Data: COVID deaths rise sharply
State’s daily positivity rate surges to over 9 %
Connecticut residents head into the holidays as the state is grappling with the worst wave of COVID-19 infections in nearly a year with deaths jumping for the first time in weeks amid a steady rise in the infection rate.
On Thursday, the state reported 75 new COVID deaths in the past week, up nearly 20 from the previous week and more than 30 a week compared to earlier this month. Deaths, which are among the metrics closely followed by public health officials, have been
described as a lagging indicator during the pandemic, often the last number to rise during a wave.
The jump in deaths also comes as the state’s daily infection rate hit a new recent high of 9.02 percent on Thursday with 3,416 new cases found among 37,853 tests, the data shows. The state’s seven-day average for the positivity rate now tops 8 percent, which remains the highest since broad testing started in Connecticut.
Hospitalizations, which have risen sharply this month, increased by a net of 16 patients for a total of 837. While the positivity rate rivals what was seen last year, hospitalizations are still about 400 less than last year’s peak in December.
Despite surging COVID-19 metrics, Gov. Ned Lamont remains resistant to reinstating broad mandates meant to limit the spread of the virus, like universal mask requirements or limiting social gatherings.
As of Thursday, all but a few Connecticut municipalities were considered to be in the “red zone,” meaning they had a daily average rate of 15 or more cases per 100,000 people over a twoweek period. While Lamont has not issued a broad mask mandate, some local leaders have reinstated the requirement, including Stamford and Norwalk in recent days.
Lamont and other top state officials are hopeful that 12 months of vaccine efforts, recently strengthened by an all-out push to get fully vaccinated residents their booster shots, will dampen the surge in cases, and avoid what was seen last winter.
Though, experts are warning that people should still take precautions during the holidays to limit the spread of the virus.
Keith Grant, senior system director for infection prevention at Hartford HealthCare, said families should still try to get together because socializing remains important to provide comfort and mental health support.
“With that being said, it's much different than having this discussion three years ago," he added. "Getting together now requires having a much different level of risk assessment, and it requires identifying who within the family is at highest risk" such as those over the age of 65 and those who are not vaccinated, Grant said.
He said families should also consider who is at risk of being a “vector” to transmit the disease to other family members, and which relatives live in areas with high prevalence of the virus.
With high COVID-19 circulation across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance that stressed the importance for people to get vaccinated and to protect those who may not be able to get the vaccine. The guidance, issued earlier this month, recommends people wear masks in public indoor settings, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.
The CDC and Connecticut health experts also recommend that people take an at-home COVID-19 test before going to large gatherings.
In a holiday safety guide published by Yale New Haven Health, Dr. Rick Martinello, director of infection prevention at the health network, also suggested alternative gatherings, like those outside the home, to decrease risk of transmitting the virus.
“There are so many different ways to make inperson events safer,” Martinello said in the guide.
The CDC recommends that unvaccinated people should avoid traveling or seek a safer option for their family if someone in the group is not vaccinated. Unlike last year, Connecticut residents do not face any sort of travel restrictions. While experts had expected COVID-19 cases to pick up this winter, the swift emergence of the omicron variant has caused some uncertainty during the holiday season.
The variant, which was first identified last month in South Africa, has moved quickly across the globe, and the CDC said this week that it now accounts for the majority of new cases in the United States.
The first omicron case in Connecticut was identified in Hartford County at the beginning of the month. Omicron is expected to become the dominant strain in Connecticut in a matter of days, according to Nathan Grubaugh, a top Yale researcher.
As of Thursday, Connecticut has logged 66 new omicron cases, increasing the confirmed statewide total to 106. However, genetic sequencing required to confirm the variant responsible for an individual case takes considerable time so officials believe there are many more omicron cases in Connecticut that have not been detected.
"I think the important thing and the factors that we're going to be looking at are yes, could it be more contagious? Absolutely. But we need to see if it is more virulent, if it is going to cause more severe disease,” said Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare. “And so what we're going to be looking at is not necessarily cases, but we're looking at cases juxtaposed on hospitalizations as well as ... those who are needing admission to the ICU, because that's really ultimately what's going to determine where we go with omicron."