Coronavirus CT: Hospitalizations Climb Back to June Levels

CONNECTICUT — The number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus across the state took a sharp turn upward by 19 in the past day to 232. That's the highest total since June 12.

Although the numbers may be the same, Gov. Ned Lamont said much has changed between spring and fall. Earlier in the pandemic, a third of the people hospitalized due to the virus ended up in an intensive care unit. Now that number is 20 percent, he said. More dramatically, about 22 percent of the patients who ended up in the ICU in the spring died, according to Lamont. Today, that figure is 6 percent, he said.

"That shows we have some better therapies and are screening people earlier," Lamont said at a news conference Thursday.

New cases also rose sharply by 502, bringing the total number to 65,373 since the pandemic began. Two more people died from the virus, increased the death toll to 4,569. An additional 22,117 residents were tested in the past day.

The positive test rate was 2.3 percent Wednesday, better than a few days ago but "a lot more" than a few months ago, Lamont said.

The governor announced 19 towns are in the state's "red alert" zone for coronavirus infections, a jump up from 11 last week. Towns enter the red zone if their daily coronavirus case average goes above 15 cases per 100,000 people.

Most of the towns in the red zone are clustered in southeastern Connecticut, but Norwalk and Fairfield have been added to the list as well.

Communities in the red zone are given the option of returning to phase 2 of the governor's reopening plan, which mandates smaller gatherings and other virus-mitigation restrictions. Only Windham has exercised that option so far.

The towns with the most new coronavirus cases reported over the last 24 hours are:

1. Danbury: 42

2. Fairfield: 33

3. Norwalk: 32

4. Stamford: 21

5. Bridgeport: 20

6. Waterbury: 19

7. Hartford: 18

8. New London: 14

9. Manchester: 13

10. Bristol: 12

See Also: CT's 'Red' Coronavirus Alert List Jumps To 19 Towns

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The towns with the most new cases reported over the past week are:

1. Norwalk: 166

2. Hartford: 142

3. Waterbury: 132

4. Danbury: 109

5. Bridgeport: 102

6. Stamford: 100

7. New London: 75

8. New Britain: 73

9. Norwich: 71

10. Fairfield: 70