Number of COVID Patients in CT Hospitals Grows, Healthcare Workers Contacting Virus

The COVID-19 infection rate in Connecticut is high, 1,676 COVID patients were hospitalized as of Wednesday and a growing number of healthcare workers who are calling out sick.

Hartford HealthCare said it has more than 400 COVID patients across its system and staff are contracting the virus too.

Audrey Silver, a nurse manager is the Hartford Hospital emergency department, said it has been a challenge, staff members have been working hard and they get tired.

More than 600 employees of Hartford HealthCare are out sick.

“This staff has been jumping in to pick up extra shifts to support and even on the floor, just the roles of staff, everyone's stretching what they do to be able to support one another,” Silver said.

Yale New Haven Health has 535 workers out sick of its nearly 30,000 workers and hospital leaders said it’s all hands on deck.

“We're redeploying many people who work in administrative functions today to work within our hospitals and to do non-clinical work,” Jeff Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, said.

Another concern is the wave of patients. The state has reached heights not seen since April 2020.

But, this time is very different. Medical professionals said not as many people are in critical care and healthcare staff have learned a lot about caring for COVID patients over the last two years.

“We are better at doing this. We have better treatments, we have better testing,” Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist of Hartford HealthCare, said.

Hartford HealthCare can track open beds and move people around the state if necessary and there are also plans in place in case surge capacity is needed.

“This is a time for caution, not confusion, not a time for panic,” Flaks said.  

Medical professionals expect hospitalizations to continue to rise for at least the next week or two.