409 new coronavirus cases; 3.4% positivity rate

Here are the most important things to know about the coronavirus in Connecticut:

CT reports 17 new hospitalizations, decrease in positivity rate

The state announced 490 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, nine more deaths and 17 new hospitalizations. The positivity rate has decreased to 3.4 percent from the previous high of 4.1 percent announced Tuesday.

New cases in Bridgeport have doubled, on average

In the last three days Bridgeport’s seven-day rolling average of new cases has nearly doubled, according to a CT Insider analysis of state data. The average of 40 new cases is the highest it has been in months. Bridgeport’s rise in cases mirrors the overall surge in the state.

Long-term exposure to air pollution tied to deaths: report

A study from the journal Cardiovascular Research found that long-term exposure to air pollution may be linked to 15 percent of COVID-19 deaths globally, as Aljazeera reported. Evidence suggests that in East Asia 27 percent of COVID-19 deaths could be tied to effects of poor air quality.

The deaths linked to COVID-19 and air pollution presented a “potentially avoidable, excess mortality,” researchers said.

Study: Some antibodies attack body instead of virus

Some antibodies produced during a COVID-19 infection attack the body, as opposed to the virus, according to a study published by MicroB-plex, Inc. last week. Some patients’ bodies are producing socalled “autoantibodies,” which happens with diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The research may be helpful in understanding “in the increasingly documented cases of ‘lingering’ COVID-19,” researchers wrote.

Flu shots may help prevent infections, research suggests

A flu shot might help prevent a COVID infection according to new research. The research is preliminary, but scientists at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that health care workers who had received a flu shot were 39 percent less likely to test positive for COVID-19, as Scientific American reported. As of June 1, 2.23 percent of the health care workers studied who did not get vaccinated against the flu tested positive while 1.33 percent of those who got a flu shot tested positive for COVID.