CT Coronavirus Positivity Rate Jumps To January Levels

CONNECTICUT — The daily coronavirus positivity rate in the state has jumped to the highest point since the end of January, according to the latest batch of metrics released by the state Department of Health.

The positivity rate, a function of the daily number of positive COVID-19 cases versus the number of tests, was logged at 5.26 percent. The last time it spiked that high was on Jan. 24. It's a 1.73 percent increase over yesterday's rate.

The primary metric which the state monitors to gauge the manageability of the pandemic and safety of reopening plans is also spiking. As of Tuesday afternoon, there are 518 residents hospitalized with COVID-19, with 20 new admissions yesterday.

In a relatively new wrinkle, the beds are going not so much to the elderly, but to the young. Admissions of COVID-19 patients ages 35 to 44 are up 41 percent in the past seven weeks at Yale New Haven Health System, while admission of people 65 and older is down more than 70 percent.

Connecticut now ranks 4th in the nation, behind New York, Michigan and New Jersey, in cases per 100,000 population, according to the New York Times coronavirus tracker.

Across the country, daily case counts joined Connecticut's numbers in their trend in the wrong direction. The seven-day rolling average of infections climbed for the seventh consecutive day on Monday, finishing just below 64,000, according to reports from state health departments analyzed by The Washington Post.

Speaking at a news conference Monday, Gov. Ned Lamont said he did not see a need yet to revisit the state's reopening strategy.

"It's been going up on a gradual basis, so I know we'd have time to change course if we had to. I don't see the need to do that, I think the vaccinations are going to stay ahead of the risk."

An additional 1,617 COVID-19 cases were logged by the DPH, bringing the total number to 310,056.

The coronavirus death toll in the state is now 7,885, following the two new deaths recorded on Tuesday.

See Also: New Coronavirus Restrictions Unlikely Despite Case Uptick: Lamont

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