HARTFORD, Conn. — Governor Ned Lamont said the state's positivity rate has soared to 6.1% as more towns are moving into the red zone with COVID-19 infections.
On Thursday, 21,739 tests were administered and 1,319 came back positive (6.1% positivity rate) 321 patients are hospitalized (an increase of 12) There have been 5 COVID-related deaths.
The state has rolled out a dashboard to measure the incidences of COVID-19 in schools.
Lamont said, "It's going to get worse before it gets better and we are all in this together."
"We're increasing focus on high risk activities...bars masquerading as a number of those facilities shut down...to keep your community safe."
According to the governor, most of the new infections can be traced to family and group gatherings rather than public exposure. He also said the spikes didn't seem to be traced to schools.
He said the towns have been given the option to roll back to Phase 2 if they felt it was needed.
New Haven announced the rollback on Thursday afternoon.
Windham is one of the towns that rolled back to Phase 2. Town Manager Jim Rivers, said, "We needed to take action...we are letting data decide...we are coming into the winter and that is something we really considered."
The City of Stamford is rolling back to Phase 2 of Reopening in response to the increase of COVID-19 cases in the region, State, and in Stamford.
"There is no feasible way to get our community and economy close to normal if everyone is getting sick," said Mayor David Martin. "I am reluctant to make this decision because I know how it will impact our businesses and community, but the City of Stamford must rollback to Phase 2 as soon as possible."
The governor said there were 45 infections related to hockey teams and many rinks were closed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Lamont said enforcement would be key for this weekend to make sure gatherings are under the limits allowed.
He urged towns that were in the red to move back to Phase 2.
New Haven announced Thursday that they would move back to Phase 2.
In the last week, towns in the red went from 19 to 30 towns, with 32% of population in those towns.
"We thought we saw the light at the end of the tunnel and to see the positivity rate is a guy punch," said Lamont.
He said this was looking like a second wave. He also said Dr. Anthony Fauci it was actually a continuation of the first wave.
As cases rise across the country, three more states added to Connecticut's Travel Advisory list Tuesday.
California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania were all added to the list due to their COVID-19 cases. With these states, there are now 42 other states and territories listed. Anyone traveling from these states to CT must quarantine for 14 days.
Recently, Governor Lamont announced a change in criteria for a state to be added to the list. States with a positive case rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or higher than a 10 percent test positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average qualify for the list. Any counties which have been issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice from the CDC must also quarantine.