Hospital numbers increase sharply

Lamont meets with doctors calling for new restrictions

The number of COVID-19 patients in Connecticut hospitals increased sharply once again Tuesday, as Gov. Ned Lamont met with a group of doctors urging more restrictions to control the state’s coronavirus outbreak.

The state now has 1,152 residents hospitalized with COVID-19 after an increase of 54 Tuesday, the second biggest singleday spike recorded this fall. Connecticut continues to see high levels of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, while bracing for a potential spike in the numbers owing to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Additionally,

Lamont announced 20 more coronavirus-linked deaths Tuesday, bringing Connecticut’s total to 159 over the past week — most in a seven-day period since early June — and 5,040 during the pandemic. The state recorded more than 400 COVID-19 deaths in November, more than in July through October combined.

Lamont also reported 1,459 new COVID-19 cases on 24,831 tests Tuesday for a rate of 5.9%, slightly higher than the state has seen in recent days. Connecticut’s positivity rate over the past week now stands at 4.9%.

Connecticut’s hospitals have continued to fill in recent weeks, resulting in increasingly tense and stressful conditions for workers there and

concern that staffing could be stretched in the coming weeks.

“The caution I always have is the people,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer at Hartford HealthCare. “At some point, that is an area we could be concerned about.”

Kumar said Hartford HealthCare may begin to divert staff from across the health system toward COVID-19 treatment and other areas that have become stretched. He said hospital officials are “in conversation” with Lamont’s office about potentially reassembling an auxiliary hospital site at the Connecticut Convention Center.

The United States has now seen 292,192 COVID19 deaths during the pandemic, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.