HARTFORD, Conn. — There has been a recent rise in COVID-19 cases all over the country, including in Connecticut.
Although national COVID-19 tracking has slowed since the onset of the pandemic, local hospitals have reported an increase in hospitalizations.
“It’s a lot more than we would expect at this time in the summer,” said Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist at Hartford Healthcare.
Wu said that hospitalizations were up to around 150 last week. To put that into perspective, there were about 30 hospitalizations during the same timeframe last year.
“That’s just hospitalizations,” said Wu. “And so, I do caution, there are probably people that are sick out there that are either not reporting, not showing up to the hospital or not testing at this point.”
He believes that cases have likely peaked for now and will continue to gradually decrease until the winter months.
“This surge was due to probably lack of circulating immunity to the new variants that are out there. And so there could still be another later surge depending on if new variants show up,” said Wu.
"I think what’s driving a lot of this as well is people are being forced indoors because the weather has been so hot and humid and because they’re seeking the comfort of air conditioning it’s causing more people to be in close quarters. It’s very similar to what we would see in the winter,” Wu added.
According to CDC data, there were 19 COVID-19 deaths recorded in Connecticut between July 20-25. Similar numbers are being seen in at least 35 states across the country.
Wu suggested adhering to the same precautions people have become accustomed to in dealing with COVID-19 that West Hartford resident Debra Walsh has embraced.
“I think keeping yourself healthy, being respectful of other people… you know, we can wear masks, we can stay six feet apart, we can take the vaccinations,” said Walsh.
“The goal of the vaccine is really to keep you from getting sicker and to keep you out of the hospital and to keep you from dying,” said Wu.
“Masking does work when done properly especially around people who may be sick or spreading disease,” He added.
New vaccines are expected to be developed for the 2024-2025 winter season.
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Kaelee Collins is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kcollins@fox61.com. Follow her on X, and Instagram.
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