Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

April 20, 2020

COVID-19 hospitalizations decline for second straight day; nursing homes get a boost

Photo | CT Mirror Hospital workers man the registration station at the Prescribed Alternative Testing Hub (PATH) in the portico of the Wheeler Building at Stamford Hospital where people can get tested for COVID-19.
By Greg Bordonaro

For the second straight day, Connecticut Sunday saw another slight decline in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.
 
There are 1,901 patients in Connecticut currently hospitalized with COVID-19, down 37 patients from the previous day, Lamont said.
 
“For the second straight day, the number of people hospitalized in Connecticut due to complications caused by COVID-19 has slightly decreased, another step in the right direction and another sign that the efforts we’ve been taking as a community are having an impact on slowing the outbreak,” Lamont said. “Whether this continues is dependent upon on the actions each of us takes over the next several days and weeks. This isn’t over – we lost another 41 Connecticut residents, and we mourn for their lives. Together, we can have an impact on flattening the curve, but if people tell you the pandemic has ended – they are wrong.”
 
Despite the decrease in hospitalizations, the state recorded an additional 412 positive COVID-19 cases within the last 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 17,962. 
 
To date, more than 59,759 patients have been tested in Connecticut and there have been 1,127 COVID-19 associated deaths in the state.
 
Hartford County has 3,351 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, 420 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations and 295 coronavirus-related deaths, according to the governor’s office.

Things to know: Nursing homes get a boost

The state’s nursing homes, which have seen an influx of coronavirus patients and have been decrying their financial prospects amid the pandemic, are getting more state funding.
 
Lamont Sunday announced that he is directing his administration to boost Medicaid payments for all of Connecticut’s 215 nursing homes by 15 percent, providing an additional $65 million to these facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The state’s increased financial support will be applied toward:

  • Employee wages, including staff retention bonuses, overtime, and shift incentive payments;
  • New costs related to screening of visitors;
  • Personal protective equipment;
  • Cleaning and housekeeping supplies; and
  • Other costs related to COVID-19.

The expanded state aid is in addition to the enhanced federal support nursing homes are expected to receive through Medicare, as well as general relief under the recently adopted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF