CT Coronavirus: COVID-19 In The Schools, Mu Variant In The State

CONNECTICUT — A new coronavirus variant has been detected in 49 states, including Connecticut.

The World Health Organization labelled variant mu, also referred to as B.1.621, as a variant of interest on Aug. 30.

In the U.S., the variant accounts for about 2,000 cases as of Friday, according to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Database.

The variant has been detected in less than 1 percent of samples in the U.S. The highest prevalence of mu cases have been found in California, Alaska and Hawaii, followed by Maine, Connecticut and Florida, as reported in Newsweek.

"The variant is found to have key mutations linked to greater transmissibility and the potential to evade antibodies," the Los Angeles Department of Public Health reported on Friday.

More studies are needed to determine whether this latest coronavirus variant is more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccine and treatments than other COVID-19 strains, according to the L.A. DPH.

It remains to be seen whether the mu variant can edge out delta as the dominant variant. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the President, told a press briefing on Thursday that the government was "keeping a very close eye on it."

Across the spectrum of coronavirus variants, the overall positivity rate in Connecticut continues to decline, after an anomalous spike on Aug. 31. Over the weekend, 1,612 new cases were confirmed, across 61,032 tests, for a positivity rate of 2.6 percent.

There have been 2,080 new COVID-19 cases reported over the past week. Of those, 30 percent are breakthrough cases, residents who have been fully vaccinated.

Coronavirus In The Schools

With the start of the 2021-22 school year, all public and private PreK-12 schools in Connecticut are once again required to report any student or staff person with a new positive test for COVID-19. Testing may or may not be done at the school. Some schools offer the testing, but the tests are often done outside the school by the person’s healthcare provider or at a community COVID-19 testing site. A student is any student enrolled at the school, regardless of which town they live in.

Coronavirus-associated hospitalizations also declined over the weekend, by two beds, to 363.

Most of the hospitalized COVID-19 patients can be found in Hartford County.

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