State’s COVID-19 daily positivity rate still above 3%

With a little over a week until the state begins a rollback in pandemic restrictions, Connecticut’s COVID-19 positivity rate surpassed 3 percent for the second straight day on Wednesday.

The daily positivity rate Wednesday sat at 3.07 percent, down slightly from the 3.86 percent reported the previous day, but still among the highest registered in the past two weeks.

The bump in new infections comes as the state readies to ease many of its COVID-19 restrictions starting March 19 when capacity limits will be lifted at restaurants, houses of worship, gyms and other businesses while gathering sizes will also be allowed to increase.

People will still need to wear masks and maintain social distancing under the eased restrictions, leading some business and religious leaders to say the new guidelines likely won’t

allow them to greatly increase the number of people allowed inside.

While state officials say they are confident it is safe to lift restrictions, some are concerned it may be coming too quickly.

Dr. Luke Davis, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, said that while it’s too early to make predictions based on the short-term metrics, he is worried that opening restaurants and other indoor venues too soon could lead to another spike in cases.

“Even among older adults, we are nowhere near herd immunity, especially in socially vulnerable communities,” Davis said Wednesday.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said fully vaccinated people can safely gather in small groups without masks or social-distancing, Davis said that can’t yet be extended to the general population.

“I would prefer to see the state and the private sector using proof of vaccination as an incentive to be allowed to gather in public instead of just granting the right to gather as a blank check to everyone,” Davis said.

This comes as Connecticut reported its first known COVID-related death involving the B.1.1.7 variant, a strain originally identified in the UK and thought to be more contagious. Research has shown the variant could be between 30 and 70 percent more deadly, Forbes reported last month.

“We’ve already seen elsewhere that these variants can mutate rapidly when transmission gets out of control,” Davis warned. “If that happens before a large proportion of individuals attain the full immunity that comes with two shots, we could definitely see vaccineresistant mutations, and that would be a terrible setback.”

Health officials recorded 512 new COVID cases statewide on Wednesday. The new cases were found in 16,696 new tests, lower than the daily average of tests Connecticut health officials have recorded in recent weeks.

“Connecticut is seeing a similar trend as other states with some reductions in total numbers of tests administered,” said Max Reiss, a spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont’s office. “With tens of thousands of people getting vaccinated each day, our state is moving very quickly to ensure as many people are protected from COVID-19 as we can.”

Davis said the decreased testing numbers could impact the positivity rate.

“That may lead to an increase in test positivity, because those who test positive are likely to continue to test at the same rates, even as those who would have tested negative (e.g. asymptomatic testers, vaccinated individuals) do less testing,” Davis said.

The number of patients hospitalized Wednesday with the virus in Connecticut fell to 390, after a slight increase the previous day. The hospitalizations are now the lowest since Nov. 3, according to state data.

Thirteen more deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported Wednesday, bringing Connecticut’s official death toll to 7,752.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package Wednesday, clearing the measure to go to President Joe Biden’s desk this week.

The package includes $1,400 checks for most Americans, expanded unemployment benefits of $300 a week through early September, as well as money for state and local government.

The stimulus package also earmarks billions of dollars for vaccine production and distribution, funding seen as key to the continued effort to inoculate adults in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Lamont called the measure a “game-changer” for the state and nation in a statement released shortly after it cleared the House.

“President Biden pledged to all Americans that his administration would meet the challenge of this pandemic head-on using every tool at the U.S. government’s disposal,” Lamont said in the statement. “This legislation is a tremendous step in fulfilling that promise.”