Chief Clinical Officer Tom Balcezak.
The number of Covid-19-positive inpatients at Yale New Haven Hospital is down to 29 — and the system’s top doctor says a resurgence is not inevitable, even as other states see spikes in coronavirus cases.
Yale New Haven Health officials offered those updates at a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
CEO Marna Borgstrum relayed that across the state, the system’s hospitals are treating 51 inpatients for Covid.
Yale New Haven Hospital is treating 29 of those patients, while Bridgeport has 19, Greenwich has 2, and Lawrence + Memorial in New London has 1.
The hospital system’s Chief Clinical Officer Tom Balcezak noted that states like Florida and Arizona have seen recent surges in Covid-19 cases after reopening. The question of whether a parallel spike will occur in Connecticut is up to residents, he said.
“There is no inevitability for this. The power to control that is in each one of our hands,” he said. “This is a communicable disease that the majority of time is spread in droplets from people between six feet apart from one another.” As long as people continue to social distance and wear masks, he said, a rise in Covid cases can be prevented in Connecticut.
As Gov. Ned Lamont weighs requiring travelers from outside the region to quarantine for 14 days or get tested for the virus, Balcezak said he recommends that Connecticut residents returning home from outside the area self-isolate for two weeks.
CEO Marna Borgstrum.
Both Borgstrum and Balcezak praised the governor’s coordination on this issue with colleagues at the regional level.
“I do continue to appreciate the fact that this governor and other governors in the Northeast are talking with one another and learning from one another,” said Borgstrum. “Having them align their efforts will hopefully keep this region from experiencing what we’re seeing in the South and the Southwest.”