Re:Ireland drops most Covid restrictions in wake of 'Omicron...
by sokoloff on Sunday January 23, 2022 @07:26AM
(#30045653)
Isn’t admission for cancer relatively rare per diagnosis? (as compared to say heart attack)
I’ve learned of many cancer diagnoses in my circle of family and friends and can think of only two that had a hospital admission related to it (most were treated as outpatient procedures, including most of the surgeries).
The effect is that these decisions result in a small increase in the steady state hospitalization levels. If obesity or smoking increases the effects of that increase on hospitalization will be spread out over decades giving plenty of time for hospital capacity to be adjusted to deal with it. (Same if obesity or smoking decreases--hospitals won't suddenly be laying off staff. Hospitalizations would fall over several years giving hospitals plenty of time to reduce capacity by simply not replacing as many workers who retire or change professions).
COVID-19 is bad for hospitals because it is short term. That's why in the US we are currently getting about 20x as many daily COVID-19 hospital admissions as we got cancer admissions before COVID-19 (that's for all cancers, not just lung cancer).