Emergency Department Volumes After State-Wide Lockdown Orders Across the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic: COVID-19 lockdown and emergency volume

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe changes in emergency department volumes after statewide lockdown in a network of hospitals across the United States during the COVID-19 global pandemic.Methods: A retrospective study was performed utilizing data on daily volumes across multiple emergency departments from a centralized data warehouse from a private for-profit hospital system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mean daily volumes of 148 emergency departments were evaluated across 16 states in relation to each state's governmental statewide lockdown orders. Comparisons of the same period in the prior year were evaluated for percent changes in volumes. We also compared pre-lockdown to post-lockdown volumes. A separate analysis was made for the pediatric ED volumes.Results: The 2020 post-lockdown volumes compared to the same 2019 dates revealed a mean percent change of -43.09%. The overall post-lockdown volumes compared to the pre-lockdown volumes had a mean percent change of -45.00%. The pediatric data revealed a greater mean percentage change in volumes of -71.52% (post-lockdown compared to 2019) and -69.03% (post-lockdown compared to pre-lockdown).Conclusions: This study found an overall decrease in volumes among 148 emergency departments across 16 states when compared to the comparable period pre-global pandemic.