Hospitalizations below 500; positivity rate still around 2%

Connecticut on Friday reported that its positive coronavirus test rate remained around 2% for a second consecutive day, as a decline in coronavirus hospitalizations brought the number below 500 for the first time in about a week and a half.

The state reported 1,062 newly identified coronavirus cases out of a total of 46,768 tests administered, for a daily positivity rate of 2.3%. That’s the second day that the state’s positivity rate has been at approximately that level, after Connecticut reported a rate of 2% on Thursday.

The state’s weekly positivity rate, a more stable metric, has also dipped slightly in recent days. On Friday, the weekly rate hit 3%, returning Connecticut to the levels it saw in mid-March.

Also on Friday, the state reported that its coronavirus hospitalizations dipped by 19, for a total of 486 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

But while hospitalizations and positivity showed promising signs, thestate still reportedfiveadditional coronavirus-linked deaths. The state has reported a total of 7,995 coronavirus-linked deaths since the pandemic began — meaning Connecticut is likely to pass another grim milestone in the coming days.

Also since the pandemic began, the state has seen 329,062 coronavirus cases. Nationwide, there have been more than 31.5 million coronavirus cases and a total of 565,986 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Researchers estimate variants make up majority of Connecticut’s coronavirus cases: The state of Connecticut has formally identified 945 cases of the B117 strain of COVID-19, which was first identified in the UK. But according to researchers at the Yale School of Public Health, that strain now makes up more than half of the cases they sequenced.

The B117 strain is more transmissible than other strains of the virus, meaning that it spreads more easily, and may cause more severe illness, according to the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the coronavirus vaccines still protect against this strain.

At a Thursday briefing, Gov. Ned Lamont emphasized that vaccines will provide protection from the B117 strain.

“The B117 — the bad news is it’s highly infectious, so while wehave over half of our population has been vaccinated, it’s still spreading fast in the other half of the population,” Lamont said. “The good

The incident came just hours after a drive-by shooting near 182 Nelson St., just blocksaway, that tookthelife