Daily coronavirus updates: COVID-19 hospitalizations in Connecticut up slightly in October

Alex Putterman, Hartford Courant
·2 min read

After declining throughout September, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Connecticut have increased slightly in October and now stand at their highest level in nearly three weeks, state numbers show.

Over the same time period, COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate have remained roughly flat, as Connecticut looks to move pasts its recent delta variant outbreak.

Experts have warned of the possibility of a COVID-19 spike as the weather cools, though it’s not yet clear whether this small increase in hospitalizations is the beginning of such a surge.

Cases and positivity rate

Connecticut on Monday reported 1,147 new COVID-19 cases out of 74,213 tests since Friday, for a positivity rate of 1.83%. The state’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 1.94%, down slightly from Friday but up from earlier last week.

As of Monday, New Haven, Windham and New London counties were experiencing “high” levels of COVID-19 transmission as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while Connecticut’s five other counties were experiencing “substantial” transmission.

According to state numbers, 78.6% of Connecticut residents who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week were not vaccinated.

Hospitalizations

Connecticut now has 247 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, up 15 from Thursday and the most at a time since Sept. 29. After declining throughout late August and September, hospitalizations have ticked up in recent weeks.

Hospital officials say the vast majority of those hospitalized with serious COVID-19 symptoms are unvaccinated.

Deaths

Connecticut reports coronavirus-linked deaths once a week. On Thursday, the state reported 40 COVID-19 deaths over the past week, bringing its total during the pandemic to 8,707.

As has been the case throughout the pandemic, older residents and those with underlying health issues remain most likely to die of COVID-19.

The United States has now recorded 725,330 COVID-19 deaths, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Vaccinations

As of Monday, 77.8% of all Connecticut residents and 89.2% of those 12 and older had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 69.9% of all residents and 80.3% of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

As of Oct. 13, vaccine providers in Connecticut had administered about 109,949 third doses, according to the Department of Public Health. About 3.1% of residents have received a third dose.

COVID-19 booster shots are currently available for recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine more than six months removed from their second dose who are 65 or older, have health conditions that leave them vulnerable to COVID-19 or work jobs that leave them at high risk.

Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.