Connecticut reaches highest number of virus tests reported in one day.

13,985 COVID-19 tests reported, only 305 came back positive

Connecticut reached its highest one-day total for COVID-19 testing, with 13,985 tests reported, according to data released by the office of Gov. Ned Lamont on Saturday.

Of the nearly 14,000 tests, only 305 tests — about 2.2 percent — came back positive for the virus, putting the state’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic at 44,994.

“Seeing these testing numbers shows how we’ve been successful during a pandemic, with limited federal support, to ramp up testing capacity and infrastructure to better understand and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus,” said Max Reiss, Lamont’s director of communications.

There were another 27 deaths linked to the virus, with the state’s total now at 4,186.

Hospitalizations continue to decline, with another 11 patients released from hospitals in Connecticut. That leaves just 233 current virus patients hospitalized across the state.

The 13,985 tests comes at a time when the state has been trying to increase the number of people tested ahead of the launch of Phase 2 of the reopening on Wednesday. The average number of daily tests reported in June, including Saturday, has been 6,919 — a rate of about 48,000 per week.

For all of June, the average has been 2.7 percent. That compares with 5.1 percent over the last month, since May 12, including the 12 reported days of June. For all of May, the reported positives were 8.8 percent of all tests. And for the duration of the crisis in Connecticut, the average has been 13.1 percent positive.

Lamont said last month he would like to see Connecticut test as many as 100,000 people per week by Phase 2. But on Thursday, he and other state officials said that number is no longer the target, as a result of revised guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention and a lower number of positive tests in Connecticut.

In Phase 2, Connecticut restaurants are given the green light to reopen indoor dining. Also allowed to reopen are gyms, movie theaters, hotels, nail salons, tattoo shops, pools, social clubs and formal events, including weddings. There will be guidelines in place in terms of social distancing and capacity.

As reopening progresses, the state is also focused on ways to help those left jobless by the pandemic.

Since the virus hit Connecticut, the state has received more than 600,000 applications for unemployment insurance.

On Thursday, Lamont announced a multi-prong approach to retrain and hire workers as the state’s economy reopens, including the CT Back to Work Initiative, which will include free online training services and a virtual jobs fair next week through Indeed.com.

“Think of this as a chance to restart,” Lamont said Thursday. “Here’s an opportunity, at no cost to you, to take advantage of the time you’ve got and see where your skills and dreams can take you. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste, and I hope this gives you a bit of an opportunity.”