Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency medical resources : An observational multicenter study including all hospitals in a major urban center of the Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan region.

The regional COVID-19 outbreak led to significantly reduced ED contacts in a German major urban region after the first COVID-19 cases appeared. Both hospital admissions and the number of ED to ICU admissions decreased, whereas the ratio of emergency outpatients vs. inpatients remained stable. Therefore, it can be assumed that patients with severe medical problems did not seek emergency care. These secondary effects of the pandemic on healthcare and the socioeconomic impact should be analyzed further.