Omicron Cases Explode As COVID-19 Positivity Nears 9% In CT

CONNECTICUT — The daily coronavirus positivity rate in Connecticut has climbed to 8.98 percent — the highest it's been since Jan. 11 — according to the latest data released by the state Department of Public Health. Six thousand new confirmed cases, from 66,803 tests, were added in the past 24 hours.

Nationwide, the omicron variant has overtaken the delta coronavirus variant, although it still lags behind it in Connecticut. In the United States the new variant accounts for 73 percent of new cases, federal health officials estimate.

The omicron spike comes three weeks after the variant was detected half a world away and days before Americans gather for the holidays, sparking fears among health officials that COVID-19 cases could return to early pandemic levels.

In the latest coronavirus testing done nationwide, omicron variant cases outpace the delta variant, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the COVID-19 specimens collected the week ending Dec. 18 in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont, nearly 38 percent belonged to omicron.

The CDC numbers reported Monday show how quickly omicron is spreading. Nationwide, omicron variant cases increased six-fold in only a week. In addition to sweeping through the Northeast at a blistering pace, omicron also now accounts for at least 90 percent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the Midwest and Pacific.

The delta variant had been dominant since June, and as recently as the end of November represented 99.5 percent of new cases.

In a tweet posted Tuesday, Nathan Grubaugh, associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health, estimated that omicron will overtake delta in Connecticut later in the day.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters Monday that omicron's rapid spread matches what other countries have seen.

"These new numbers are stark, but they are not surprising," Walensky said.

Only about 28 percent of Americans have gotten their COVID-19 booster shots, which health officials say is the best defense against the omicron variant. Only about 61 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated but aren't boosted, and health officials are worried about the nation's ability to withstand a fifth wave of COVID-19.

For more information, go to the CDC data tracker.

Hospitalizations in Connecticut dropped by 3 beds overnight. There are 834 patients currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19; of those 207 (24.8 percent) are fully vaccinated.

Most of those hospitalized (272) are in New Haven County.

Just under 82 percent of Connecticut's population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday afternoon.

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