Connecticut saw a spike in coronavirus-related hospitalization over the weekend, filling about half of the state's available COVID-19 beds in intensive care units, Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The governor reported that 496 patients were hospitalized with the virus on Monday, an increase of 94 from Friday and the state’s highest figure since the end of May. The figure is double the number who were hospitalized with the virus just two weeks ago.

“We're watching this carefully,” Lamont said. “We still have a lot of capacity in our regular hospital beds. We have only 50% use in our ICU, intensive care. We have the ability to expand that pretty quickly as need be.”

Connecticut's pandemic-related death toll rose by 27 over the weekend to 4,698 and there were 3,338 new confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 reported in the state, according to the governor's office.

The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Connecticut has risen over the past two weeks from 2.18% on Oct. 25 to 4.74% on Nov. 8.

State health departments are calculating positivity rates differently across the country, but for Connecticut the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project.

In other coronavirus-related news:

OUTDOOR DINING

The state has agreed to a set of guidelines for how restaurants can use temporary outdoor heated structures, like tents, as they try to maintain customers during the pandemic, according to the Connecticut Restaurant Association.

The association said the enclosed outdoor structures at restaurants, such as igloos and tents, must include adequate ventilation with fresh air being brought in and inside air being exhausted.

The buildings also must have one door and two or more vents open at all times, and there must be sanitization of all touchpoints and a 15-minute waiting period between groups of diners.