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July 30, 2021

YNHH: Five-fold increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations ‘concerning’

IMAGE | Pixabay.com
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

The number of patients hospitalized in the Yale New Haven Health system due to COVID-19 increased fivefold in just a two-week period, hospital officials reported Thursday.

CEO Marna P. Borgstrom said during a media briefing that the system had 53 COVID-19 inpatients as of Thursday, compared to 11 just two weeks ago.

Of the current COVID population, 10 are in intensive care, and five of those are on ventilators, Borgstrom said. In contrast, two weeks ago, the system had one patient in intensive care, and none on ventilators.

“These (new) numbers bring concern to all of us,” Borgstrom said. “For anybody who has asked if the pandemic is behind us — it is not.”

Of the 53 COVID inpatients, 19 were at Yale New Haven Hospital, 12 at Bridgeport Hospital, 10 at Lawrence+Memorial Hospital in New London, nine at Greenwich Hospital and three at Westerly Hospital in Rhode Island.

Of these 53 inpatients in the system, all are over 20 years old, and all but nine are over age 40, according to Dana Marnane, health system director of public relations and communications.

Dr. Thomas Balcezak, executive vice president and chief clinical officer, said the latest COVID inpatient tally shows an “incredible uptick” in a two-week period, and he attributed the increase to the highly contagious Delta variant.

When the health system conducted variant testing from July 6 to July 13, 72% of its cases were for the Delta variant, Balcezak said.

“It is concerning for a variety of reasons, including a higher viral load and it is infecting more people,” Balcezak said. 

According to Balcezak, vaccinated individuals can still get and transmit the virus, potentially not even being aware they have it because of typically milder symptoms. Wearing masks can help prevent this problem, he noted.

Vaccinations still seem to be effective at preventing serious illness, he noted. 

Balcezak stressed the importance of everyone getting vaccinated, noting, “The vaccines are still our best way out of the pandemic.”

The health system has mandated that its employees get vaccinated.

As of Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office reported 112 people were hospitalized due to the virus statewide, with the total deaths to date growing to 8,293.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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