Coronavirus Hospitalizations Climb, But CT Has Capacity: Lamont

CONNECTICUT — The number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations continues to escalate in the state.

Another 42 residents were hospitalized with the virus over the weekend, the Department of Public Health reported on Monday. That brings the total number of hospitalizations in the state to just two shy of 500, about where the number was at the end of February.

Hospitalizations have been the primary metric the state monitors regularly to judge the manageability of the pandemic and safety of reopening plans. At a Monday news conference, Lamont was optimistic.

"Tons of capacity, nothing to worry about there, but it's something we continue to watch," the governor said.

The coronavirus positivity rate, another key metric, is 3.53 percent, up from 2.85 percent reported Friday.

"In other parts of the country, especially down south they're doing you know 20 percent as much testing as we are so their number of cases per 100,000 look a lot lower," Lamont said.

Although Connecticut has been doing a better job than its immediate neighbors in the Northeast when it comes to both coronavirus case rates and vaccine administration, the director of the Centers for Disease and Prevention expressed concern for the nation's efforts as a whole. During a news conference Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the upsurge in COVID-19 metrics gave her a feeling of "impending doom."

Hospitalizations are up nationwide, about an additional 2,000 admissions a day over the past 7-day period, according to the CDC. Cases of COVID-19 are also up across the country, the most recent 7-day average having increased 10 percent from the previous week.

The death rate is up nationwide, having increased 3 percent over the past 7-day period.

In Connecticut, 18 more COVID-19-associated fatalities were recorded over the weekend, bringing the state total to 7,883 since the start of the pandemic.

An additional 3,229 COVID-19 cases were logged by the state Department of Public Health, bringing the total number to 308,439.

See also: How Has Lamont Handled The Coronavirus Pandemic? CT Patch Survey

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