified inside the 6-bed bays).
- COVID-19,
- hospital transmission,
- multiple-bed bays,
- multiple bay wards,
- hospital costs,
- computational model,
- numerical predictions
Citation: David Moreno-Martos, Sean Foley, Benjamin Parcell, Dumitru Trucu, Raluca Eftimie. A computational investigation of COVID-19 transmission inside hospital wards and associated costs[J]. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2022, 19(7): 6504-6522. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2022306

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a particular burden on hospitals: from intra-hospital transmission of the infections to reduced admissions of non-COVID-19 patients. There are also high costs associated with the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, as well as reductions in revenues due to delayed and cancelled treatments. In this study we investigate computationally the transmission of COVID-19 inside a hospital ward that contains multiple-bed bays (with 4 or 6 beds) and multiple single-bed side rooms (that can accommodate the contacts of COVID-19-positive patients). The aim of this study is to investigate the role of 4-bed bays vs. 6-bed bays on the spread of infections and the hospital costs. We show that 4-bed bays are associated with lower infections only when we reduce the discharge time of some patients from 10 days to 5 days. This also leads to lower costs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In contrast, 6-bed bays are associated with reduced hospital waiting lists (especially when there are also multiple side rooms available to accommodate the contacts of COVID-19-positive patients identified inside the 6-bed bays).

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