Daily cases reach new high
Positivity rate spikes again as outbreak intensifies; Branford lab develops new self-given saliva test
Connecticut set a record Friday for most COVID-19 cases recorded in a single day, as the state’s positivity rate spiked once again.
Gov. Ned Lamont reported there were 2,746 cases on 43,078 tests, for a rate of 6.4%. That influx of infections brings the state’s sevenday positivity rate to 4.9%, the highest over a weeklong period since June 1.
Friday marked only the second time during the pandemic that Connecticut reported more than 2,000 tests in a single day — the other time having come in late April. The unusually high number of recorded infections owes partly to a large amount of testing but also to the rampant spread of COVID19 through the state in recent weeks, as positivity has increased along with hospitalizations and deaths.
As Connecticut’s outbreak has intensified, Lamont has said he hopes to avoid widespread closures of businesses and schools but has not ruled out increased restrictions.
“I think we’re finding that workplace, stores, we can manage those and keep them open safely,” Lamont said Thursday. “[But] as the spread moves more to the
community, it may impact some of those places that were not spreaders before. We’re watching that very carefully.”
Connecticut now has 659 patients hospitalized with COVID19, up 42 from Thursday and the most at a time since May 27. Additionally, Lamont announced 11 more virus-linked deaths Friday, bringing its total to 4,737 during the pandemic. Thestate has already recorded more deaths in November than it did in all of October and far more than in August or September.
Thenation has now seen 243,044 COVID-19 deaths, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Local health officials who oversee contact tracing said Friday that COVID-19 has often spread at small events, even those that don’t violate the new 10-person limit on private gatherings.
“The social gatherings that people have at their own homes, smaller social gatherings, seem to be the biggest problem right now,” said Russell Melmed, director of a health district that includes six town sin southeastern Connecticut .“And what we hear for the most part is that when people are attending those private social gatherings, they are not standing or sitting 6feet away from others, and oftentimes they are not vigilant about wearing masks.”
Even outdoor gatherings carry some risk. Liany Arroyo, health director in Hartford, mentioned an instance of spread at a child’s outdoor birthday party, when not everyone was wearing masks.
“People do think that it’s safer when you’re outside, and there’s some truth to that, but you still have to keep distance in order for it to be safer outside.”
According to information obtained by The Courant, restaurants and other workplaces have accounted for the most recorded COVID-19 clusters in Connecticut since August, followed by gatherings at private homes, such as barbecues or graduation parties.
Both Melmed and Arroyo said people often let down their guard around family, as though they’re less likely to get COVID-19 from someone they’re related to.
“And it’s just quite the opposite,” Melmed said. “The people who you know and love and trust who come to your home and spend time with you in that setting are far more likely to transmit the virus to you than the person you’re standing 6 feet behind in the grocery store.”
State lab introduces new saliva test
Branford-based Wren Laboratories announced this week it has been granted an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a new self-administered virus saliva test.
Wren Laboratories claims its test is accurate in greater than 99% of cases, higher than other available tests. The FDA has authorized a number of similar at-home COVID19 tests, which pitch themselves as more comfortable and convenient than visiting a testing site.
“You don’t want to go to the doctor. You don’t want to go to the hospital. It’s a waste of time,” said Dr. Irvin Modlin, Wren Laboratories medical and scientific consultant. “If you can do everything in your living room just by spitting some saliva into a tube, this is the perfect solution to wasting your time and ensuring your good health.”
Individuals may order the Wren Laboratories test, which costs $150, through the lab’s website. The lab will mail a testing kit overnight, after which a patient may spit into a tube and send back the sample to be processed. Results will be available online within a few hours after they’re received.