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Westerly Hospital has seen a marked increase in COVID-19 cases this week, with the number of patients treated for the disease reaching 15 on Thursday before dropping to 13 on Friday.
As of Monday, the hospital had six COVID-19 patients.
No doctor at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London – Westerly’s sister facility – was available to discuss the figures on Friday afternoon, although a spokesperson for L + M said the number of COVID patients -19 in hospitals in the Yale New Haven health system had fluctuated due to the delta variant, which now accounts for the vast majority of new coronavirus cases.
L + M reported on Friday that it had six COVID-19 patients, its smallest number in more than two weeks. Its patient count has steadily declined from a recent high of 15 on August 25.
In each of its last two weekly reporting periods, the most recent ending August 28, the Ledge Light Health District, which covers nine municipalities in southern New London County, has reported a drop in the number of new cases of COVID-19.
According to state totals released Friday, 665 new cases of coronavirus disease have been detected since the day before out of 24,349 test results, for a one-day positivity rate of 2.73%. Hospitalizations had increased from eight to 365.
The Westerly Education Center, noting that coronavirus transmission rates in Rhode Island are high due to the prevalence of the delta variant, announced Friday that it has scheduled three vaccination clinics at its 23 Friendship St. site.
The clinics, sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Health, City of Westerly and Westerly Public Schools, will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. next Tuesday; Tuesday September 28; and Tuesday, October 19.
Vaccines are free and accessible to the public. People 12 years of age and older are eligible for inoculation, as are those who are fully vaccinated and eligible for a booster dose.
Beth Bailey, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Post-Secondary Education Commissioner’s Office, said the clinics were primarily for people entering the workforce or college. With the end of federal unemployment programs and the return to work, many may need to be vaccinated as a condition of employment, she said.
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