Coronavirus: Will CT Be Back To Normal By Summer?

Danbury CT

10 May, 2021

8:15 PM

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CONNECTICUT — The seven-day coronavirus positivity rate is under 2 percent and the hospitalizations are as low as they have been in nearly seven months. Those and other upward-trending metrics had Gov. Ned Lamont predicting the state would be "back to normal by summer" during a news conference Monday. So far, 71 percent of everyone in Connecticut over the age of 18 has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In the 45 and older age tier, 80 percent of residents have been jabbed at least once, and 92 percent of those 65 and older have been vaccinated. On Monday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tapped Connecticut as the top state for eligible population that is fully vaccinated. Lamont said the number of people aged 45 and above who were vaccinated placed that group "very close to herd immunity." Pressed on whether all the good coronavirus news might mean a relaxation of the restrictions on the wearing of masks indoors, Lamont cautioned that, "We still have a significant number of our younger people who are not vaccinated." "So we are going to have to think seriously about indoor masking a little while longer, at least for that cohort," he said. "Those people, aged 45 and above, represent 97 percent of the deaths we have had in Connecticut from COVID-19," state Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said. "That gives us a very firm foundation upon which to move forward with additional relaxation of business restrictions as we'll be doing next week." On May 19, the state is scheduled to remove all coronavirus mitigations on businesses, except for the indoor wearing of masks. An additional 827 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed over the weekend in the state, bringing that total to 343,545. With 58,524 tests reported, the daily positivity rate now sits at 1.41 percent, up very slightly since Friday. The number of residents hospitalized with COVID-19 has taken a nosedive to the lowest point in nearly seven months. There are 280 state residents hospitalized with the virus, down 29 beds over the weekend, according to the state Department of Public Health. Coronavirus-associated deaths across the state rose by 17 over the weekend. The COVID-19 death toll in Connecticut now stands at 8,154. See Also: Here's How CT Will Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccine To 12-15 Year-Olds Bobcat Sightings In CT Rise: Town-By-Town UpdatesMan Who Sold Cocaine Out Of Bar Arrested