Daily coronavirus updates: Fauci says ‘Connecticut is in a good place’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Monday that Connecticut is moving in the right direction with its coronavirus response.

“Connecticut is in a good place,” Fauci said. “You are in a situation that you now, in many respects, have the upper hand, because you have such a low rate that when you do get new cases, you have the capability of containment as opposed to mitigation.”

Fauci, the nation’s leading spokesperson on coronavirus, joined Gov. Ned Lamont on his Monday coronavirus press briefing. Fauci not only applauded Connecticut’s progress so far, but also pointed to the state’s continued vigilance on mask-wearing and social distancing, which he said will help the state avoid a resurgence in cases.

“It is not inevitable that your numbers will go up,” Fauci said. “It is possible that you can use the favorable position that you are in now to keep your numbers down.”

While praising Connecticut, Fauci also pointed to concerning trends in other parts of the country.

He pointed to southern states such as Florida and southwestern states such as Arizona that have seen coronavirus spikes in recent weeks. Fauci added that other states are still at risk of seeing similar situations.

Across the whole of the U.S., there have been more than 4.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 155,000 coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

“We’ve gotten hit quite badly with regard to total number of cases,” Fauci said.

At Monday’s briefing, Lamont also announced Connecticut’s latest coronavirus numbers.

The state on Monday reported 252 new cases since Friday, which pushes Connecticut past the grim milestone of 50,000 coronavirus cases.

The state also reported five new coronavirus-related deaths since Friday, for a total of 4,437. Hospitalizations, however, dropped by 13 over the weekend. Connecticut now has 56 patients hospitalized with coronavirus, according to state data.

Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.

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