DENVER — The number of people currently in Colorado hospitals with COVID-19 continues to drop, falling below 1,000 this week.
On Wednesday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported 861 confirmed COVID patients statewide. Another 59 cases are under investigation for possible COVID-19 infection.
The decreasing hospitalization trend is welcome news for frontline healthcare workers.
“It’s refreshing,” said Dr. Jennifer Singleton, an emergency doctor at UCHealth Highlands Ranch. “I think we all certainly needed a foot off the gas, if I could say it that way.”
Besides a brief dip in late December, hospitalizations haven’t stayed below 1,000, consistently, since early October. In late fall and early winter, hospitalizations climbed and hospital capacity hit an all-time low during the pandemic.
Then in January, as the omicron variant led to a huge spike in cases, many healthcare workers became sick themselves and were unable to work. Now into February, the staffing shortages and patient counts have both improved and become more manageable for healthcare workers.
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“Our teams are feeling a sense of relief,” said Dr. Jaya Kumar, chief medical officer for Swedish Medical Center. “They are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel today, which we didn't see a month ago. That's giving us hope, making us move forward.”
Both doctors describe feeling “cautiously optimistic” with the decreasing hospitalization trend. But the pandemic has been a humbling time, filled with uncertainty and constant change.
“We see optimism, but it has to be cautious optimism because the virus has not completely gone away,” Kumar said. “The test positivity rate… is still closer to 10-12%.”
Singleton feels the same way.
“While relative to 30% (data from January’s omicron surge), it's better, but we’re still in a place where it's really highly contagious so people just need to be on their guard,” she said.
“I’m always wary. I’m still wearing my mask and willing to take all those precautions.”
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