Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Admissions to a Tertiary Maternity Hospital in Srinagar

Abstract

Introduction: The first case of new pneumonia of unknown origin was found in Wuhan (China) on December 31, 2019. The causative virus was identified from throat swab samples in the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) on January 7, 2020, and it was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2). Subsequently, World Health Organization (WHO) renamed it COVID‐19. COVID-19 was a highly infectious newly discovered coronavirus, which led to a worldwide pandemic. It has shown an equal number of cases between men and women, but a lower mortality rate in women. Materials and methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of GMC, Srinagar, comparing the total number of emergency admissions including obstetric emergencies, such as ectopic pregnancy, intrauterine device (IUD), severe anemia, eclampsia, abruption, obstructed labor, and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) during a period of 6 months from March 2020 to August 2020 with that from March 2019 to August 2019. Results: A total of 13,784 patients were admitted over a period of 6 months from March 2020 to August 2020, and there was a significant decline in the admissions as compared to pre-COVID-19 period of March 2019 to August 2019 (p-value, 0.007). Conclusion: The COVID‐19 lockdown greatly reduced the rate of admission to gynecological and obstetric emergencies. This reduction allowed for more effective and efficient use of emergency services and will inspire policymakers to implement policies for efficient utilization of emergency services in the future.