One-Third of Connecticut Lives In A 'Red Alert' Community

Nearly a third of Connecticut’s population now lives in a city or town with “red alert” levels of COVID-19 infection, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday during a press briefing that saw the state’s new infection rate at an alarming 6.1%.

“I look hard to find a silver lining and I can’t find it in these numbers except perhaps the fact that we’ve done a lot of testing,” Lamont said at the outset of his briefing. “That’s the highest rate we’ve had since June 1. Couple that with hospitalizations continuing to creep up and fatalities, there’s no good news in those numbers.”

Since Wednesday, another 12 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, bringing the state total to 321 and another five residents died as a result of the virus. Thursday’s spike in new cases helped bump the seven-day rolling average to 3.1%.

Meanwhile, the number of towns in the “red alert” range of having more than 15 positive cases per 100,000 residents jumped sharply from 19 to 30. Lamont said those 30 towns represent about 32% of the state’s total population.

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