Hospitals continue to fill up
State’s 51 COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday were most in a single day since the end of May
Connecticut ’s coronavirus outbreak intensified again Wednesday, as the state reported 51 deaths linked to COVID-19 — its most in a day in more than six months.
Coronavirus-linked deaths have spiked recently, following similar increases in cases and hospitalizations. The state has now recorded 165 coronavirus-linked deaths over the past week, more than in any seven-day period since early June, and 5,091 total during the pandemic.
The 51 deaths reported Wednesday were Connecticut’s most in a single day since May 22.
The United States has now seen 272,552 deaths linked to COVID19 this year, according to the Coronavirus Research Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Connecticut currently has 1,202 patients hospitalized with COVID19, up 50 from Tuesday.
As hospitalizations creep toward the state’s spring peak of nearly 2,000, hospital officials have said they’re prepared to reallocate staff and assemble auxiliary treatment sites to ensure adequate capacity.
The state on Wednesday reported 2,672 new COVID-19 cases out of 41,001 tests, for a rate of 6.5%, the highest single-day figure in nearly two weeks. Connecticut’s seven-day positivity rate stands at 5%, up slightly in recent days after dipping in late November.
“I don’t govern by fiat. If I say close the restaurants tomorrow, it’s not like everybody goes home and sits with the TV dinner on their lap. This takes persuasion and people understanding what you’re trying to do and why you’re trying to do it.” Gov. Ned Lamont, who said Wednesday he doesn’t want to impose new restrictions
Wastewater testing from Yale University’s Environmental Engineering Program suggests the Bridgeport area currently has higher levels of COVID-19 infection than other regions of Connecticut, with Stamford, New Haven and Hartford heavily affected as well and New London and Norwich in slightly better shape.
Though the wastewater data, produced by analyzing samples at wastewater facilities across the state, typically anticipates COVID-19 spikes before they show up in the state’s numbers, one researcher said it’s still be too early to see the effect of last week’s Thanksgiving gatherings.
“I would say think about seeing it this weekend,” Yale professor of environment engineering Jordan Peccia said Wednesday. “Certainly probably by early next week we might be seeing it.”
Experts have predicted that Connecticut is likely to see some increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations after Thanksgiving, potentially compounding a surge that has gained momentum over more than two months.
A day after meeting with a group of front-line doctors who have lobbied publicly for increased restrictions to control
COVID-19, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday he still doesn’t want to impose new rules, such as clos
ing restaurants and gyms.
“From my side I said, I don’t govern by fiat,” he said at an event in Manchester. “If I say close the restaurants tomorrow, it’s not like everybody goes home and sits with the TV dinner on their lap. This takes persuasion and people understanding what you’re trying to do and why you’re trying to do it.”
The doctors had called for a pause on gyms and indoor dining to help alleviate pressure on local hospitals. An initial letter to Lamont, which originally included several dozen signatories, has evolved into a petition with more than 500 names.
Lamont has repeatedly said hospitalizations will be the key metric in determining if or when to reimpose further restrictions but has declined to offer a specific threshold.
“I’ve got to do everything I can to make sure that our hospitals and ICU’s and nurses and docs aren’t overwhelmed,” he said Wednesday.
“I’ve seen hospital systems get overwhelmed in other parts of the country, not to mention Italy and other parts of the world. That’s my key metric.”