Coronavirus Deaths Reach 9,000 In Connecticut

CONNECTICUT — The state reached a grim milestone this week with the announcement that 9,002 people in Connecticut have died from the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Connecticut health officials release the total number of deaths on a weekly basis on Thursdays, and since last week, 56 people died to reach the 9,002 figure.

The news comes as the United States reached 800,000 COVID-19-related deaths, with 2021 drawing to a close. The year began with the promise of vaccines, but the rapid spread of the more infectious delta variant seemingly erased some of those gains.

The number of omicron variant cases rose from 11 to 40 in Connecticut, state officials said.

New cases of the virus continue to increase in Connecticut, growing by 2,085 since Wednesday. The positivity rate remains above 7 percent at 7.14 percent, according to state health officials.

Hospitalizations dropped slightly to 710 patients, down from 716, but 533, or 75.1 percent, of those patients were not fully vaccinated, according to officials.

"Compared to being vaccinated, being unvaccinated currently has the following relative risk: 5 times higher risk of being infected with COVID-19; 20 times higher risk of dying from COVID-19; [and] 15 times higher risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19."

As for breakthrough cases, officials said:

"The Connecticut Department of Public Health is reporting that as of December 16, 2021, a total of 34,966 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut have been confirmed. Of the more than 2.5 million people in Connecticut who have completed their vaccine series, 1.43 percent have contracted the virus."

Only five Connecticut communities, Canaan, Colebrook, Norfolk, Sharon and Warren, are not considered coronavirus red zones, meaning those towns have fewer than 15 cases per 100,000 people.

For a town-by-town breakdown of new COVID-19 cases in Connecticut, see the Connecticut Data Portal.