
How many patients are entering a hospital with a broken leg or some other type of emergency and then contracting COVID-19 while they are hospitalized?
It’s impossible to say because officials have not been able to track the number of patients who may have contracted COVID-19 during a hospital stay, according to the Department of Public Health. But when people do test positive for the novel coronavirus after being admitted for other reasons, the state is counting those patients as COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to DPH Spokesman Av Harris.
“If somebody’s in the hospital for whatever reason and they test positive and they’re still hospitalized, we consider that a COVID-19 hospitalization,” Harris said. “We do not really track whether people tested positive after being inpatients in the hospital. We just track positive cases, hospitalizations, and COVID-19 associated deaths.”
It’s easier to trace COVID-19 infections in nursing homes since most residents have been at the facility for longer than two weeks, officials said. But in a hospital setting where most patients only stay a short period of time, it’s nearly impossible to tell where the person contracted the disease, said Lora Rae Anderson, spokesperson for the state’s Chief Operating Officer, Josh Geballe.
“When someone is diagnosed with COVID after admission, it’s difficult to determine if the exposure happened in the hospital or outside the hospital, as the incubation period for COVID-19 can be up to 14 days,” Anderson said. “To be sure someone was infected in the hospital, they would need to be confined to the hospital for at least 14 days – otherwise there is still the possibility that they were exposed outside of the hospital walls.”
The DPH said it is responsible for investigating hospital infection procedures if an issue arises.
Officials with Hartford HealthCare, which owns William Backus Hospital in Norwich, said last week that no patients within their health care system had contracted COVID-19 during an in-patient stay.
But a state and federal investigation into an outbreak at the hospital in Norwich revealed that some staff and patients were not wearing masks properly, visitors were not being screened or encouraged to maintain six feet social distance, and that the hospital had inadvertently used non-medical grade gloves for days until the error was noted, according to a federal inspection report obtained by CTNewsJunkie Monday.
Some staffers told state and federal inspectors that at least two employees were seen either caring for patients while not wearing a mask or entering and exiting patient rooms without wearing a mask. But managers were not immediately notified, the report said. One person came forward after the unit where one of the people worked was dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, officials said.
The patient tested positive for coronavirus 11 days after being admitted, according to the report which was completed on Nov. 6. The patient initially tested negative for COVID-19 shortly after being admitted to the hospital on Aug. 15, inspectors said.
The person later tested positive on Aug. 26, the same day the patient was allowed to sit with a visitor for a few hours without wearing a mask, the report said. The person was retested during the hospital stay because the unit where they were being treated was in the throes of a COVID-19 outbreak requiring all staff and patients to be tested, the inspector said.
The hospital was also not fully screening visitors who were allowed to see patients who had not tested positive for COVID-19, the report said. The hospital was doing temperature checks but was not asking visitors if they were suffering from any symptoms of COVID-19 or if they had traveled out of state in the past two weeks, the inspector said.
The hospital also was inadvertently using non-medical grade, multi-purpose gloves for patient care, the report said. The hospital had ordered the correct gloves, but received a shipment of multi-use gloves instead. The problem was identified and the gloves were being collected when inspectors noticed that the items were the wrong quality, the report said.
The hospital received a correction plan from the federal Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Nov. 6, which included education for staff on the proper use of personal protective equipment and visitor screening procedures. The hospital will be monitored for infection control practices the next three months, the report said.
According to the president of the union representing nurses at Backus Hospital, there have been repeated outbreaks among staff that are being reported as “community spread.”
“There are eight, 11, 12 people in a whole unit that get it,” said Sherry Dayton, president of the Backus Federation of Nurses. “That has to be workplace. I think it’s the breakroom since it’s small and you have to take off your mask.”
The union is no longer being notified of outbreaks within the hospital and there is no contact tracing taking place, Dayton said.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
Hartford HealthCare’s Chief Clinical Officer Ajay Kumar contended last week that there have been no instances of patient-to-patient transmission at any of the company’s facilities, including Backus Hospital. Hartford HealthCare owns seven hospitals including Hartford Hospital, and the Hospital of Central Connecticut and several other medical facilities throughout the state.
“We monitor every patient that comes in the hospital setting,” Kumar said. Patients are given COVID-19 tests when they are admitted and are given a second test to make sure they are negative, he said.
“We have a process for high risk patients,” such as those who come from nursing homes and staff makes sure that masking and hygiene protocols are followed at every Hartford HealthCare facility, Kumar said.
“Our hospitals are safe,” Kumar said. “They are a safe place and it is unlikely that any transmission is occurring.”
More COVID-19 Coverage

Connecticut To Get FEMA Funds for COVID Testing Sites
Connecticut will receive more than $2 million in federal emergency funding to pay for the operation of COVID-19 testing sites during a six-month period last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday. The roughly $2.15 million will come from FEMA’s public assistance grant program and will be used to reimburse state funds used to…
Keep reading
COVID Transmission Increases in CT
As of Friday afternoon, Connecticut’s test positivity rate was 13.71% and there were 323 residents hospitalized with the virus. On Thursday, the Department of Public Health reported that 158 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities qualified for the state’s “red alert” distinction for COVID-19, which is triggered when a community records at least 15 daily cases per…
Keep reading
Connecticut At High, Medium Risk of COVID Transmission
Connecticut’s COVID-19 test positivity rating was 10.35% on Thursday and all eight Connecticut counties were in the medium yellow or high orange categories on the CDC’s community spread map. Those community maps, created by the CDC in February, are supposed to tell people to take preventative steps such as masking and testing. Hartford, Middlesex and…
Keep reading
Advocates Make 11th Hour Pitch For Compassionate Release
Hartford, CT — Advocates seeking compassionate release from prison during public health emergencies like COVID rallied at the state Capitol hours before they saw their legislation die without action in either chamber. At the rally on Wednesday, protestors and advocates were demanding action from legislators to pass a bill that addresses COVID in prisons. The…
Keep reading
Legislating During COVID-19
The legislative session ends in three days now, that’s shorter than the amount of time someone should quarantine under CDC standards if they have COVID-19, so how are lawmakers coping? Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, started experiencing symptoms two weeks ago and tested positive for COVID-19. Luckily the session wasn’t scheduled until last Tuesday, but…
Keep reading
Study Shows Union Nursing Homes Had Lower Rates of COVID-19
A recent study published by Health Affairs found that unionized nursing homes had lower resident COVID-19 mortality rates. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing home residents have accounted for roughly one of every six COVID-19 deaths in the United States. Nursing homes have also been very dangerous places for workers, with more than…
Keep reading
Senator Murphy Tests Positive For COVID
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy announced on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19. “FYI after feeling mild symptoms overnight, I tested positive for COVID this morning. We’ve done the contact tracing and let people know. It’s a bummer, but I’m sure if I wasn’t fully vaccinated I would be feeling a lot worse. So remember…
Keep reading
COVID Cases Tick Back Up
Most of Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders, which were extended to April 15 by the legislature, have now expired just as Connecticut’s test positivity rate for COVID-19 is creeping back up and students at UConn are being asked to mask up again, starting today. According to the Department of Public Health, Connecticut recorded 3,939 positive…
Keep reading
House Green Lights Extension of COVID-19 Laws
The House gave final passage Wednesday to a package of four concepts that had been executive orders and are now law. Previously, the concepts were executive orders to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keep reading
Tong Tests Positive For COVID-19
Attorney General William Tong has tested positive for COVID-19. He is experiencing mild symptoms and quarantining at home.
Keep reading
Lieutenant Gov. Tests Positive For COVID-19, Days After Gov
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz tested positive for the COVID-19 virus during a routine rapid test over the weekend, her chief staff said in a Monday morning statement. Bysiewicz’s results follow Gov. Ned Lamont, who tested positive late last week. “I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Bysiewicz wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to the vaccine and booster…
Keep reading
Lamont Tests Positive for COVID-19
Gov. Ned Lamont tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday. The results from two rapid tests were positive and he’s awaiting the results of a PCR test, according to this staff. The 68-year-old governor received his second booster exactly a week ago, but has made it through the first two years of the pandemic without contracting the…
Keep reading
New Initiative Allows Same Day COVID Testing And Treatment
Hundreds of pharmacies and federally qualified community health centers across Connecticut are now offering COVID testing and treatments to patients at the same time and place. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these test-to-treat sites provide antiviral medication to hundreds of locations across the U.S, who then distribute them to patients…
Keep reading
YNHH Top Doc Boosts 2nd Boosters
If you’re eligible to get a second Covid-19 booster shot, go get it. Especially if you’re over 50 and have an underlying medical condition like diabetes that puts you at “high risk” of contracting a severe case of COVID. Read more from the New Haven Independent.
Keep reading
Federal COVID Funds To Limit Tax Relief In An Election Year
Like all states, Connecticut accepted billions of dollars from the federal government for COVID-19 relief, but that money limits how much the state can now consider cutting taxes. It’s bubbling up as a point of contention as lawmakers race to adjust the two-year state budget, which is currently experiencing a record surplus. Connecticut is expected…
Keep readingMore Health Care News & Analysis
Medical Examining Board Fines Doctor $10,000
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member.
Keep reading
Clinical Trials With Immunotherapy Drugs Are Source Of Hope And Challenges In Treating Aggressive Breast Cancer
Joshalyn Mills of Branford and Nancy Witz of Kensington had the best possible results after being treated in clinical trials with immunotherapy drugs for aggressive breast cancer: Their tumors were eliminated. But while there are dramatic successes with immunotherapy drugs, there are also many failures, and researchers are trying to find out why in hopes…
Keep reading
Coalition of Health Insurers Questions Viability of Connecticut Partnership Plan
Members of Connecticut’s Health Care Future, a coalition of health insurers, hospitals, and businesses, are questioning whether Connecticut lawmakers have done enough this year to protect teachers and municipal employees from increases in health insurance premiums. “Despite repeated bailouts from taxpayers, the Connecticut Partnership Plan continues to be a fiscal Titanic that demonstrates why government-controlled health…
Keep reading
AG’s Tackle Mental Health Parity
Attorneys General in Connecticut and Rhode Island threw their support Monday behind a coalition of mental health advocacy groups asking a federal appeals court to revisit a recent ruling giving insurance companies more flexibility to deny mental health claims.
Keep reading
Budget Green Lights Psychedelic Therapies
Buried in the budget Gov. Ned Lamont signed this week is a provision that would create a pilot program to allow Connecticut to be the first-in-the-nation to study the impact of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA on patients with depression and PTSD. The budget now creates a pilot program within the Department of Mental…
Keep reading
Officials Highlight Effort To Boost Mental Health Services For Kids
At a Hartford-based community provider Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont and a handful of his agency commissioners highlighted the expected impact of more than $100 million in recently passed funding aimed at increasing behavioral health services for Connecticut children. The governor appeared at The Village for Families and Children, a recipient of new state funding included…
Keep readingMore Labor News

Lamont Inks New Employment Law Backed By Unions
In a victory for state labor unions, Gov. Ned Lamont ignored a lobbying effort by business organizations and signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to potentially discourage workers from unionizing.
Keep reading
States With The Largest Unionized Workforces
Where does Connecticut stand in the list of states with the most unionized employees?
Keep reading
Business Leaders Make Push To Veto Captive Audience Bill
Connecticut business leaders are leaning on Gov. Ned Lamont to veto a bill that would restrict what employers can say in the workplace. The bill, which has been a priority of labor unions for years, is being described by business owners as an unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free…
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
‘Captive Audience’ Bill Headed To Governor’s Desk
Legislation prohibiting Connecticut employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to discourage workers from organizing received final approval in the House late Friday despite Republican arguments it was preempted by federal law. The bill passed in a 88 to 56 vote, generally along party lines. Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting against it.…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading