Upswing: CT Coronavirus Death Rate Slows, Positivity Inches Lower

CONNECTICUT — The rate of death from coronavirus-associated illness in Connecticut has slowed dramatically this past week. That's just one of the positive metrics to be found in the latest release of COVID-19 data from the state Department of Public Health.

Fourteen residents have died from COVID-19 over the past seven days, down from last week's report of 38 deaths. It's the lowest number of weekly COVID-19 deaths reported by the state since the middle of August.

The number of Connecticut towns in the COVID-19 high-alert red zone has held steady at 40, in the most recent DPH data.

The eastern part of the state and Naugatuck Valley continue to be slammed by the coronavirus. On the positive side, there are now wide swaths of low-infection gray to be found, especially in northwestern towns.

The color codes correspond to guidance from DPH. Populations in the red zone have reported 15 or more cases per 100,000 people over a two-week average.

Those towns in the red category are: Beacon Falls, Berlin, Bethlehem, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Colchester, Cromwell, Derby, East Granby, Griswold, Hampton, Killingly, Ledyard, Lisbon, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Milford, North Canaan, North Stonington, Norwich, Oxford, Plainfield, Plainville, Pomfret, Preston, Putnam, Salem, Sharon, Somers, Sprague, Sterling, Thomaston, Thompson, Tolland, Union, Voluntown, Watertown, Weston, Woodbury and Woodstock.

On Thursday, COVID-19 positivity was down a fifth of a point, to 1.67 percent, compared to the previous day's tally. Out of 24,611 tests taken, 410 cases were confirmed.

According to the latest weekly release of statewide data from CDC 2,500,835 Connecticut residents, or about 70 percent of the population, have received all their COVID-19 vaccine shots. Connecticut continues to claim among the highest vaccination rates in the country. About 57.2 percent of Americans have completed their vaccine series, according to the CDC.

As of Thursday, those residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 include more than 95 percent of those over the age of 65, 91 percent of those between 55-64 (up 1 percent from lat week), 82 percent of those between 45-54, 82 percent of those between 35-44, 75 percent of those between 25-34, 70 percent of those between 18-24, 80 percent of those between 16-17, and 70 percent of those between 12-15 (up 1 percent). Except where noted, there has been no percentage increase in the number vaccinated in each age tier since last week.

The reticence among Connecticut residents to be vaccinated can best be illustrated in the graph above, which shows the progress toward full vaccination for each age tier from the start of their eligibility has begun to level off.

Predictably, residents in the eastern area of the state, with the highest coronavirus infection rates, are also least likely to be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the data released by DPH.

Mansfield remains the outlier, still with less than 37 percent of its population fully vaccinated. Of all Connecticut municipalities, only Canaan has fully vaccinated all its residents.

Breakthrough Cases and Hospitalizations

The Connecticut Department of Public Health is reporting that as of Thursday, a total of 16,760 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut have been confirmed. Of the more than 2.3 million people in Connecticut who have completed their vaccine series, less than 0.7 percent have contracted the virus.

Two hundred twenty-four patients are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Connecticut. Of those, 49, or 21.9 percent, are fully vaccinated.

Most of them (68) can be found within hospitals in Hartford County.

See Also: CT State Lawmaker Arrested: Feds

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During the week of Oct. 14-20, 286 Connecticut schools reported coronavirus cases, down 20 from last week. All but two of these counted less than six cases reported at each school during the reporting period. DPH reported that B.W. Tinker school in Waterbury recorded eight coronavirus cases, and Forest School in West Haven had 10.