CT Coronavirus Updates: 17 More Deaths, 1,200+ New Cases

Bridgeport CT

06 April, 2020

4:42 PM

Description

HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont was optimistic Monday that Connecticut's social distancing efforts were going a long way in preventing the exponential growth of new coronavirus cases. Still, the battle could go on for a year or more, he said. There were 1,231 more positive cases announced Monday, along with 17 more deaths and 79 hospitalizations. That puts positive cases at 6,906, the death toll at 206 and hospitalizations at 1,221. The state has tested more than 26,000 people for COVID-19. The deaths include any person tested positive for COVID-19 around the time of death. The Office of the State Medical Examiner determines if COVID-19 was a contributing factor to the death. Lamont said the state is using hospitalization and death data as a better indicator of infections because testing capacity can vary daily. While Connecticut saw a big jump in positive tests Monday that is largely because the state tested 3,400 people, which is a major increase in the number of tests administered. Lamont remained optimistic that Connecticut could "flatten the curve" of the outbreak as hospitalizations and deaths appear to be going up linearly instead of exponentially. "I take this as reasonable good news … the situation could've been a lot more severe," Lamont said. He said New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Massachusetts' infection rate is higher than Connecticut's and that "social distancing may be having a positive impact" here. He said the state is making some progress and he added that the "health system is bending not breaking." Testing details and this could still take a year Abbott Labs' 15-minute COVID-19 test kits were delivered to Stamford Hospital and more hospitals will have the rapid test kits by the end of the week, Lamont said. Still, Lamont said the fight against coronavirus could last a year. The reminder came during a talk with Vice President Mike Pence's coronavirus task force. "When we talk about the next day it may be the next year and it may be that there are a series of rolling pandemics over a period of time," Lamont said. "So we are thinking very carefully as we maybe get to the backside of increase in our infections … how can we thoughtfully get people back to work without having another wave of infections." More testing for current coronavirus cases and antibody testing to see who has developed immunity to the new coronavirus could go a long way in preventing resurgent spikes in cases, officials said. Prisons, nursing homes and the homeless State Department of Correction Commissioner Roland Cook announced that more than 700 state inmates have been released since March 1, which is the largest amount of releases during a month in state history. A total of 32 DOC staff members and 21 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Sixteen inmates have tested negative and the state is waiting on results for another 41 inmate tests.More than 100 people held a drive-by protest outside of the governor's residence in Hartford Monday. They demanded that DOC release inmates at a greater rate to limit infections. Lamont encouraged people to call his office to talk instead of going outside to protest. The ACLU of Connecticut tweeted that the governor's constituent line goes to the 211 service line.DOC is quarantining inmates who test positive for COVID-19. Social visits to prisons have been eliminated and inmates are being allowed two free phone calls per week. Other steps are being taken to reduce congregation including serving meals in cells. About a third of nursing homes in Connecticut have at least one confirmed COVID-19 case. There have been 477 residents who have tested positive with 142 hospitalizations and 65 deaths. He said the state is working to create COVID-19 only and COVID-19 free nursing homes. The state is putting a plan into place to establish nursing home facilities specifically for COVID-19 cases in an effort to prevent rapid infections. State officials are also working to quarantine the homeless and 1,500 beds have been created across 14 hotels, Lamont said. Examining the numbers Fairfield 3,719 cases, 101 deaths Hartford 882 cases, 31 deathsLitchfield 230 cases, 8 deathsMiddlesex 135 cases, 7 deathsNew Haven 1,468 cases, 41 deathsNew London 65 cases, 4 deathsTolland 103 cases, 13 deathsWindham 40 cases, 1 death264 cases are pending locationOf the 206 reported deaths, 110 involved people over the age of 80; 49 were between 70 and 79; 28 were between 60 and 69; 10 were between 50 and 59; seven were between the age of 40 and 49; one was between 30 and 39; and one was a newborn. Of the deaths, 127 were men and 78 were women. See also High School Principal Suspended For Saying Schools Won't Reopen This Year: Report Town's Top Elected Official Tests Positive For The CoronavirusChinese Restaurant Targeted By Racist CallsHospitalizations by county: Fairfield 572New Haven 384Hartford 213Middlesex 22Litchfield 15New London 10Tolland 3Windham 2Town-by-town coronavirus numbers Andover 0Ansonia 38Ashford 4 Avon 11 Barkhamsted 2 Beacon Falls 11 Berlin 23 Bethany 4 Bethel 73 Bethlehem 4 Bloomfield 41 Bolton 5 Bozrah 1 Branford 49 Bridgeport 236 Bridgewater 3 Bristol 40 Brookfield 88 Brooklyn 2 Burlington 6 Canaan 0 Canterbury 2 Canton 2 Chaplin 0 Cheshire 30 Chester 9 Clinton 8 Colchester 6 Colebrook 0 Columbia 3 Cornwall 1 Coventry 6 Cromwell 14Danbury 570 Darien 109 Deep River 5 Derby 23 Durham 6East Granby 2 East Haddam 5 East Hampton 5 East Hartford 48 East Haven 50 East Lyme 3 East Windsor 4 Eastford 1 Easton 9 Ellington 9 Enfield 50 Essex 5 Fairfield 85 Farmington 30 Franklin 1 Glastonbury 26 Goshen 1 Granby 3 Greenwich 221 Griswold 3 Groton 6 Guilford 20 Hamden 109Hampton 0 Hartford 147 Hartland 0 Harwinton 6 Hebron 5 Kent 5 Killingly 6 Killingworth 1Lebanon 3 Ledyard 3 Lisbon 2 Litchfield 9 Lyme 1 Madison 22Manchester 80Mansfield 2 Marlborough 5Meriden 64 Middlebury 10 Middlefield 2 Middletown 52 Milford 77 Monroe 10 Montville 2 Morris 3 Naugatuck 37New Britain 57 New Canaan 73 New Fairfield 57 New Hartford 3 New Haven 319 New London 12 New Milford 74 Newington 37Newtown 53 Norfolk 1 North Branford 12 North Canaan 1 North Haven 29 North Stonington 0 Norwalk 595 Norwich 6 Old Lyme 3 Old Saybrook 7 Orange 15 Oxford 22 Plainfield 3 Plainville 13 Plymouth 7 Pomfret 4 Portland 10 Preston 1Prospect 13 Putnam 1 Redding 21 Ridgefield 109 Rocky Hill 31 Roxbury 3 Salem 0 Salisbury 4 Scotland 0 Seymour 32 Sharon 6 Shelton 124Sherman 8 Simsbury 11 Somers 9 South Windsor 16 Southbury 28 Southington 41Sprague 0 Stafford 28 Stamford 888 Sterling 0 Stonington 6Stratford 84 Suffield 20 Thomaston 12 Thompson 3 Tolland 12 Torrington 44 Trumbull 48 Union 0 Vernon 22 Voluntown 1 Wallingford 30Warren 0 Washington 11 Waterbury 278 Waterford 5 Watertown 16 West Hartford 43 West Haven 122 Westbrook 4 Weston 33 Westport 146 Wethersfield 30Willington 2 Wilton 79 Winchester 5 Windham 7 Windsor 54 Windsor Locks 11 Wolcott 12 Woodbridge 12Woodbury 9Woodstock 7 */ /*-->*/