COVID-19 Infection Rate Hits 14%, Hospitalizations Also Rising In CT

CONNECTICUT — It's not your imagination: COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Connecticut, even as so many of your neighbors were thoroughly, if only mentally, done with the pandemic just a few weeks ago.

The number of COVID-19 patients occupying hospital beds in Connecticut has risen this week to 369, up 78 in the past seven days, and is at the highest point since the middle of February.

On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont said the state's positivity rate is 14 percent in terms of PCR/NAAT tests over the last seven days, or roughly at end-of January levels.

The virus claimed 39 lives in this past week — 14 more than logged the week before — according to state health officials. The Connecticut COVID-19 death toll was 10,922 in the most recent weekly report.

As of Thursday afternoon, 163 towns reside in the "red" zone, same as last week. Seven towns now sit on the lowest infection "gray" rung, with no municipalities in between.

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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The numbers don't lie, but what sense is there to be made from the now unrelenting spike in cases? Some researchers point to omicron's epidemiological successor, BA.2.12.1. The subvariant has shown an increased capacity to evade antibodies triggered by infection from OG omicron. According to the latest variant surveillance report from the state Department of Public Health, just under 46 percent of the currently circulating omicron sublineages in Connecticut are BA.2.12.1. The latest subvariant made its first Connecticut appearance in the DPH report on Mar. 26.

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The number of COVID-19 cases among Connecticut PK-12 staff and students took a small dip this week, following nearly a month of ascent.

On Wednesday, DPH reported 4,580 total infections for students, down from 5,695 last week, but way up from the year low of 660 reported on Mar. 9.

Connecticut health officials reported 1,370 positive COVID-19 cases among school staff, down from 1,649 the previous week, but up big from 113 on Feb. 23.

Here is the school-by-school breakdown:

As of Wednesday, 217,386 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated people in Connecticut have been confirmed. Those 217,386 cases account for 8 percent of the 2,718,945 persons who are fully vaccinated.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 578,106 cases have been identified among residents who are not fully vaccinated. Nine hundred twenty-three coronavirus-related deaths have occurred among the 217,386 fully vaccinated people confirmed with COVID-19.

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 and 49 percent of those aged 5-11. There has been a less than 1 percent change reported in any age tier by the state since April 21.

The latest data shows 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.