Variants cited as positivity rate rises

Weekly figure reaches highest level in months as hospitalizations up

Connecticut’s seven- day COVID-19 positivity rate hit its highest level in two months Friday, as more contagious variants continue to spread through the state.

Gov. Ned Lamont reported 1,542 new COVID-19 cases out of 44,111 tests Friday, for a positivity rate of 3.5%. Though that figure is down from other days this week, it increased Connecticut’s sevenday rate to 3.9%, the highest since Feb. 2.

The state’s recent increase in COVID-19 positivity rate corresponds with an increase in both cases and hospitalizations. As of Friday, Connecticut had 499 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus, up seven from Thursday and up more than 100 from mid-March.

Connecticut currently ranks fourth among states in recent COVID-19 cases per capita and eighth in current hospitalizations per capita.

Experts say these trends, which come even as more and more Connecticut residents are vaccinated against COVID-19, likely owe to the spread of highly contagious variants. According to numbers released Thursday, Connecticut has recorded 469 cases of the B117 variant, first detected in the United Kingdom, 90 cases of a variant of concern first detected in California and 88 cases of a variant of interest first detected in New York.

Researchers say those counts capture only a fraction of the true totals. According to a team

at the Yale School of Public Health, the B117 variant accounted for 37.4% of the cases sequenced last week, while the NewYork variant, B1526, accounted for 31.5%.

Despite increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, coronavirus-linked deaths in Connecticut have continued to decrease recently, likely due to high vaccination rates among older residents. The state reported four additional deaths Friday, bringing its total to 7,904 during the pandemic.

The United States has recorded 553,214 COVID19 deaths, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Connecticut continues to rank among the national leaders in COVID-19 vaccination, with 36% of residents having received one dose and 21% having been fully vaccinated. Still, the state has struggled with disparities in vaccine distribution: White residents remain far more likely to have been vaccinated than other groups, while major cities continue to have much lower rates of vaccination than most suburban and rural towns, according to data released Thursday.