id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-346329-xwbtftju	Mallow, Peter J.	When Second Best Might Be the Best: Using Hospitalization Data to Monitor the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic	2020-07-10		.txt	text/plain	2053	116	46	The novel coronavirus' high rate of asymptomatic transmission combined with a lack of testing kits call for a different approach to monitor its spread and severity. The prioritization of limited COVID-19 tests based on CDC guidance emphasized healthcare workers first and those suspectible to the disease second, potentially increasing the spread of the novel coronavirus among those most at risk (18) . The combination of widespread community transmission and lack of testing kits prevented us from having a clear understanding of the novel coronavirus spread, including those most at risk for requiring intensive care. In the absence of wide spread testing prior to or at the initial onset of the epidemic, hospitalizations and hospital utilization become the second-best indicator to monitor the severity and progression of the novel coronavirus. Our threshold of a declining 7-day moving average over a 14-day period, "7&14, " provided a conservative threshold for informing public policy decisions, such as access to healthcare services, regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic.	./cache/cord-346329-xwbtftju.txt	./txt/cord-346329-xwbtftju.txt