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Background: The coronavirus infection (COVID-19), also known as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), caused significant illness and a worldwide pandemic beginning in 2020. Early case reports showed common patient characteristics, clinical variables and laboratory values in these patients. We compared a large population of American COVID-19 patients to see if they had similar findings to these smaller reports. In addition, we examined our population to identify any differences between mild or severe COVID-19 infections., Methods: We retrospectively accessed a de-identified, multi-hospital database managed by HCA Healthcare to identify all adult emergency department (ED) patients that were tested for COVID-19 from January 1st, 2020-April 30th, 2020. We collected clinical variables, comorbidities and laboratory values to identify any differences in those with or without a SARS-CoV-2 infection., Results: We identified 44,807 patients who were tested for SARS-CoV-2. Of those patients, 6,158 were positive for COVID-19. Male patients were more likely to test positive than female ones (15.0% vs. 12.6%, p < 0.001). The most frequently positive tests occurred in age groups 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 (16.9%, 15.3% and 14.1% respectively). Both African Americans (20.2%) and Hispanics (20.8%) were more likely to test positive than Caucasians (8.3%, p < 0.001). Hypertension and diabetes were more common in those with positive tests, and multiple laboratory biomarkers showed significant differences in severe infections., Conclusions: This broad cohort of American COVID-19 patients showed similar trends in gender, age groups and race/ethnicity as previously reported. Severe COVID-19 disease was also associated with many positive laboratory biomarkers., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest., (© 2021 HCA Physician Services, Inc. d/b/a Emerald Medical Education.)

Background: The greater New Orleans area emerged as an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with one of the highest infection and death rates per capita in the United States.1 The first case of COVID-19 in an obstetric patient at Tulane Lakeside Hospital occurred on March 22, 2020. Given increasing concern for asymptomatic carriers, the labor and delivery unit implemented universal testing of all patients and their support partners starting on April 1, 2020., Methods: A retrospective chart review of all obstetric encounters was performed to determine the incidence of COVID-19, characterize the natural history of COVID-19 and evaluate obstetric and neonatal outcomes., Results: Over a 5 week period of universal testing, there were 12/254 (4.72%) confirmed cases of COVID-19; 58% of COVID-positive patients were asymptomatic. The majority of the symptomatic COVID-19 patients had a mild course of the infection, similar to results from a previous study.2 As of completion of the study period, only 4 COVID-19-positive patients delivered; all of them had uncomplicated intra- and postpartum courses. There was no evidence of vertical transmission of COVID-19., Conclusion: These results confirm the asymptomatic carrier rate is high and support the case for universal testing in high prevalence cities. Ultimately, universal testing allows for a timely identification of disease, initiation of isolation and contact precautions and appropriate allocation of personal protective equipment (PPE)., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest., (© 2020 HCA Physician Services, Inc. d/b/a Emerald Medical Education.)