A coronavirus study conducted by New York state officials shows that the vast majority of hospital patients testing positive are retired or unemployed.
More than 4 in 5 patients testing positive for coronavirus in New York hospitals aren’t working due to either retirement or unemployment, and only 17% are currently working, according to the New York Times.
Thirty-seven percent of coronavirus patients were retired, and 46% were unemployed.
Officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, were surprised at this data.
“We were thinking that maybe we were going to find a higher percentage of essential employees who were getting sick because they were going to work, that these may be nurses, doctors, transit workers,” Cuomo said. “That’s not the case.”
The news comes as New York City has been shut down for six weeks, social distancing measures have been implemented, and face masks are prevalent in public places.
The survey also revealed that the majority of patients testing positive for the coronavirus were older.
Nearly 3 in 5 were over 60, and 1 in 5 came to the hospital from a nursing home or assisted living facility.
The survey also revealed that the vast majority of patients admitted for the coronavirus were already suffering from a preexisting condition to the tune of 96%. That number is two percentage points higher than a New York City survey from late April, showing that 94% of coronavirus patients had preexisting conditions.
Only 3% of coronavirus patients in this week’s study had been using public transportation.
New York City officials recently announced that subways would close every day from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to be disinfected.
The survey, which included 113 New York hospitals that admitted almost 1,300 patients, comes as people across the United States, most notably in Michigan, California, and Texas, have risked jail time to protest lockdown orders, which are being questioned on their effectiveness.
A study published in late April concluded that there is “no empirical evidence” showing that lockdowns have slowed down the spread of the coronavirus, while some top health officials, including White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, have lauded the measures.
