Coronavirus CT: Vaccinations & Variants On The Road To Recovery

CONNECTICUT — Nationwide, deaths from COVID-19 have dropped 90 percent since their peak in January, according to the latest information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Deaths that do occur are mainly among those who have not been vaccinated.

Some of the younger vaccinated may not be out of the woods yet, however. The Daily Mail is reporting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called an emergency meeting over higher than expected cases of heart inflammation among young people who have received their second jab.

A CDC workgroup on May 17 announced findings regarding "relatively few reports of myocarditis" typically within 4 days after vaccination. A week later, 18 such cases were reported in Connecticut.

The total number of reported cases is now up to 226, according to the Daily Mail. Of those, three are in intensive care, 15 are hospitalized, 41 have ongoing symptoms, and the remaining 167 have recovered.

The reports of cases are extremely rare, and it is not clear if the inflammation is caused by the shots. The CDC is continuing to urge everyone aged 12 and older to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday that the unvaccinated were particularly susceptible to infection from variant B.1.617.2, first identified in India. Murthy said the variant was more transmissible and potentially more dangerous.

The rate of growth for the variants has accelerated compared to what it was last week, up by 340 cases in Connecticut. All the variants identified in Connecticut are treatable by the three vaccines available to residents.

The CDC has identified three types of coronavirus variants: variants of interest, variants of concern and variants of high consequence. The CDC has also recently introduced a new category, "substitutions of therapeutic concern," which can be found across all variants, and may be more resilient against certain man-made antibodies.

Among the variants of interest currently found in Connecticut, incidents of variant P.2 have stayed steady at nine. The variant B.1.525, which first detected in Africa and Europe, also held steady, at 19 cases. Cases of the variant of interest B.1.526 climbed 48 cases, from 958 to 1006. Instances of B.1.526.1 climbed from 232 to 253. Both of those variants were first detected in New York.

Among the state's variants of concern, B.1.1.7 ("U.K.") is up from 3,035 to 3,191 cases. Cases of variant B.1.427/B.1.429, from California, climbed three cases, from 197 to 120. Variant P.1, first detected in Brazil, climbed 11 cases, from 112 to 123. Cases of the variant first detected in South Africa, B.1.351 rose by five cases, to 38.

One substitution of therapeutic concern, E484K, was found in 1,014 variant cases, up from 974 last week. The other, L452R, was detected in 527 cases, up from 488 previously.

As of Wednesday, the least vaccinated town in the state is Mansfield, with just 30.49 percent of the population fully vaccinated, and 33.99 percent with their first dose.

As of Thursday, Connecticut residents who have received at least one dose by age group include 94 percent of those over the age of 65, 84 percent of those between 55-64, 72 percent of those between 45-54, 68 percent of those between 35-44, 58 percent of those between 25-34, 54 percent of those between 18-24, 61 percent of those between 16-17, and 38 percent of those between 12-15

There was one more coronavirus-related death reported overnight. The death toll for the pandemic is 8,261.

The highest at-risk population nationwide remains residents of nursing homes, according to the New York Times. There was one coronavirus-related death reported this week in Connecticut, at the Pilgrim Manor Care Center in Cromwell. No deaths were reported at any of the assisted living centers located in the state.

Only five towns were categorized any hotter than "gray" in the latest update of municipal alert levels issued by the state Department of Public Health.

The virus continues to linger in Bolton, Brooklyn, Hartford, Salem and Waterbury, which remain in the yellow zone

Towns fall into the yellow zone when average daily cases are fewer than 5-9 cases per 100,000 population over a two-week average. The color codes correspond to guidance from the state Department of Public Health.

An additional 31 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the state since Thursday, bringing that total to 348,350. With 8,387 tests reported, the daily positivity rate now sits at 0.37 percent.

The number of Connecticut hospital beds holding COVID-19 patients remains at 71.

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The number of Connecticut students infected with the coronavirus fell 17 cases in the past week, to 41, a 28 percent drop. The number of infections among school district staff dropped five cases, to a total of four, a 50 percent change on the week.

The number of schools with students attending in-person fell by 39 percent, to 33.