CT Coronavirus Updates: 46 More Deaths, 972 New Cases Reported

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut reported another 45 coronavirus-associated deaths and 972 positive cases Saturday. There was an increase of 31 current hospitalizations, which was a recent low for the state.

To date there have been 11,510 confirmed coronavirus cases in Connecticut and 494 deaths. There are currently 1,593 people hospitalized for COVID-19. Nearly 40,000 patients have been tested in Connecticut.

Gov. Ned Lamont has previously said the state is using the increase in hospitalizations as one of its top guiding barometers because death data usually lags a couple of weeks behind the current situation and testing capacity can fluctuate day-to-day.

Earlier this week Lamont said that hospitalizations were going up on a linear basis instead of exponentially increasing, which could be a sign that Connecticut is starting to flatten the curve of cases. He urged residents to continue to stay home and practice social distancing. Don't miss local and statewide news about coronavirus developments and precautions. Sign up for free Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

The state adds the following disclaimer to death figures:

"For public health surveillance, COVID-19-associated deaths include persons who tested positive for COVID-19 around the time of death and persons who were not tested for COVID-19 whose death certificate lists COVID-19 disease as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death."

Lamont has ordered schools and non-essential businesses closed until at least May 20.

Fairfield County saw nine less coronavirus-related hospitalizations Saturday to 676 cases while New Haven County has a 21 case increase to 514. Hartford County saw a 15 case increase to 311.

County breakdown

Fairfield: 5,407 cases, 220 deaths
Hartford: 1,832 cases 101 deaths
Litchfield: 388 cases, 20 deaths
Middlesex: 290 cases, 18 deaths
New Haven: 2,715 cases, 107 deaths
New London: 185 cases, 7 deaths
Tolland: 171 cases, 15 deaths
Windham: 66 cases, 1 death
Pending address validation: 456 cases, 5 deaths

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Nursing home figures

Nearly half of Connecticut’s 215 nursing homes have at least one confirmed coronavirus case. A total of 1,181 nursing home residents have tested positive for the disease and 322 have been hospitalized. Of that 165 residents have died.

Town-by-Town Cases