Daily coronavirus updates: State sees higher-than-usual COVID-19 positivity rate; UConn adds more cases

Connecticut reported a higher-than-usual rate of positive COVID-19 tests Wednesday, along with an increase in coronavirus hospitalizations, state numbers show.

The state reported 89 new cases on 5,943 tests, for a rate of about 1.5%, the highest in a given day since late June.

Officials have warned that the state’s positivity rate is prone to fluctuate day to day, especially on days such as Wednesday with a relatively small number of new tests. Even with Wednesday’s numbers, Connecticut’s positivity rate over the past week stands at 0.9%, down slightly from late August and lower than that of nearly every other state.

Connecticut has 57 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, per state numbers, up seven from Tuesday but down from a week ago.

The state did not report any new coronavirus-linked deaths Wednesday, freezing its death toll during the pandemic at 4,474. According to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University, the United States has seen 190,447 deaths linked to COVID-19.

More cases at UConn, on and off campus

UConn announced five more cases among students living on its Storrs campus Wednesday, as well as five additional cases among students living off-campus.

The school has now recorded 164 total cases among Storrs students, as well as four among Stamford students and one among Hartford students.

Forty isolation beds are currently occupied out of 245 on the Storrs campus, according to UConn’s public dashboard.

UConn has begun to see fewer on-campus cases in recent days while experiencing a spike in off-campus cases. Stephanie Reitz, a university spokesperson, said much of the off-campus spread seems to be within individual apartments, where multiple roommates have appeared to infect each other.

The school announced Wednesday it will continue a mix of in-person, online and hybrid classes for the spring semester.

Elsewhere on local college campuses, Central Connecticut State has seen a trickle of positive tests, mostly among commuter students, while Sacred Heart has recorded 21 cases in the past seven days. Other Connecticut schools, including Yale, Wesleyan, Trinity, Quinnipiac, Southern Connecticut State and Eastern Connecticut State, have reported few or no positive tests among students.

Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.

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