Governor Lamont Provides Update on Connecticut’s Coronavirus Response Efforts

As the State of Connecticut continues taking actions in response to the global spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Governor Ned Lamont provided the following updates as of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 31, 2022:

Data updates on testing in Connecticut

The following is a summary of the day-to-day newly reported data on cases, deaths, and tests in Connecticut. It is important to note that these newly reported updates include data that occurred over the last several days to a week. All data in this report are preliminary, and data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected.

*Data on COVID-19 deaths is updated once per week every Thursday.

Of the 88 patients currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, 26 (29.5%) are not fully vaccinated.

County-by-county breakdown of current COVID-19 hospitalizations:

For a series of interactive graphs and maps that provide additional data, including metrics related to age, gender, and race/ethnicity, as well as data broken down by every town and city in Connecticut, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “Data Tracker.”

Modification to reporting of COVID-19 metrics beginning April 4

Consistent with a change in federal requirements, beginning on Monday, April 4, 2022, the Connecticut Department of Public Health will no longer require the reporting of negative rapid antigen and rapid PCR test results for SARS-CoV-2. All positive test results from these tests must still be reported, as well as all positive and negative SARS-CoV-2 molecular test results.

Beginning on this date, test positivity will be calculated as a rolling seven-day test positivity by specimen collection date. All positive molecular test results are divided by all molecular test results (positive and negative) for the last seven days and multiplied by 100 to reach a percentage. In addition, the change in hospitalizations will be reported as a change between the last seven days, instead of a change in the last day.

This change will align Connecticut’s test positivity reporting with the same method used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and will not impact the ability to detect increases in COVID-19 cases due to new variants.

Data updates on breakthrough cases in Connecticut

The Connecticut Department of Public Health is reporting that as of March 23, 2022, a total of 178,921 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut have been identified. Of the more than 2.7 million people in Connecticut who are fully vaccinated, 6.57% have contracted the virus.

For more data on breakthrough cases in Connecticut, see pages 6 through 10 of this week’s extended COVID-19 data report.

Data updates on vaccine administration in Connecticut

The following data was reported to the CT WiZ immunization information system as of March 29, 2022.

Total number of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19:

Percent of people with at least one dose by age group:

• >95% of those over the age of 65
• >95% of those between 55-64
• 91% of those between 45-54
• 94% of those between 35-44
• 89% of those between 25-34
• 85% of those between 18-24
• 88% of those between 16-17
• 81% of those between 12-15
• 48% of those between 5-11

All Connecticut residents over the age of 5 are currently eligible to receive the vaccines. To locate a vaccination clinic, visit ct.gov/covidvaccine.

Data updates on variants in Connecticut

The following data contains the cumulative number of SARS-CoV-2 variants that have been identified among Connecticut residents as of today:

Variants of concern

• Delta: 16,283 cases
• Omicron: 10,987 cases

Variants being monitored

• Alpha: 2,525 cases
• Beta: 23 cases
• Gamma: 137 cases
• Epsilon: 60 cases
• Zeta: 1 case
• Eta: 10 cases
• Iota: 718 cases
• Kappa: 2 cases
• B.1.617.3: 0 cases
• Mu: 84 cases

For more information on variants, see pages 11 and 12 of this week’s extended COVID-19 data report.

Bi-weekly update on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes

The following documents contain the bi-weekly data regarding each of the nursing homes in Connecticut that have reported positive cases of COVID-19. The data is presented as it was reported to the state by each of the facilities. These reports are issued every other Thursday.

Weekly update of the Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Alert Map: 20 of 169 municipalities in red zone alert level

The Connecticut Department of Public Health today released its weekly COVID-19 Alert Map, which indicates that 20 municipalities are currently in the red zone alert level, the highest of the state’s four alert levels. They include:

• Clinton
• Darien
• Easton
• Fairfield
• Goshen
• Guilford
• Lisbon
• Madison
• New Canaan
• New Haven
• North Canaan
• North Haven
• Orange
• Pomfret
• South Windsor
• Southbury
• Union
• Weston
• Westport
• Woodbridge

The color-coded zones include:

• Red: Indicates case rates over the last two weeks of greater than 15 per 100,000 population
• Orange: Indicates case rates between 10 to 14 cases per 100,000 population
• Yellow: Indicates case rates between 5 and 9 per 100,000 population
• Gray: Indicates case rates lower than five per 100,000 population

The weekly alert map is also accompanied by a chart that provides guidance on recommended actions based on the alert levels for individual residents; institutions such as schools, houses of worship, and community organizations; and municipal leaders and local health directors.

The COVID-19 Alert Map is updated every Thursday afternoon and can be found within the Data Tracker page of the state’s coronavirus website at ct.gov/coronavirus.

Providing information to Connecticut residents

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus. Residents can also subscribe to text message alerts from the state by texting the keyword COVIDCT to 888-777.

Individuals who have general questions that are not answered on the website can call 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance. Anyone who is out-of-state or requires a toll-free number can connect to Connecticut 2-1-1 by dialing 1-800-203-1234. This is intended to be used by individuals who are not experiencing symptoms but may have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms are strongly urged to contact their medical provider.