New tools find COVID patients at highest risk of mechanical ventilation and death

(Massachusetts General Hospital) By inputting clinical and laboratory factors at the time of admission into a novel online calculator, physicians can determine with high accuracy which COVID-19 patients will require the most intense care.Age is not a significant predictor of whether a hospitalized patient will need mechanical ventilation, nor does it predict the duration of ventilation. Over half of all patients on mechanical ventilation needed support for more than seven days.