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Colorado COVID Survivor Has A Reminder To 'Be Careful' As Hospitalizations Rise Rapidly

DENVER (CBS4) - State leaders warn of a rapid rise in the number of Coloradans in hospitals with COVID-19. At least 417 people are hospitalized with confirmed cases in the state. That's the most since May 23. If the trend holds, health officials worry the numbers could go higher.

hospitalizations
(credit: CBS)

On a positive note, more people are surviving COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Daily deaths have remained in the single digits for months. April 22 was Colorado's worst day with 38 deaths due to coronavirus.

deaths
(credit: CBS)

Clarence Troutman is still on the road to recovery after contracting COVID-19 back in March. He was hospitalized at UCHealth. 
 
"I was in there for 58 days," Troutman said. "This is real." 
 

Clarence Troutman in the hospital
(credit: CBS)

He was hospitalized at UCHealth for months, and spent most of it in a coma. 
 
"I thought, initially, it was a really bad cold or flu, and it got progressively worse to the point where I just couldn't breathe and I had a horrible fever. By the first week of April I ended up in the emergency room," Troutman told CBS4's Andrea Flores. "Initially, I was really upset, I cried a little while, thinking I lost 29 or 30 days of my life."
 
UCHealth Medical Director of Infection Prevention Doctor Michelle Barron says hospital treatment has evolved since the start of the pandemic. 
 
"We know how to manage these patients. We did some things early on that we just wouldn't have thought of doing, like making people lie on their bellies, even if they weren't necessarily requiring oxygen yet, intubating them sooner, using some of the medications we have access to, didn't exist at that time," said Dr. Barron. 
 
Doctors are tracking their symptoms and finding ways to treat COVID19. 
 
"One of the things we recognized is how quickly someone can get sick, we also know that initially you may do better and then you can relapse, and so we have things in place to keep an eye on people," Dr. Barron said. 
 
With hospitalizations on the rise, Clarence hopes his survival serves as a reminder. 
 
"Be careful, because I don't wish this on anybody," he said. 

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