CT Coronavirus Positivity Rate Again Rises To Nearly 6.5%

CONNECTICUT — A day after Connecticut's coronavirus positivity rate had dipped below 5 percent, the rate climbed again Thursday to 6.48 percent, according to the latest data from the state Department of Public Health and Gov. Ned Lamont.

The number of deaths reported over the past seven days increased by 37 to 8,946 since the pandemic began. In the week prior, 44 deaths were reported.

In the latest numbers, another 576 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed. With 41,361 tests taken, Connecticut's daily coronavirus positivity rate is 6.48 percent, up from the previous day's rate of 4.98 percent. The total number of total tests performed since the pandemic began is now 12,629,897.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 held steady Thursday, with only one additional patient, bringing the total to 576 statewide. One week ago, there were 414 hospitalizations in Connecticut due to COVID-19.

Hartford and New Haven counties continue to lead the state in hospitalized coronavirus patients, followed by Fairfield County.

Of the 576 patients currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, 446 (77.4%) are not fully vaccinated. State health officials said compared to being vaccinated, being unvaccinated currently has the following relative risk:

• 5 times higher risk of being infected with COVID-19
• 16 times higher risk of dying from COVID-19
• 12 times higher risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19

Breakthrough cases

The state health department is reporting that as of Dec. 8, a total of 29,317 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut have been confirmed. Of the more than 2.5 million people in Connecticut who have completed their vaccine series, less than 1.2% have contracted the virus.

The virus's omicron variant has made its way into Connecticut this week, but the delta variant continues to be the dominant strain, officials said. Two confirmed omicron variant cases have been found in Connecticut as of Thursday.

For a town-by-town breakdown of new COVID-19 cases in Connecticut, see the Connecticut Data Portal.