As hospitalizations due to the coronavirus continue to decline, the state passed a once unthinkable milestone Saturday when the number of COVID-19 associated deaths reached 6,099.

The state’s positivity rate also declined to 7.06% for Thursday and Friday after hovering at 9% earlier in the week. There were 62,526 COVID-19 tests over the two-day period, with 4,412 confirmed positive results. There have been 190,120 COVID-19 cases in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 6.8%, up from recent weeks.

The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 also declined by 80 to 1,056. Hospitalizations have been roughly flat throughout the month of December. Hartford County leads all other counties in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 321.

The Coronavirus Research Center at Johns Hopkins University reported Saturday afternoon that 349,391 Americans have perished due to coronavirus pandemic. There have been 20,319,155 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States.

Gov. Ned Lamont and top health officials are continuing to urge residents to wear masks and to practice social distancing, particularly as a new highly contagious strain of COVID-19 is now appearing in the United States.

Dr. Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, said earlier this week that the state must remain vigilant.

“The way to manage the appearance of this new UK strain is by wearing a mask, avoiding gatherings with people outside your household, keeping your physical distance,” she said.

Nearly 60,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Connecticut as the state aims to have health care workers and nursing home residents vaccinated by the end of Janurary.