Objective

To describe the first wave of hospitalisations of patients testing positive for COVID-19 in South Australia.

Methods

Pathology test results for COVID-19 between January and June 2020 were matched against state-wide Emergency Department (ED) and inpatient datasets.

Results

The impact of the first wave of COVID-19 on South Australian hospitals was 440 unique patients with COVID-19, median ED, hospital and ICU lengths of stay of 4.7 hours, 9.8 days and 4.1 days respectively and a crude mortality rate of 0.23 deaths per 100,000 population (4 deaths).

Conclusion

The study sheds light on characteristics of patients with COVID-19 hospitalised in South Australia.