Connecticut’s daily COVID-19 test positivity rate spiked to 8.3% on Tuesday as a December coronavirus surge continued to grow

“That’s a big increase from where we were just a month ago,” Gov Ned Lamont said on the Connecticut Public Radio show “Where We Live.”

On Monday, Connecticut reported a daily test positivity rate of 5.8%; Tuesday’s rate of 8.3% was the highest that metric has been in almost a year. The state’s weekly COVID-19 test positivity rate now stands at 6.13%, reaching its highest point since Jan. 17.

Connecticut’s daily test positivity rate tends to be higher on Tuesdays than on other days, which state officials say may be due to testing patterns over the weekend. Officials also caution that the state’s test positivity rate may currently be somewhat elevated since people who test positive using at-home tests are encouraged to seek confirmation through a PCR test, whereas people who test negative are not.

Even so, Connecticut’s overall COVID-19 metrics have spiked significantly in recent weeks. Not only has the state’s weekly positivity rate increased, but also the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen sharply.

“It is ramping up,” Lamont said of the pandemic. “We have over 500 folks in the hospitals now, so that’s triple where we were a few weeks ago, one quarter of where we were a year and a half ago, but it still is reason to be cautious.”

Despite the rising metrics, Lamont declined to back a universal indoor mask mandate or any additional restrictions.

“For every mandate, there’s enormous pushback as well, and you create some issues,” he said. “And I do believe that fear is a great incentive, so we have more people getting boosted today than we did two weeks ago. They’re doing the right thing.”

Cases and positivity rate

Connecticut on Tuesday reported 1,919 new COVID-19 cases out of 23,047 tests administered, for a daily test positivity rate of 8.3%. The state’s weekly positivity rate now stands at 6.13%, the highest it has been since mid-January.

All eight Connecticut counties — as well as the rest of those in the Northeast region — are currently recording “high” levels of COVID-19 transmission as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With this level of transmission, the CDC advises people to wear a mask in public indoor settings.

Hospitalizations

As of Tuesday, 525 patients in Connecticut were hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of 25 people since Monday. The last time that hospitalizations were that high was in mid-April.

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

Deaths

Connecticut reports COVID-19 deaths once a week, on Thursdays. Last Thursday, the state reported 44 additional COVID-19 deaths over the past eight days, bringing its total during the pandemic to 8,909.

The United States has now recorded 790,014 deaths related to COVID-19, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Vaccinations

As of Monday, 85% of all Connecticut residents and 95.2% of those 12 and older had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 72.8% of all residents and 82.8% of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additionally, 29.2% of fully vaccinated Connecticut residents 18 or older have received a booster dose.

Eliza Fawcett can be reached at elfawcett