Lamont: State’s COVID positivity rate reaches ‘staggering’ 8.98%
Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday described the state’s daily COVID positivity rate of nearly 9 percent as “staggering” as infections circulate widely through the state and omicron continues take hold.
According to the state’s data, 6,000 new COVID cases were found among 66,803 tests — one of the highest daily test numbers in months — for a positivity rate of 8.98 percent. There were three fewer hospitalizations for a total of 834.
Lamont said the infection rate was the highest the state had seen since it started “significant testing” in the last year. However, state data shows the rate was 10.72 percent on Jan. 11. But the state’s seven-day average of 7.52 percent is the highest since broad testing efforts were launched.
Lamont acknowledged there may be questions about why the infection rate is so high considering the high rate of vaccinations in Connecticut. However, he cautioned: “You are not really vaccinated until you’ve got your third shot, especially for folks 35, 45 and above.”
The governor stressed that while 9 percent is a “staggering number,” the state has the means to keep people safe.
“More importantly, you have the means to keep yourself safe,” he said. “That starts with getting the booster. That starts with wearing the mask when you are in a very congested public venue.”
While the positivity rate is just one metric, it should carry weight, according to Dr. David Banach, an epidemiologist at
UConn Health.
“Positivity is a metric that we should follow. It is not the only metric, but it is one that helps us gauge roughly how much virus is being transmitted in the community, as well as how much testing is being performed, too,” Banach said.
Variants, including delta and omicron, have been driving up the positivity rate, creating a “perfect storm,” according to Lamont.
"We've had (high levels) of delta coming down from the North — you saw Vermont and New Hampshire ... omicron coming up from the South,” Lamont said. “New York has a higher infection rate right now and Jersey is higher still, and I'm afraid Connecticut's in the middle."
Nathan Grubaugh, a researcher at the Yale School of Public Health spearheading the state’s variant surveillance, said omicron has become the dominant strain among outpatients at Yale New Haven Health.
“Our data do not represent all of Connecticut, but I expect that if omicron is
not dominant yet statewide, it will be within days. I'm still shocked that a variant that I first learned about on Thanksgiving (11/25) will likely be dominant in CT by Christmas (12/25),” Grubaugh said on Twitter.
He estimated that the omicron variant was doubling every 3.5 days, twice as fast as the delta strain did earlier in the year.
Lamont said he planned to continue monitoring New York and New Jersey and would take action to tighten the state's protocols if the metrics continue to rise.
While Lamont remains steadfast in not enacting a broad indoor mask mandate,
some Connecticut municipalities have reinstated their own local mandates, including Stamford, where face coverings are again required indoors as of Tuesday night.
While daily testing is on the rise, state officials said Monday they plan to increase availability by opening more sites and extending hours for state-run facilities.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced the federal government will buy 500 million at-home test kits that would be given out to the American people.