Sofia, February 7 (BTA) - The COVID-19 mortality rate in Bulgarian hospitals was 18.3 per cent last year, according to the Hospitals Index of Gallup. The index is based on the reports that the hospitals submit into the electronic information system of the Health Ministry. There were 155,422 hospitalized COVID patients in 215 hospitals last year, and 28,379 of them passed away. ICU patients totalled 16,033, which was 10.31 per cent of the patients diagnozed with coronavirus.

The COVID mortality in Bulgaria's hospitals is comparable to that in other countries, the analysts say.

The 18.3 per cent was the average mortality rate but it varied widely from hospital to hospital: from 0 to 35 per cent. That reflects the profile of the hospital: those with high mortality were hospitals with dedicated COVID units and those with low mortality specialize in treating various other health conditions and reported COVID as co-morbidity.

The data, however, shows that the mortality also differed considerably between comparable hospitals. In those cases the difference was due to the gravity of the patients' condition and the capacity of the hospitals.

Among the top 20 hospitals for COVID, the mortality rate ranged from 13 to 33 per cent. It was lowest in the Military Medical Academy and highest in the Pirogov Emergency Hospital, both of them in Sofia.

The COVID mortality was higher in 2021 than in 2020, when it was 11 per cent. That reflects the fact that the pandemic did not reach a full-blown stage in Bulgaria until 2021 and the first serious wave was registered in late 2020, followed by several bad waves in 2021.

That is confirmed by the number of hospitalized patients: 62,299 in 2020 and 155,422 in 2021.

The top ten hospitals for COVID patients are state-owned. That largely reflected the government policy to put the biggest public hospitals on the frontline in the battle with COVID, say the analysts. RY/LN///