--- title: "Almost All COVID Patients on Ventilators Are Dying, Study Suggests" description: "The prognosis of a COVID-19 patient being hooked up to a ventilator is grim: a NY study showed that 88 percent of those placed on ventilators died." date: "2020-04-23" modified: "2020-04-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/covid-patients-ventilators-dying-study-suggests" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" --- # Almost All COVID Patients on Ventilators Are Dying, Study Suggests ![The prognosis of a COVID-19 patient being hooked up to a ventilator is grim: a NY study showed that 88 percent of those placed on ventilators died.]() *\Image: Matt Hecht/US Air National Guard\* As the number of cases and deaths resulting from COVID-19 continues to rise in the US, hospitals are quickly [running out of ventilators,]() which are machines that take care of breathing for patients who are experiencing severe pneumonia or [acute respiratory distress syndrome](). But the prognosis for a COVID-19 patient hooked up to a ventilator appears grim: about 88 percent of those placed on ventilators died at Northwell Health, New York's largest health system, according to [a new study](). Of the 2,634 hospitalized patients for whom outcomes were known (the study looked at 5,700 patients in total), only 12 percent received "invasive mechanical ventilation." Overall, 21 percent of the patients passed away. "New York has become the epicenter of this epidemic," Karina Davidson, professor and senior vice president at the Feinstein Institutes, and co-author of the study, said in [a statement](). "Clinicians, scientists, statisticians and laboratory professionals are working tirelessly to provide best care and comfort to the thousands of COVID-19 patients in our Northwell hospitals." A third of all patients — including ones for whom outcomes weren't known — had a fever. 1,584 received supplemental oxygen. Patients were discharged after an average of four days. More than half — 57 percent — had high blood pressure, while 41 percent were obese and 34 percent had diabetes. The study was also able to confirm that men were more likely to die. In the entire population the researchers studied, not a single patient under 18 died. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()