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YNHH’s Tom Balcezak at Thursday’s presser.
Yale New Haven Health has seen Covid-related hospitalizations increase nearly five-fold over the past two weeks, as the more infectious Delta variant spreads across Connecticut and the nation.
Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) Chief Clinical Officer Thomas Balcezak and CEO Marna Borgstrom gave that sobering update Thursday afternoon during the regional hospital system’s latest virtual Covid-19 press briefing.
Borgstrom said that the hospital system, which includes seven hospital campuses across Connecticut and Rhode Island, currently has 53 Covid-positive inpatients.
That’s nearly five times more than the 11 Covid-positive inpatients hospitalized at YNHH two weeks ago.
The regional hospital system currently has 10 Covid patients in the intensive care unit, including five on ventilators. That’s compared to one in the ICU two weeks ago, and no one on a ventilator.
“The story here is the Delta variant which is spreading across the United States, and is now the predominant strain,” Balcezak said. Over 72 percent of YNHH’s recent Covid-related inpatients tested positive for the more contagious new variant, he said. The number is likely now above 80 percent.
“The folks who get the Delta variant are spreading much more virus, and it is also infecting more people because it has some key mutations on its spike protein that are suggested to be more effective at infecting human cells,” Balcezak said about why the rise of Delta has led to an “incredible uptick” in new Covid cases over the past two weeks.
“We continue as a nation to struggle to keep up with the evolving nature of the pandemic.”
Thomas Breen photo
Shahkim Khalil getting vaccinated on the Green.
The most effective deterrent to the Delta variant, or any other strain of the novel coronavirus, is the Covid-19 vaccine, Balcezak said. Vaccinated people are much less likely than unvaccinated individuals to contract Covid-19, he said, and when they do, they are significantly less likely to get sick enough to be hospitalized or die.
That doesn’t mean that vaccinated people aren’t getting sick at all, he said.
In fact, the spread of the Delta variant has caused a disconcerting increase in so-called “breakthrough” cases — that is, cases where people who have already been vaccinated against Covid are catching the virus and getting sick.
That’s because the Delta variant carries a heftier viral load, he said.
He said that the regional hospital system has seen 13 fully vaccinated people hospitalized with Covid over the past two weeks, and zero deaths among fully vaccinated people. That compares to 28 breakthrough cases leading to hospitalization and three deaths among vaccinated people between December and July 14.
“Even those people now who are vaccinated are more and more turning up as being infected,” Balcezak said. Nevertheless, “the vaccine continues to be incredibly effective at preventing infection and, more importantly, at preventing death and hospitalization.”
YNHH’s presser came at the same time that New Haven County tipped over into “substantial” levels of Covid-19 transmission Thursday, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the CDC, New Haven County currently has a seven-day new case rate of over 52 per 100,000 residents. The CDC’s threshold for “substantial” transmission is 50 per 100,000. The CDC recommends that anyone in areas of “substantial” transmission — vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike — wear face masks while indoors in public places with other people, so as to stem the spread of the virus.
Vaccine Mandate Spurs 577 Additional Shots
Balcezak also said that YNHH’s new vaccination mandate for employees and staff appears to be working.
Since the hospital system’s vaccination mandate went into effect two weeks ago, he said, an additional 577 YNHH employees have gotten vaccinated.
“We’re starting to see a big uptick,” he said.
The mandate requires that all employees and contractors who work at the regional hospital system, regardless of whether or not they do patient-facing medical work, must get their first Covid-19 vaccine shot by the end of August, and their second vaccine shot by the end of September. The hospital will allow employees to opt out of getting vaccinated if they have a valid “spiritual or medical” reason. Otherwise, they will receive a series of warnings, suspension, and could ultimately be fired.
Balcezak said that just over 80 percent of the YNHH’s 28,000-plus employees are currently vaccinated.
I am hoping that this is just a spike with people out and about. I will be wearing my mask in public closed spaces or not going to crowded enclosed spaces because I do not ever want to go through another year like we just have.