Red Zones Double In Latest COVID-19 Update + School, Town-By-Town Case Updates

CONNECTICUT — The red tide of municipal coronavirus warnings is once again high in the state.

The number of Connecticut towns reporting the highest level of alert for the coronavirus has more than doubled for the second week in a row — quadrupled in 14 days — according to the latest data released by the Department of Public Health.

As of Thursday afternoon, 108 towns reside in the "red" zone, up 54 from last week's report. Fifteen towns now sit on the lowest infection "gray" rung, down from 23 last week. Nine are "yellow," and 38 are "orange."

The color codes correspond to guidance from DPH. Populations in the red zone have reported 15 or more cases per 100,000 people over a two-week average.

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On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont said the state's positivity rate is 7.6 percent in terms of PCR/NAAT tests over the last seven days. Connecticut ceased sharing daily cases and a daily positivity rate as of April 4. Instead, test positivity is calculated as a seven-day rolling average.

The virus claimed 17 lives in Connecticut over the week — three more than logged the week before — according to state health officials. The state COVID-19 death toll was 10,826 as of Thursday.

DPH reported the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in Connecticut has continued to climb, rising to 176 and up 37 beds over the past week.

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The number of COVID-19 cases among Connecticut PK-12 staff and students has been relatively steady through the first quarter of 2022.

On Wednesday, the Department of Public Health reported 987 total infections for students, down from 1,182 last week. DPH logged 341 positive COVID-19 cases among school staff, down from 373 the previous week.

Cases among staff and students had remained relatively low until the first week of November, when they began their climb. Confirmed cases among both groups shot up dramatically after the first of the year.

Here is the school-by-school breakdown:

As of Thursday, residents who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine include more than 95 percent of those over the age of 55, 91 percent of those between 45-54, 94 percent of those between 35-44, 90 percent of those between 25-34, 85 percent of those between 18-24, 88 percent of those between 16-17, 82 percent of those between 12-15 (up 1 percent this week) and 49 percent of those aged 5-11 (up 1 percent this week).

All Connecticut residents over the age of 5 are currently eligible to receive the vaccines. The state maintains an online database of vaccination clinic locations here.

Instructions on how to get COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters in Connecticut are available online, as is a list of walk-up clinics sponsored by DPH.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 562,309 cases have been identified among people who are not fully vaccinated. Eight hundred eighty-three coronavirus-associated deaths have occurred among the 188,351 fully vaccinated residents confirmed with COVID-19.

The latest data show unvaccinated residents have a three-times higher risk of infection and hospitalization from the coronavirus, and a four-times greater chance of dying, compared to the vaccinated.