Another county reaches ‘high’ transmission

Connecticut continues to record its highest levels of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations since the spring, as three of the state’s eight counties now meet the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s threshold for “high” coronavirus transmission.

Though Connecticut’s COVID19 numbers have not spiked as dramatically as those in some other regions, the state has seen a steady increase in transmission since early July due to the highly contagious delta variant.

New London County on Tuesday became the third Connecticut county to surpass 100 weekly cases per 100,000 residents, joining Hartford and New Haven Counties in the CDC’S “high transmission” category.

The CDC labels the level of community transmission in a county — based on the number of cases per 100,000 people or the positivity level — as low, moderate, substantial or high.

High transmission is 100 or more cases per 100,000 people or a positivity rate of 10% or higher.

Cases, positivity rate

Connecticut on Tuesday reported 275 new COVID-19 cases out of 9,637 tests, for a positivity rate of 2.85%. The state’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 3.22%, up slightly from Monday and the highest it has been since April 15.

Connecticut has averaged 475 daily cases over the past week, matching Monday for the most in a seven-day period since mid-may.

Hospitalizations

The state currently has 219 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, up 11 from Monday and most at a time since May 13. Hospitalizations have increased steadily over the past month, from a low of 25 on July 9 to more than 200 currently.

Hospital officials say the majority of those with serious cases of COVID-19 have not been vaccinated. New Haven County has the most hospitalizations with 69 people, followed by Fairfield County at 66 and Hartford County at 55.

Vaccinations

As of Tuesday, 71.1% of all Connecticut residents and 81.5% of those 12 and older have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 64% of all residents and 73.4% of those 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Deaths

The state reports the number of deaths due to COVID-19 on Thursdays. As of last week, there have been 8,296 Covid-related deaths in Connecticut. The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday that there have been 618,004 fatalities in the U.S. due to COVID-19.