Coronavirus CT: 310 New Variant Cases Reported

CONNECTICUT —The number of coronavirus variant cases in the state has climbed by 310 cases, according to the latest data released by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. One more case of B.1.617.2, first detected in India, was reported, bringing the total for that variant to two cases this week.

The rate of growth for the variants is less than a third of what it was last week. All the variants identified in Connecticut are treatable by the three vaccines available to residents, and about 75 percent of the eligible state population has already received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Variants of the coronavirus are watched carefully by health officials as they can be more contagious, more resistant to vaccines, or even more deadly. New coronavirus variants have been at the heart of COVID-19 surges throughout the world, most notably in the U.K.

The overall COVID-19 positivity rate held steady from the previous day's numbers, below 1 percent at 0.93 percent. An additional 171 cases of the coronavirus were reported Thursday in the state, bringing that total to 346,325. Residents continue to test for the virus at a furious clip: 18,425 were more were reported by the DPH.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 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, the Brazilian P.2 has held steady for seven weeks at seven cases. The variant B.1.525, which hails from Africa and Europe, went up two cases, to 17. Cases of the "New York variant" of interest B.1.526 dropped 33 cases, from 885 to 852. Instances of the other New York bug, B.1.526.1, climbed from 195 to 202.

Among the state's variants of concern, B.1.1.7 ("U.K.") is up from 2,532 to 2,765 cases. Californian variants B.1.427 dropped from 70 to 62, and B.1.429 climbed ten, from 134 to 144; and Brazilian variant P.1 climbed from 77 to 93 cases. Cases of the South African variant B.1.351 held steady at 28.

One substitution of therapeutic concern, E484K, was found in 796 variant cases, up from 557 last week. The other, L452R, was detected in 412 cases, a jump from 351 cases previously.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital beds fell overnight by one. That brings the number of those hospitalized with the coronavirus in Connecticut to 140.

Coronavirus-associated deaths across the state rose by four in the data reported Friday. The COVID-19 death toll in Connecticut now stands at 8,212.

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