Connecticut Coronavirus Deaths Hit 5,000

CONNECTICUT — Monday was a somber day for the state as coronavirus deaths surpassed 5,000, Gov. Ned Lamont announced.

"We will miss them dearly," Lamont said during a news conference.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, 59 more coronavirus deaths were reported, increasing the total to 5,020 since the pandemic began in March. A total of 4,714 new coronavirus cases and 81 more hospitalizations were also reported over the weekend.

A total of 1,098 people were hospitalized with the virus as of Monday. There were 106,821 tests administered over the holiday weekend.

There have been 117,295 coronavirus cases in the state since the pandemic began.

Some good news

The positive test rate over the weekend was 4.4 percent, representing a slight decrease. Last week, the rate was 4.7 percent and two weeks ago it was 5.8 percent.

"Let's watch the trend line," Lamont said. "We're hopeful."

Lamont said Connecticut still has one of the lowest positive test rates in the country.

Not so good news

Lamont said the new deaths and hospitalizations were causes for concern. State officials said about 59 percent of the available intensive care units were filled as of Monday. Officials said they were not worried about hospital capacity and that the real need is finding medical personnel.

What did we learn about Thanksgiving and its impact on COVID-19?

Lamont said rail travel was down 85 percent for a normal Thanksgiving and driving was down 30 percent. He said this is a sign that Connecticut residents by and large did the right thing in trying to prevent the spread of the virus during the holiday.

Vaccination update

Lamont said Connecticut should see its first 20,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 14 and another 20,000 doses later in December. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the vaccine is 95 percent effective and it's vital everyone takes it, according to Lamont.

More details concerning the vaccine and its availability to Connecticut residents will be released at a Thursday news conference.

The communities with the most new reported coronavirus cases over the past day were:

1. Waterbury: 330
2. Bridgeport: 298
3. Hartford: 253
4. New Haven: 206
5. Danbury: 185
6. Stamford: 155
7. New Britain: 141
8. Norwalk: 125
9. Meriden: 118
10. Fairfield: 96

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The communities with the most new coronavirus cases over the past week were:

1. Waterbury: 658
2. Bridgeport: 651
3. Hartford: 563
4. Danbury: 455
5. Stamford: 357
6. Norwalk: 343
7. New Britain: 337
8. Meriden: 323
9. New Haven: 318
10. Bristol: 172