COVID deaths top 4,600 in Conn.

State reports 490 new cases

The death toll attributed to COVID-19 in Connecticut topped 4,600 on Wednesday, as state health officials reported 490 new cases of the disease.

Nine more deaths brought the state’s cumulative death toll to 4,604 since the start of the pandemic.

On average, the entire state is now a red alert zone under the governor’s color-coded system to show the level of new coronavirus infections in each municipality.

On Wednesday, Connecticut’s new case average per 100,000 people rose to 17, up from 16.5 the day before.

On Tuesday, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office noted that New Jersey and Rhode Island both now meet the criteria to be added to Connecticut’s travel advisory list — but that both would not be added due to their “interconnected” nature with commuters.

That came as Rhode Island’s governor warned that state could meet its own metrics to roll back its reopening plans within the next week or two, the Associated Press reported.

The new cases in Connecticut on Wednesday were found in 14,305 new tests for a daily positivity rate of 3.4 percent— down

from a daily rate of 4.1 percent the day before.

Across a seven-day average, the figure rose to just under 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent on Tuesday.

The number of patients hospitalized for the virus rose by 17, with 309 patients now hospitalized with the disease.

In Europe, France and Germany also announced a second round of lockdowns Wednesday amid surging cases in both countries, the Associated Press reported.

Wednesday’s uptick in Connecticut came as New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the city is preparing to take action later in the week, after tests of fecal matter from a local sewage plant showed a surge in the virus.

“We have been following the wastewater numbers and other COVID indicators closely and are very concerned about the uptick,” Elicker said. “We have been having meetings this week and anticipate some actions later this week in response to the increase in cases in the region.”

Wastewater is used as an early warning sign for COVID-19 outbreaks, as those infected shedSARSCoV-2 RNA through fecal matter. The technique is also being used by the University of Connecticut.

In Bridgeport, officials announced the communicable disease clinic would close for two weeks after two city employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Contact tracing is being conducted and state and local health agencies nearby are providing continuity of care for patients of the clinic said Scott Appleby, the city’s director of emergency management.

Also on Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced he would allocate $ 15 million in funding from the federal CARES Act to fund workforce programs for more than 1,000 workers.

The money will go to 19 programs that aim to train and give employment opportunities to 1,100 participants. Many of the programs are focused on jobs in health care, information technology and manufacturing industries.

“This pandemic has drastically impacted the lives and livelihood of so many people in our state, and these workforce development programs are being expanded so that we can provide displaced workers with the skills needed to match them with in-demand jobs,” Lamont said in a prepared statement.