Nine more omicron cases reported

Hospitalizations have nearly tripled since end of October as weekly positivity rate climbs to 6.19%

As Connecticut’s COVID-19 numbers continue to spike, and nine new cases of the omicron variant identified Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont said he has no plans for a new statewide mask mandate such as the one announced Friday by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Instead, Lamont touted a “digital health card” he plans to unveil in the coming weeks, which would let local businesses easily identify who is and isn’t vaccinated and set rules accordingly.

“What I want to do is get that digital health card [and] make it available to every single business, restaurant, store,” the governor said. “Let them make the right decision in terms of allowing people into their facility. Letting them have the information [that] if a person’s unvaccinated, they’ve got to wear a mask. I don’t think we need more mandates than that.”

Cases and positivity rate: Connecticut reported 3,280 new COVID-19 cases Friday out of 53,948 tests, for a daily positivity rate of 6.08%. The state’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 6.19%, its highest level since mid-january.

The 3,280 cases Connecticut reported Friday were its most in a single day since Jan. 13. The state’s seven day average of new cases stands at 2,021, highest since late January.

The nine additional cases of the omicron variant reported Friday bring the state’s total to 11. Researchers say the new strain is considerably more transmissible than the delta variant, which remains dominant in Connecticut for now.

All eight Connecticut counties — as well as the rest of those in the

Northeast region — are currently recording “high” levels of COVID19 transmission as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With this level of transmission, the CDC advises people to wear a mask in public indoor settings.

Hospitalizations: As of Wednesday, Connecticut has 585 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, up nine from Thursday and the most

at a time since Feb. 16.

Hospitalizations have now nearly tripled since the end of October.

According to the state, 76.9% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Hospital officials say the rate is even higher when looking specifically at people with severe symptoms.

Deaths: Connecticut reports COVID-19 deaths on Thursdays. This week, the state recorded 37 deaths, bringing its total during the pandemic to 8,946.

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have surged in Connecticut over recent weeks, deaths have risen slightly but still remain far below the levels recorded last winter.

The United States has now recorded 795,298 deaths related to COVID-19, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Vaccinations: As of Wednesday, 85.5% of all Connecticut residents and 95% of those 12 and older had received at least one COVID19 vaccine dose, while 73.1% of all residents and 82.9% of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Additionally, about 30.8% of fully vaccinated Connecticut residents 18 or older have received a booster dose.

The CDC warns that booster shots are sometimes misclassified as first doses, likely inflating the reported number of first-dose coverage and understating the true number of people who have received boosters.