Key virus metrics continue to decline
State sees lowest weekly positivity rate since Oct.
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline in Connecticut, state numbers show, with most metrics returning to levels recorded last fall.
Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday announced 2,233 new COVID-19 cases out of 86,401 tests, for a positivity rate of 2.6%. The state’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 2.4%, down from above 7% in mid-January and the lowest it has been since late October.
Lamont noted that similarly encouraging trends have persisted “across our region and across the country.”
“So that’s something we’re positive about,” he said.
Connecticut currently has 500 people hospitalized with COVID-19, as of Monday’s report, down35 from Friday and a reduction of more than 60% from a high of 1,269 in mid-December.
Jeff Flaks, CEOof Hartford HealthCare, said the health system has seen a decline recently in testing demand, which likely means fewer people showing symptoms.
“I consider that almost a leading indicator in our community,” Flaks said, noting hopeful trends across Hartford HealthCare’s COVID-19 metrics.
The state on Monday announced 39
coronavirus-linked deaths since Friday, making 115 in the past week — fewest over any sevenday period since November.
Connecticut has nowreported 7,562 total COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic, while the United States as a whole has reported 499,779, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Experts say the recent declines in COVID-19 numbers in Connecticut and nationwide likely owe to a combination of factors including vaccination, immunity stemming from infection and the behavior of residents.
Connecticut ranks among the national leaders in vaccine distribution, with about 16.7% of state residents having received on dose and 7.8% having received both required doses. In total, the state has nowadministered more than 880,000 vaccine doses.
About 70% of all residents 75 and older and 37% of all residents 65 and older have received their first dose, Lamont said Monday.
“We still are doing a very good job as a state, compared to our peers, in getting people vaccinated,” Lamont said.
Vaccine supply has increased gradually in recent weeks, and officials said Monday they expect it to surge in the coming weeks and months, allowing much faster vaccination across the state.