Coronavirus CT: Positivity Rate Continues To Climb, Now Over 21%

CONNECTICUT — COVID-19 infections in the state have climbed to the highest they have been since early May 2020.

The state daily coronavirus positivity rate climbed to 21.52 percent in the latest set of numbers released by the Department of Public Health.

The daily coronavirus positivity rate is a function of the number of tests compared to the number of cases confirmed positive each day. Over the long weekend, 23,678 positive cases were logged, out of 110,017 tests taken.

As high as the positivity rate is, the rapid rise in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is even more alarming. DPH logged 301 additional hospitalizations over the long weekend, bringing the total number of residents hospitalized with the virus to 1,452 as reported Monday.

Of those, 999 (68.8 percent) are not fully vaccinated.

The risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons is 3.3 times greater, according to DPH, and their risk of death is 32.9 times greater.

The highest number of the hospitalized — 491 — are in New Haven County.

The continued climb in infections since Dec. 17 has led to an increased demand for at-home test kits. The state began doling kits out to communities from a drop of just 426,000 provided by CVS on Saturday, according to Hearst Media. A shipment of 3 million kits anticipated by Gov. Ned Lamont never materialized last week.

The availability of the self-tests eases the pressure somewhat on established testing facilities which were swamped behind long lines over the last two weeks of 2021. The state has previously established 400 testing sites, and close to a thousand venues to administer vaccine boosters.

Local communities began getting the word out to their residents as early as Saturday about their pop-up self-test distribution sites, drive-thru events usually staffed by volunteers in the parking lots of schools or community centers.

See also: New COVID-19 Guidance For PreK-12 Schools In CT Released

• Pfizer Boosters For Kids 12-15: What CT Parents Need To Know
  
• Flu Making A Comeback In Connecticut Amid COVID-19 Surge

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.