CT Red Zone Towns Rise As State Eases Coronavirus Restrictions

CONNECTICUT — The number of communities falling within the state's red alert level for coronavirus infections rose by two towns this week, even as Connecticut becomes one of the few to drop nearly all capacity restrictions.

Capacity limits at Connecticut restaurants and other businesses ended Friday as a new reopening phase kicked off. Masks are still required at all businesses and spacing and cleaning protocols are also still in effect.

Towns fall into the red zone when average daily cases exceed 15 per 100,000 population over a two-week average. There are now 105 of 169 towns still in the red zone. Gov. Ned Lamont said the key metric for reopenings is hospital capacity, which remained sufficient this week.

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

Orange (10-14): Andover, Avon, Berlin, Bloomfield, Bolton, Chester, Durham, East Lyme, Ellington, Farmington, Griswold, Hartford, Harwinton, Lebanon, Marlborough, Montville, Norwich, Old Lyme, Plainfield, Plainville, Rocky Hill, Salem, Salisbury, South Windsor, Sprague, Stafford, Stonington, Thompson, Tolland, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Woodstock

Yellow (5-9): Barkhamsted, Colchester, East Windsor, Essex, Lisbon, Portland, Simsbury, Somers, and Willington

Gray (less than five): Ashford, Bozrah, Bridgewater, Canaan, Chaplin, Colebrook, Cornwall, Eastford, Franklin, Goshen, Hampton, Hartland, Kent, Lyme, Norfolk, North Canaan, North Stonington, Pomfret, Scotland, Union, Voluntown and Warren

More positively, only one coronavirus-related death was reported among residents in Connecticut nursing homes last week, at Autumn Lake Healthcare At Cromwell. There are 30 residents throughout the state currently infected with the virus. Since the start of the pandemic, 3,864 Connecticut nursing home residents, and four staff members, have died from the virus.

The number of Connecticut students infected with the coronavirus rose 94 cases in the past week, to 618, an 18 percent increase. The number of infections among school district staff remained steady, at 166.

An additional 50 schools have ramped up to full in-person learning last week — a 23 percent improvement.