DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2z84
title: Data from: Identifying the effects of an upgraded ‘fever clinic’ on COVID-19 control and the workload of emergency department: a retrospective study in a tertiary hospital in China

description: Objectives: COVID-19 started spreading widely in China. Outpatient fever
 clinics (FC),were upgraded to serve for COVID-19 screening and prevention
 of disease transmission in large tertiary hospitals in China. We aimed to
 evaluate the effect of upgrading the FC system on rates of nosocomial
 COVID-19 infection and ED patient attendance at PUMCH Methods: The FC of
 PUMCH was upgraded on January 20, 2020. We performed a retrospective study
 of patients presenting to the FC between December 12, 2019 and February
 29, 2020. January 20, 2020 was the date when COVID-19 was declared an
 outbreak in Beijing. Two groups of data were collected and subsequently
 compared with each other: The first group of data was collected within 40
 days before January 20, 2020; The second group of data was collected
 within 40 days after January 20, 2020. All necessary data, including
 patient baseline information, diagnosis, follow-up conditions, and the
 transfer records between the FC and ED were collected and analyzed.
 Results: 6,365 patients were screened in the FC, among whom 2,912 patients
 were screened before January 21, 2020, while 3,453 were screened
 afterward. Screening results showed that upper respiratory infection was
 the major disease associated with fever. After the outbreak of COVID-19,
 the number of patients who were transferred from the FC to ED decreased
 significantly [39.21% vs 15.75%, p&lt;0.001], and patients generally
 spent more time in the FC [55 vs 203minutes, p, compared with before the
 outbreak. For critically ill patients waiting for their screening results,
 the total length of stay in the FC was 22minutes before the outbreak,
 compared with 442minutes after the outbreak Conclusion: The workload of
 the FC increased significantly after the COVID-19 outbreak. New protocols
 regarding the use of FC likely helped prevent the spread of COVID-19 l.
 The upgraded FC reduce the burden on the ED
description: The FC of PUMCH was
 upgraded on January 20, 2020. We performed a retrospective study of
 patients presenting to the FC between December 12, 2019 and February 29,
 2020. January 20, 2020 was the date when COVID-19 was declared an outbreak
 in Beijing. Two groups of data were collected and subsequently compared
 with each other: The first group of data was collected within 40 days
 before January 20, 2020; The second group of data was collected within 40
 days after January 20, 2020. All necessary data, including patient
 baseline information, diagnosis, follow-up conditions, and the transfer
 records between the FC and ED were collected and analyzed.We
 collected data from all patients presenting to the FC of PUMCH in the last
 40 days before the FC upgrade (from December 12, 2019 to January 20,
 2020), and for another 40 days after FC upgrade (from January 21 to
 February 29, 2020). The FC was upgraded on January 20, 2020 which was also
 the official date when COVID-19 was declared an “outbreak” in Beijing. We
 included all critically ill patients during the period of this study, who
 initially presented to the FC and subsequently transferred to the ED The
 data were collected from patients’ medical records and their registration
 information. Clinical manifestation, primary diagnosis, time of
 registration, and the duration of each consultation were documented for
 all patients involved in the study. Critically ill
 patients were included based on the following criteria: (1) patients who
 were transferred to the resuscitation room in the ED after initial
 screening and treatment at the FC; (2) APACHE II score ≥8; (3) patients
 who tested negative for COVID-19<sup>[11]</sup>. Critically
 ill patients’ prognosis and treatment results were documented in their
 medical records. Changes in patients’ condition (e.g. improvement,
 deterioration or death) within seven days after their initial presentation
 at the FC were also recorded.
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