Characteristics and Outcomes of 21 Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 in Washington State
Matt Arentz, MD1; Eric Yim, MD2; Lindy Klaff, MD2; et alSharukh Lokhandwala, MD, MSc2; Francis X. Riedo, MD2; Maria Chong, MD3; Melissa Lee, MD2
JAMA. Published online March 19, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4326
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an emerging health threat.1 Until February 2020, most cases were described in non-US health systems.2,3 One of the first deaths in the US was reported at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington. Over the following weeks, multiple cases of COVID-19 were identified in the surrounding community and treated at Evergreen Hospital. Most were attributed to US transmission, and the majority were linked to exposures at a skilled nursing facility.