Admissions data for children under 15 years of age attending the Cremona and Novara paediatric emergency departments during the COVID-19 pandemic between 20 February 2020 and 30 March 2020 compared with the same period in 2019
| Novara | Cremona | |||||||
| 2019 | 2020 | % change | P value | 2019 | 2020 | % change | P value | |
| Admissions (n) | 1749 | 664 | −62.0 | 1209 | 290 | −76.0 | 0.001 | |
| Triage | ||||||||
| White (n) | 344 | 55 | −84.0 | 622 | 51 | −91.8 | ||
| White (%) | 19.7 | 8.3 | −57.9 | <0.001 | 51.5 | 17.6 | −65.8 | <0.001 |
| Green (n) | 1381 | 576 | −58.3 | 581 | 235 | −59.6 | ||
| Green (%) | 79.0 | 86.8 | 9.9 | <0.001 | 48 | 81 | 59.2 | <0.0001 |
| Yellow (n) | 24 | 32 | 33.3 | 6 | 4 | −33.3 | ||
| Yellow (%) | 1.2 | 1.6 | 33.3 | <0.001 | 1.4 | 0.5 | −64.3 | <0.04 |
| Red (n) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Red (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NS |
| Outcome | ||||||||
| At home (n) | 1660 | 596 | −64.1 | 1066 | 243 | −77.2 | ||
| At home (%) | 94.9 | 89.7 | −5.4 | <0.001 | 83.8 | 88.2 | 5 | NS |
| Hospital admission (n) | 42 | 50 | 19.1 | 98 | 40 | −59.9 | ||
| Hospital admission (%) | 2.4 | 7.5 | 213.6 | <0.001 | 8.1 | 13.8 | 58.7 | <0.03 |
| Other (n) | 47 | 18 | −61.7 | 45 | 7 | −84.4 | ||
| Other (%) | 2.7 | 2.7 | 0.88 | NS | 3.8 | 2.4 | −36.8 | NS |
The colour code used at the triage is as follows: red tags—(emergency, intervention time 0 min) patients cannot survive without immediate treatment but have a chance of survival; yellow tags—(urgency, 15 min) patients have at least one vital function compromised, but their condition is stable for the moment and they are not in immediate danger of death; green tags—(wait, 60 min) patients will need medical care at some point, after more critical injuries have been treated; white tags—(dismiss, no time specified) patients with minor injuries for whom a doctor's care is not required, and have possibly gone to their family paediatrician.