Processing Your Payment

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

June 2, 2021

YNHH: COVID-related hospitalizations plummet 

Dr. Thomas Balcezak, executive vice president and chief clinical officer with Yale New Haven Health, speaks to the media during a press conference Tuesday.
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Yale New Haven Health system continued to drop this week.

CEO Marna P. Borgstrom reported Tuesday afternoon that there were 33 COVID in-patients systemwide. This included 19 at Yale New Haven Hospital, eight at Bridgeport Hospital, one at Greenwich Hospital, five at Lawrence+Memorial Hospital in New London, and zero at Westerly Hospital in Rhode Island.

“This is about 95 percent fewer COVID in-patients than what we had at the peak of the pandemic last spring,” Borgstrom said. “Last spring, we were all wondering if we’d be able to get enough ventilators.”

Of the current in-patient COVID population, 12 of them are in intensive care and six are ventilated, according to Borgstrom.

“We still need to be cautious, but I’m delighted to share these numbers,” Borgstrom said.

In mid-February, by comparison, the health system reported having 201 COVID in-patients.

Dr. Thomas Balcezak, executive vice president and chief clinical officer, said the system continues to see a “tremendous drop in (COVID) in-patients.”

“The downward trend is absolutely a testament to the efficacy of vaccines,” Balcezak said.

The system will be closing down its mass vaccination sites shortly due to reduced demand, he said. To date, it has delivered some 425,000 vaccine doses.

The health system is monitoring a small number of cases of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, in individuals who have been vaccinated. According to Balcezak, the health system has seen 13 of these cases, with symptoms developing within a few days after vaccination. Most of the local cases have involved males, with a mean age of 24.

“This represents a tiny fraction of the people who have been vaccinated,” Balcezak said.

As of June 1, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office reported that 94 people statewide were hospitalized due to COVID-19, with the death toll rising to 8,244.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF