Colorado’s 370 recovered coronavirus patients released from UCHealth

More than 370 novel coronavirus patients have recovered and have been discharged from UCHealth’s Colorado hospitals, while around 250 remain hospitalized, the health system announced Tuesday.

The numbers offer the first glimpse into recovery numbers from Colorado hospitals, as the state health department has thus far been unable to release those figures. Some counties, such as Boulder, have been releasing recovery information.

On Monday, Gov. Jared Polis said he expects statewide recovery data to be available sometime this week.

The recovered patients from UCHealth hospitals include nearly 200 in metro Denver, 120 in northern Colorado and 50 in the southern part of the state.

UCHealth has tested more than 10,500 people for COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory illness caused by the virus, and recently expanded testing for first responders and other health care workers, a news release said.

“We celebrate each and every time one of our patients recovers,” Jessica Yoo, a nurse and house supervisor at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, said in the news release. “Seeing patients go home and be reunited with their loved ones gives us renewed energy and optimism.”

The number of hospitalizations in Colorado remain near record highs, but top hospital officials are seeing some positive trends in terms of slowing the new coronavirus’s spread, Dr. Richard Zane, UCHealth chief innovation officer and emergency services executive director, said in a statement.

“The rate of increase of new cases has slowed, and our number of hospitalized patients is growing more slowly, but it is essential that Coloradans continue to practice social distancing,” Zane said. “The minute we let up, we will likely see cases spike again.”

Hospital officials pointed to Hakan Karan, a Colorado Springs man, as an example of the recovery stories happening across the state. Karan was admitted on March 25 and spent a week on a ventilator. On April 10, he was released and able to go home.

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