Delays in COVID-19 Diagnosis and Hospitalization and Outcomes — New York City, New York, USA, October 2020–November 2021

COVID-19 patients diagnosed ≥3 days after symptom onset had increased odds of hospitalization. The 75th percentile for diagnosis delay was 5 days for residents of low-privilege areas and Black and Hispanic people diagnosed before SARS-CoV-2 Delta predominance, compared with 4 days for other patients, indicating inequities in prompt diagnosis. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The authors received no specific funding for this work beyond their usual salaries. SKG was supported by the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement (grant No. NU90TP922035-03-03), funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The Institutional Review Board of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene determined this work was exempt human subjects research for which consent was not required. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Line-level data are not publicly available in accordance with patient confidentiality and privacy laws. Publicly available data are linked below.