Health commissioner warns Covid trajectory ‘heading in wrong direction’

Connecticut”™s Department of Public Health has issued a warning that the state”™s Covid-19 infection rate is on the rise as the second case of a local omicron variant infection was confirmed in Fairfield County.

Public Commissioner Manisha Juthani cautioned that the “Covid-19 virus is not done with us yet” following the Dec. 7 announcement that Connecticut”™s single-day positivity rate reached 8.3%, up from the rate of 5.8% on Dec. 6. This marks the highest percentage rate in nearly a year.

“Of the 525 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 76.2% are not fully vaccinated,” Juthani said. “The number of cases in Connecticut is steadily rising and this trajectory is heading in the wrong direction.”

Juthani added that “a perfect storm that has contributed to this latest increase,” with a seasonal rise in viral respiratory infections coupled with waning immunity from earlier Covid inoculations. She urged residents to get a Covid booster show and recommended the continued us of face masks within indoor public spaces.

Connecticut”™s second omicron variant case is a Fairfield County man in his early twenties who visited New York City a week before he began to develop mild symptoms on Dec. 2. No further details on the case were released.