Hospitalizations Climb As CT Schools Pivot From Contact Tracing

CONNECTICUT — The daily coronavirus positivity rate receded 1.25 percent overnight after hitting an eight-month high on Tuesday, but the number of COVID-19 patients in Connecticut hospital beds continues to rise.

The otherwise steady upward climb of the state's daily coronavirus positivity rate has caused the state Department of Public Health to reassess some of its guidance to the schools.

According to the latest data released by the state Department of Public Health, the daily positivity now stands at 22.60 percent. There were 10,344 new confirmed cases, from 45,760 tests, added in the past 24 hours.

There is no relief to be found in the other key COVID-19 metric, hospitalizations. The number of beds occupied by those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Connecticut climbed by 114 since Tuesday, bringing the total number to 1,676. According to state health officials, a third of those (32.7 percent) are fully vaccinated.

New Haven has the highest number of its residents hospitalized, at 577.

In the wake of such high and consistent levels of infection throughout the area, the state Department of Public Health has changed its guidance regarding contact tracing.

Rather than concentrate on tracking individual exposures that occur inside schools or during school-organized and supervised activities, DPH is now advising schools they may discontinue contact tracing to focus on "the identification, early isolation, and clinical management of students and staff with active symptoms."

The change in direction should allow schools to better prioritize available resources without posing a significant increased risk of negative impact on in-school transmission of COVID-19 or access to in-person learning, according to the new guidance.

DPH is asking school health officials to focus on the increased risk from students and staff reporting for school related activities with active symptoms of illness and the decreased risk for and from people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Residents who test positive for COVID-19 should isolate at home for at least five days, or longer if symptoms develop and persist, health officials now recommend. A mask should continue to be worn for an additional five days at all times when around others. The new recommendations conform with the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shortening COVID-19 quarantine and isolation time durations.

DPH is urging those who are even mildly symptomatic with any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 to immediately isolate at home, test for the virus with a PCR, antigen, or self-test, and remain away from activities outside of the home until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours and other symptoms are significantly improved.

Just under 85 percent of Connecticut's population has been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC on Wednesday afternoon.

The most recently reported total number of coronavirus-associated deaths in Connecticut is 9,160.

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Instructions on how to get COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters in Connecticut are available online, as is a list of walk-up clinics sponsored by DPH.