The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Connecticut fell Thursday to the lowest level since before Christmas, declining by 66 people from the day before to 869, according to the daily report from Gov. Ned Lamont's office.

After reaching a peak of nearly 25% last month, the steadily declining test positivity rate fell to 6.57%, the lowest since Dec. 13. This number, though, doesn't capture the many at-home tests Connecticut residents have been taking.

But the state surpassed 10,000 total coronavirus-related deaths this week, hitting 10,083 — an increase of 175 over the past week.

According to the state data, 52.5% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 aren't fully vaccinated, whereas people who have gotten one shot or none make up less than 24% of the state's population. People who are unvaccinated have a 15 times higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated.

Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist for Hartford HealthCare, said there were 284 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the system Thursday, including 40 at Backus Hospital in Norwich. But he continued to stress that many people are hospitalized with the disease rather than because of it: He said internal data show that 60% to 70% of patients are there for reasons other than COVID-19.

"We want to get the message out there that capacity is not an issue; it has not been an issue for us even through the (omicron variant) surge," Wu said. He encouraged people to not delay care, as that could result in a longer hospital stay if they need to be hospitalized.

Wu said he expects cases to continue to decline, "and the summer should be good, unless there's a presence of another variant." He added that we "should never assume that the next variant will be less deadly," and he is concerned about variants popping up in populations with low vaccination rates several months from now, when it's winter for them and summer for the U.S.

"Our biggest worry is that when it is out of sight, out of mind," he said. "We tend to be binary: COVID is gone. We forget about boosters, we forget about vaccinations."

From a scientific perspective, Wu said it's "probably not time to end" the requirement that kids wear masks in school but acknowledged "science does not exist in a vacuum, and there are many other factors that go into this decision."

Wu said about COVID-19 that "the boogeyman will always be in our house" but it's a preventable disease to a certain extent, and with the virus here to stay, we can take preventive measures.

"Hiding from society is not an option," Wu said. "The only really true safe way is — and again, somewhat controversial to people — vaccines, boosted, masking."

Ledge Light Health District, which serves East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, Lyme, New London, North Stonington, Old Lyme, Stonington and Waterford, reported 888 cases in its jurisdiction for the week ending Jan. 29. That's down from 1,512 the week before, 2,122 the week before that, and 2,654 for the week ending Jan. 8.

As of Thursday, 70 people in New London County were hospitalized with COVID-19.

Ledge Light noted Thursday, "Although the number of new cases and hospitalizations continues to decrease, we are still experiencing high average daily case rates and a continued focus on preventing transmission is important."

e.moser@theday.com