CEO Marna Borgstrom at Thursday presser.
Yale-New Haven Health officials reported on Thursday that Covid-19 cases in the state have plummeted — while warning that maintaining social distancing practices will be crucial to keeping infection levels low as Connecticut takes a step further in reopening.
At a virtual press conference, CEO and President Marna Borgstrom said that the statewide Yale-New Haven Health system is currently treating under 70 Covid in-patients. This number is down by over 90 percent compared to around 850 cases during Connecticut’s peak, she said.
Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven is treating 34 in-patients, compared to 460 in-patients in late April. Bridgeport Hospital is treating 25 patients, down from 213 in April. And Greenwich Hospital currently has 6 in-patients, down from 126 in April.
“We are well underway to having our services with Covid patients taking up only a fraction of facilities,” said Chief Operating Officer Christopher O’Connor.
Chief Clinical Officer Thomas Balcezak called Connecticut a “national leader” in treating Coronavirus cases. “We should be proud of it,” he said.
Still, officials cautioned that the reduction in Covid cases has been a product of diligent social distancing and mask-wearing — not a reason that those practices should be relaxed.
“We can’t let our guard down now,” said Borgstrom.
“Our personal diligence is really what’s going to keep these numbers down,” O’Connor said.
The press conference took place one day after Connecticut moved to Phase 2 of its reopening plans, allowing for businesses such as indoor restaurants, gyms, and nail salons to open their doors to customers.
Asked whether YNNH anticipates a rise in cases as this phase takes effect, Borgstrom said, “I have to say that time will tell.”
Borgstrom, a member of Gov. Ned Lamont’s Health System Response Team, said that the governor has been thoughtful about reopening.
“If we see a backslide with any magnitude, we will see where that is,” she said, noting that Lamont has reversed course on reopening trajectories before, as in the case of hair salons and barber shops in May. “I don’t think this administration has shown itself to be at all reticent to turn back the opening plans if they need to.”
O’Connor mentioned that states like Texas and Arizona “went a little too fast” in reopening and are now seeing a rise in Covid cases.
“There is a lot of opportunity to do it unsafely and there is a lot of opportunity to do it safely,” Balcezak said of Phase 2. He said he has personally seen many businesses following the necessary guidelines.
“Outside dining is probably safer,” he said, as the virus is significantly more likely to spread through indoor contact. He urged residents going out to restaurants and other businesses to continue to avoid close contact with people outside of their households.
“Safe” Inside Hospital
COO Christopher O’Connor.
Meanwhile, the hospital system itself is beginning to return to some pre-Covid in-person practices.
“We’re doing a number of what we would call normal procedures now,” said O’Connor, including at ambulatory and surgery centers.
He stressed that patients should feel comfortable going to the hospital if necessary: YNNH has been thoroughly cleaning facilities, utilizing PPE, and screening both patients and staff for Covid.
Balcezak also said he anticipates that some YNNH hospitals will allow visitors beginning next week. For the past few months, in-patients have been unable to receive visits from loved ones.
The hospital will continue to offer telehealth visits for outpatients. Borgstrom called the telehealth system “resoundingly” effective and suggested that virtual visits have helped the hospital “to rethink how we do things.”
“It makes us wonder if we couldn’t all be more prudent if we use expensive resources like emergency room resources when it’s not really an emergency,” she said.
While telehealth visits remain an option, O’Connor underscored that patients should not defer needed in-person medical care. “The biggest stress is to ensure that if folks delayed care, if they put anything off, now is the time to come back. You’ll be safe.”
“I think that’s probably our greatest fear” that non-Covid health problems have gone undetected, he said.
Asymptomatic Healthcare Workers Disproportionately Test Negative
Chief Clinical Officer Thomas Balcezak.
Officials said that after ramping up testing efforts in nursing homes, YNNH is now focusing on testing asymptomatic healthcare professionals.
Balcezak said that out of around 4,200 asymptomatic medical professionals that have gotten tested so far, 0.25 percent received results indicating that they had Covid.
That rate is less than half the rate of asymptomatic patients coming into the hospital for unrelated procedures, who must get tested in order to enter the building. Of those asymptomatic patients, 0.7 percent have tested positive for Covid.
Balcezak said that given the limited supply of tests, he would not recommend that every Connecticut resident get tested. “Right now, it’s important to test asymptomatic health care workers — but in the general community, I think asymptomatic testing is less important,” he said.
Rather than getting tested, Balcezak implored residents once again to follow social distancing guidelines. “That should be sufficient — even if you are an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic transmitter — to prevent spread,” he said.
Dr. Balcezak's recommendation regarding testing asymptomatic people is disconcerting and inconsistent with the recommendations of the mayor and others. Clearly, the first priority in testing asymptomatic individuals is health care workers, for their sake and the sake of their patients. But my understanding is that the testing sites in town are not operating at capacity. If this is true, there are a wide variety of other asymptomatic individuals who should be tested. These include people who work in jobs where social distancing is infeasible and essential workers.