COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality and hospitalization-related utilization and expenditure: Analysis of a South African private health insured population.

Background: Evidence on the risk factors for COVID-19 hospitalization, mortality, hospital stay and cost of treatment in the African context is limited. This study aims to quantify the impact of known risk factors on these outcomes in a large South African private health insured population.

Methods And Findings: This is a cross sectional analytic study based on the analysis of the records of members belonging to health insurances administered by Discovery Health (PTY) Ltd.