Over the course of three days, hospitalizations fell by nearly 100, from 602 Wednesday to 508 Saturday. Thursday’s 545 patients marked the first drop below 600 since late December. However, four more people were hospitalized Friday.
The 41 fewer patients Saturday accompanied drops in ventilator usage and intensive care patients.
Friday saw 10 new intensive care patients, the first increase after 18 days on the decline. Saturday saw seven fewer than Friday for a total of 168.
The number of patients on ventilators fell for the 12th consecutive day, with 79 Saturday, five fewer than Friday, according to Health Department data.
Despite the positive trends, the department recorded 40 deaths from covid-19 Saturday, twice the number of new deaths recorded a week earlier, for a total of 10,465 since March 2020.