Eleven Connecticut municipalities, including Hartford, were designated as COVID-19 hot spots by Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday, reflecting growing concern about outbreaks in the state.
A color-coded map of towns and cities released Thursday lists those 11 municipalities in the “red alert” category, in which officials recommend public events be canceled and that individuals limit trips outside the home, wear masks outside at all times and avoid gatherings with non-family members. Local officials there also have the option to roll back the reopening of businesses.
“COVID is a very contagious disease, and it is spreading right now in Connecticut,” said Dr. Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of public health. “The purpose of this new alert level map is to make sure every person in Connecticut can look at that map and know where their town is … and take the actions that we’re recommending.”
The municipalities in question, all of which have experienced at least 15 daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, are Hartford, Danbury, Norwich, New London, Canterbury, East Lyme, Griswold, Montville, Preston, Sprague, Windham.
Of those municipalities, nine are in eastern Connecticut, with Hartford and Danbury the two exceptions. Danbury has seen a steady flow of cases since August, while Hartford’s numbers have increased more recently, along with those in the New London area.
“We had seen from Danbury that we can contain this on a just municipal basis,” Lamont said. “We also know that it also can have some regional spread — another thing that we’re following very carefully.”
Towns and cities with at least 25 daily cases per 100,000 residents (currently just Norwich and New London) are also recommended to “consider more distance learning” in K-12 schools.
Lamont suggested last week the state would begin a more localized approach to fighting COVID-19, with increased discretion for municipal officials in highly affected areas. One Tuesday, he announced an executive order allowing authorities in certain towns and cities to roll back from Phase 3 of reopening to Phase 2, which featured tighter restrictions on restaurants, libraries, hair salons, places of worship, performance venues and more.
Last week, the state identified only four municipalities — New London, Norwich, Windham and Preston — as coronavirus hot spots. The list nearly tripled this week, as the virus continued to spread across the state and particularly in New London County.
Lamont said officials in Windham were “interested” in rolling back to Phase 2, while other towns and cities had chosen to stay in Phase 3 for now.
The state also issued guidelines Thursday for towns and cities with 10-15 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents, including East Hartford, Bloomfield, New Britain and Waterbury. In those places, officials are recommended to “scale back” public events and encourage testing for asymptomatic residents.
Positivity rate slightly lower
Lamont reported 213 new positive results on 15,817 COVID-19 tests Thursday, for a positivity rate of about 1.3%. About 1.6% of Connecticut’s tests have come back positive over the past seven days — a higher rate than the state experienced over the summer but a lower rate than most other states have recorded recently.
Connecticut currently has 191 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, up three from Wednesday and about four-and-a-half times the number the state saw at its low-mark in August.
The state also reported three additional coronavirus-linked deaths, making 4,540 during the pandemic. Connecticut has now recorded 32 COVID-19 deaths in October, after 33 in all of August and 43 in September.
The United States, which is currently experiencing yet another nationwide coronavirus surge, has now recorded 217,497 COVID-19 deaths, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Lamont could overhaul travel advisory
For the second time in three days, Lamont on Thursday said he’d consider dramatically altering Connecticut’s COVID-19 travel advisory, which currently includes 38 states and territories.
One possibility, Lamont said, could be to simply require all travelers to either test negative for COVID-19 or quarantine upon arrival in Connecticut.
“Perhaps at some point we just say, you get tested before you fly in to Connecticut. You quarantine when you come here,” Lamont said. “Maybe you start treating all these states as one. It’s getting a little complicated who’s in and who’s out week-in and week-out.”
As Connecticut’s rate of new COVID-19 infections has increased in recent weeks, the state has crept dangerously close to qualifying for its own advisory. Connecticut has recorded about eight cases a day per 100,000 residents over the past week, just under the threshold of 10 per 100,000 at which a state faces travel restrictions.
“It’d be a little ironic if we were on our own quarantine list,” Lamont said.
Lamont said he hoped to collaborate with governors from New York and New Jersey on any changes to the travel advisory.
Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.
