High COVID-19 rates in psychiatric hospitals highlight inequalities

At least 38% of older adults in psychiatric wards in London were infected with COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research team reports in The Lancet Psychiatry that 15% of infected patients (19 people) in the mental health wards died from the illness. The researchers found that psychiatric wards were slow to receive tests and personal protective equipment (PPE), which may have increased the mortality rates. The study reviewed data from all 344 hospital patients of five mental health trusts in London who were either over 65 or had young onset dementia, in March and April 2020 - a group that is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Just over half had dementia while most others had either a psychotic illness or depression. None of the patients already had known COVID-19 when they were admitted to hospital, and yet 131 ended up diagnosed with COVID-19 by the end of the two-month period. The true infection rate may have been even higher, given the low rates of testing early on.