Coronavirus CT Updates: 79 Deaths, Hospitalizations 7-Day Decline

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut reported another 79 coronavirus-related deaths Wednesday along with 455 more confirmed cases. Hospitalizations dropped for the seventh straight day with 41 less patients.

The state has a total of 26,767 positive cases, 2,168 deaths and 1,691 hospitalizations as of Wednesday. Nearly 95,000 people have been tested.

Gov. Ned Lamont said at his daily news conference that he can understand the anxiety over uncertainty about what the summer holds for Connecticut. His daughter plans to get married over Labor Day weekend, he said. He said his administration will give the best guidance it can. The news conference was cut short by a fire alarm.

Longtime Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi shared his recovery story at the state's daily news conference and urged people not to rush to reopen.

“We cannot open too soon please believe me,” he said at a news conference. “This is a highly contagious, serious virus.”

The worst thing people could do at this point is pressure for reopening businesses, he said.

"Let’s do it once and do it right," he said.

Marconi said he first developed symptoms on April 4 after coming home from a Board of Selectmen meeting. He was tested for the virus a couple days later and got the results a couple of days after that.

Marconi said his symptoms worsened and included nearly every symptom imaginable with illness, the worst of which was nausea. He was put on oxygen therapy at home for eight straight days and was given hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and Zofran for nausea.

His wife also came down with a low-grade fever for a couple of days, but her symptoms quickly resolved, he said. She tried to distance herself as much as possible, but had to walk into the same room as him to check-in.

Ridgefield has had around 160 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and about 30 deaths, Marconi said said.

Long-term recovery committees

Lamont is urging communities across the state to form long-term recovery committees as the virus is expected to be with the state for a while.

“Responding to a disaster is a shared responsibility that calls for the involvement of everyone – state government, local government, and a wide range of community partners,” Lamont said in a statement. “By working together, we can continue to improve the way we support our residents and our communities as they meet urgent needs and bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis”

The committees should include government, nonprofit and private-sector partners and work through regional planning emergency teams. The state government is reaching out to some of the stakeholders to help them set up the committees. The effort will be headed by Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.

County numbers

• Fairfield County 10,985 confirmed cases; 774 deaths; 591 hospitalizations
• Hartford County 5,388 confirmed cases; 670 deaths; 403 hospitalizations
• Litchfield County 919 confirmed cases; 79 deaths; 21 hospitalizations
• Middlesex County 631 confirmed cases; 76 deaths; 37 hospitalizations
• New Haven County 7,205 confirmed cases; 493 deaths; 591 hospitalizations
• New London County 540 confirmed cases; 35 deaths; 39 hospitalizations
• Tolland County 427 confirmed cases; 36 deaths; 5 hospitalizations
• Windham County 165 confirmed cases; 2 deaths; 4 hospitalizations

Town figures