By Paul Hughes, Republican-American
HARTFORD — The reported daily death toll from coronavirus disease dipped below double digits Tuesday for the first time in nine weeks.
Gov. Ned Lamont observed that the eight additional coronavirus-associated deaths represented the smallest daily increase since March 30 when two fatalities were announced.
“That is the lowest fatality rate we’ve had in months, certainly since March,” he said. “That is extraordinarily good news.”
There now have been 3,972 confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19 in Connecticut since the first fatality was announced on March 18.
The Naugatuck Valley Health District reported there have been 32 confirmed and three probable deaths associated with COVID-19 in Naugatuck. Local health officials haven’t reported any coronavirus-related deaths in Beacon Falls and Prospect as of Tuesday.
THE MOST DEADLY DATE of the viral outbreak was April 21 when 112 deaths were recorded across the state — 87 confirmed deaths and 25 probable deaths.
The death count includes people who tested positive for COVID-19 around the time of their deaths, and probable deaths of untested people whose symptoms indicated they likely were infected.
Most of the probable deaths involve someone whose death certificates list COVID-19 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 as a cause of death, or a significant condition contributing to death.
There have only been six probable and confirmed deaths of individuals younger than age 30. This count continues to include the first possible pediatric death.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is still awaiting results of additional testing for a 6-week-old infant who died in late March. The child was from Hartford County. The newborn was unresponsive when brought to the hospital and could not be revived. Post-mortem testing confirmed the baby had the virus.
Test results needed to determine the infant’s cause of death were still pending Tuesday, said Dr. James Gill, the state’s chief medical examiner.
THE THREE LARGEST COUNTIES account for nearly 90% of the coronavirus-associated deaths in the state.
There have been 1,287 confirmed and probable deaths in Fairfield County where the viral outbreak first hit in Connecticut. The 1,253 fatalities in Hartford County ranked a close second. There have been 985 deaths in New Haven County.
In contrast, there have been 481 confirmed and probable deaths in the remaining five counties, and only two of them had death tolls greater than 100. There have been 170 fatalities attributed to COVID-19 in Middlesex County and 133 in Litchfield Counties.
The state’s five largest cities with populations of more than 100,000 accounted for 745 deaths. Stamford led this group with 187 deaths, and Waterbury ranked second with 30 fewer fatalities reported. There were 151 deaths in Hartford, 144 in Bridgeport and 106 deaths in New Haven.
Municipalities with populations of 50,000 or more accounted for 1,855 of the 3,972 deaths reported through Tuesday. This category included Fairfield with 129 deaths, Danbury and Hamden with 119 deaths each, and 112 deaths in West Hartford. No others topped 100 deaths other than the five largest cities.
PEOPLE OLDER THAN 60 constitute more than 90% of coronavirus-associated deaths in Connecticut.
Some 493 of the COVID-19 deaths were among state residents aged 60 to 69, 853 among people aged 70 to 79, and 2,391 among individuals aged 80 and older.
Residents of the state’s 215 nursing homes have proven to be one of the most susceptible populations to COVID-19. Public health officials reported 1,884 confirmed deaths and 554 probable deaths.
Those 2,438 reported fatalities represent slightly more than 60% of the 3,972 confirmed and probable deaths that were reported Tuesday. Updated nursing home statistics are due to be released Thursday.
The death rate continues to be disproportionately high among the state’s racial and ethnic minority communities, said Josh Geballe, the chief operating officer of the Lamont administration. He said the same holds for infection rates.
There have been 521 African-American deaths and 341 Hispanic deaths, according to Tuesday’s statistics. There have been 2,890 deaths of white residents.
LAMONT HAS DESCRIBED the death rate as a lagging indicator of the extent of COVID-19 in Connecticut, compared to the hospitalization and infection rates.
The governor considers hospitalizations the best metric for judging community spread. The number of reported hospital cases continued to decrease Tuesday. There was a net decline of 20 patients between new admissions and discharges to 434 statewide.
Public health officials reported an additional 239 more confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 since Monday, bringing the state’s running total to 42,979.
The Naugatuck Valley Health District reported there have been 367 cases in Naugatuck and 42 in Beacon Falls. The Chesprocott Health District reported there have been 61 cases in Prospect as of Friday.
Data released locally differs from figures released by the state in some cases. The state data released Tuesday reported there have been 45 confirmed cases in Beacon Falls and 54 in Prospect. The state reported there have been 360 confirmed and 10 probable cases in Naugatuck.
There have been 40,941 laboratory-confirmed cases statewide. The 2,038 probable cases involve untested persons whose symptoms indicate they are likely to have a COVID-19 infection.
Before Monday, the Department of Public Health had been reporting a combined total of confirmed and probable cases. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed reporting guidance to require states to break out each category.
Public health officials reported there have been 268,572 tests for COVID-19, including 9,252 reported since Monday. This figure includes multiple tests of the same patient or specimen.
Day-to-day changes in COVID-19 statistics reflect newly reported cases, deaths and tests that occurred over the last several days to a week.
Elio Gugliotti contributed to this report.
