New Haven County At 'High' Risk For COVID-19 Transmission: CDC

NEW HAVEN — New Haven County is the first in Connecticut to achieve "high" risk level for community transmission of the coronavirus.

The infection level is the maximum, in the latest set of transmission metrics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Tuesday, the CDC upgraded the COVID-19 spread in Litchfield County from "moderate" to "substantial," which brought all eight Connecticut counties to the virus transmission level where the agency recommends residents wear face coverings indoors, regardless of vaccination status. New Haven has now moved to the dubious leader position.

A "high" transmission level means there have been at least 100 new COVID cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days, according to the CDC.

On Wednesday the Connecticut Department of Public Health issued a strong recommendation that unvaccinated residents get vaccinated as soon as possible to help stop the ongoing spread of the more-transmissible delta variant. Although the rate of hospitalization for coronavirus cases in Connecticut is the highest it has been since the middle of May, the daily positivity numbers continue to stay relatively low, and Gov. Ned Lamont has resisted issuing a statewide mask mandate.