HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — For a long time, Connecticut’s positive coronavirus test rate was under one percent. But recently, we’re a little above one percent, and hospitalizations were also on the rise.

Since Wednesday, there have been 135 new cases. 1.2 percent of tests came back positive. 70 of those people have been hospitalized and nearly 30 of them were in Hartford County.

News 8 spoke with Dr. Manisha Juthani, an infectious disease specialist at Yale. While she said she’s concerned about the uptick, Dr. Juthani also said we are in much better shape to treat people.

“We’re in a different position right now. Now we have the ability to contact trace. We know that our level of virus in the community is much lower than at the height of the pandemic here in Connecticut.”

With kids returning to school recently, and tests lag for about a week, Dr. Juthani thinks the uptick in positive cases can be attributed to more movement in general – people went on vacation, then return. College kids from other states came back.

Local health departments are the ones handling much of the contact tracing efforts. After Hartford County, New Haven is seeing the most hospitalizations behind that Fairfield County.