Connecticut reports 12 deaths, lower test rates

Connecticut has so far avoided any sign of a second spike even as other states see increases in coronavirus cases.

The state Department of Public Health on Friday reported 12 new fatalities in the pandemic, bringing the statewide total to 4,238 since the first death occurred on March 17.

The department also reported a net reduction of four hospitalizations, for a total of 172 patients, the lowest hospital census statewide since March 26.

Of the 7,293 tests, 117 people were found to have COVID-19, for a 1.6 percent rate. The rate, a crucial measure of the prevalence of the disease, has been under 2 percent for three consecutive days and four of the last six days.

The rate is 2.3 percent for all of June, down from 8.8 percent in May. Overall, 45,557 positive tests have occurred among the 377,931 total tests in the state, a rate of 12 percent.

The state Department of Labor reported Friday it had received 635,772 applications for unemployment benefits since March 13, and had processed 617,296 of them. “Claims processing time is now down to one to two weeks from about six weeks during the height of the pandemic,” the department said in a release.

Since the crisis began, the department said it had disbursed $900 million in state unemployment benefits; plus $1.76 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, the $600 additional weekly benefit that expires in the last week of July; plus $113 million in benefits from other federal programs in the pandemic.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo An ambulance at Stamford Hospital.