Hartford HealthCare doctors said during a virtual media briefing Tuesday morning that the number of COVID-19 patients they’ve seen has increased to near its peak in April 2020 and is expected to continue to spike over the next several days.
Ajay Kumar, Hartford HealthCare’s chief clinical officer, said that, as of Tuesday, HHCs seven hospitals had 419 patients with COVID-19 symptoms including 55 patients in critical care units. Of those 419 patients, 157 are at Hartford Hospital. The hospital system saw the numbers peak at 425 COVID-19 patients within the HHC system in April 2020.
“I would not be surprised in the next day or two to see the numbers increase and pass the April 2020 numbers,” Kumar said during the 40-minute press briefing and question-and-answer session.
HHC officials didn’t have a breakdown of how many of the 419 COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated, but that number has increased statewide.
According to the office of Gov. Ned Lamont, the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate as of Monday afternoon was at 21.52% with hospitalizations at 1,452, up 301 since Thursday.
Of the 1,452 residents hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms, 999, or 68.8%, are not fully vaccinated.
HHC doctors said the best precaution against COVID-19 is to be vaccinated and boosted.
“If you are vaccinated and boosted, you will have a mild disease and will recover better,” Kumar said. “This is not a time to panic, we know what to do and how to manage. It is not a time to panic, but to be cautious.”
Kumar also said that while there are “significant challenges in the emergency rooms right now” the HHC hospitals have “different ways to manage capacity.” That includes, he said, having more staff do extra shifts.
“We are not constrained in terms of capacity at this moment,” Kumar said.
Kenneth Robinson, chair of emergency medicine at Hartford Hospital, said there has been an overall 25% to 30% increase in patients at that hospital including COVID and non-COVID patients. “The number has increased from 300 patients a day at Hartford Hospital to 400 patients a day,” he said.
