Daily coronavirus updates: Positivity rate ticks up but Connecticut reports no new COVID-19 deaths

Connecticut reported no new coronavirus-linked deaths Tuesday, though the state’s positivity rate and hospitalizations ticked slightly upward.

The state announced 117 new cases of COVID-19 out of 8,338 tests Tuesday, for a rate of about 1.4% -- the highest on a single day since June 23 but still much lower than most other states have experienced.

Connecticut has seen a reliably low positivity rate over the past few months, as the state has largely contained its coronavirus outbreak. Only 0.8% of tests have come back positive over the past week, even including Tuesday’s higher-than-usual rate.

The state currently has 70 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to official numbers, up six from Monday and the highest total since late July. Of those 70 hospitalized patients, 24 are in Fairfield County, 20 are in New Haven County, 14 are in Hartford County, eight are in Middlesex County and four are in the other four counties combined.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Connecticut peaked at 1,972 on April 22 then declined steadily for months before plateauing in recent weeks.

Dr. Tom Balcezak of the Yale New Haven Health System said the system currently has only 15 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and only three in the intensive care unit.

“I think we in the state of Connecticut, the citizens of the state, should be really proud,” said Balcezak, who is chief clinical officer at Yale New Haven Hospital. “Connecticut continues to do an excellent job of stemming the spread of the virus.”

Connecticut continues to have one of the lowest rates of transmission of any state, according to the website Rt.live, and is one of six states “trending better” on covidexitstrategy.org.

Connecticut’s COVID-19 death toll, though the fourth-highest per capita of any state, has slowed recently, with 38 new deaths over the past three weeks compared to 84 over the prior three-week period and 225 over the three-week period before that.

The state reported no new deaths on three different days last week then again Tuesday, freezing the current total at 4,444.

Bridgeport, which has seen significantly more recent cases than any other municipality, continued to add infections Tuesday, with eight more since Monday. The city has now recorded nearly 150 new cases over the past two weeks, amid reports of large crowds at restaurants in violation of social distancing rules.

In a statement Tuesday, Bridgeport Health Director Lisa Morrissey said the city had seen an “uptick” in COVID-19 cases but not a “surge,” with a disproportionate number of cases involving individuals aged 18-29. She said the city has issued nine total closure notices to businesses that have repeatedly failed to comply with coronavirus-related executive orders.

The city has been conducting compliance checks at local businesses until 1 a.m., Morrissey said.

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

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