Red Zones Increase; Essex Remains Yellow, Covid-19 On The Rise

ESSEX, CHESTER, DEEP RIVER, CT — The town of Essex remains in the Yellow Zone (5-9 per 100,000) as Chester and Deep River are among the communities falling within the state's red alert level for coronavirus infections, this week. The red zones rose by 16 towns just one week into a new reopening phase that has seen capacity limits for nearly all businesses lifted.

"We're not out of this yet," Gov. Ned Lamont said during a news conference Thursday.

The coronavirus positivity rate in the state has climbed from a 2.2 percent 7-day average three weeks ago to 3.7 percent in the numbers released Thursday. The uptick is not confined to Connecticut, as New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island are all reporting elevated infection rates.

"The greater Northeast in general is, I am afraid, leading the country in infections," Lamont said.

Aggravating efforts to contain the virus are new variants which have made their way into the state. About 40 percent of Connecticut's confirmed coronavirus cases are now caused by the U.K. variant of the virus, which spreads more easily.

The current red zone map "looks a little like the chart did in the spring," Lamont said, with the highest levels of infection in the southwestern portion, nearest to New York.

Towns fall into the red zone when average daily cases exceed 15 per 100,000 population over a two-week average. There are now 131 of 169 towns still in the red zone.

The color codes correspond to guidance from the state Department of Public Health about various activities.

Orange (10-14): Avon, Barkhamsted, Bloomfield, Colchester, East Hampton, Ellington, Hebron, Lebanon, Lisbon, Mansfield, Middlefield, Norwich, Portland, Salisbury, South Windsor, Stonington, Thompson, Tolland, Vernon and Voluntown

Yellow (5-9): Essex, Griswold, Pomfret, Somers and Willington

Gray (less than five): Ashford, Canaan, Chaplin, Cornwall, Eastford, Franklin, Hampton, Lyme, Norfolk, North Canaan, Scotland, Sharon and Sprague

The number of residents hospitalized for COVID-19 went up 22 beds overnight, to 434. Lamont reiterated Thursday that this was the metric he considered most crucial.

Another 1,489 cases were confirmed, bringing the state total to 303,511. The death toll from the virus in Connecticut is now 7,862, following 10 more reported Thursday.

With reporting from Rich Kirby, Patch Staff.