Daily coronavirus updates: Connecticut reports zero deaths for second consecutive day

For the second day in a row and the sixth day in the past month, Connecticut on Wednesday reported zero new coronavirus-related deaths.

But also on Wednesday, the state reported 115 new cases. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, the state has seen 4,437 coronavirus-related deaths and 50,225 coronavirus cases.

Coronavirus hospitalizations dipped by one on Wednesday, to a total of 59, after ticking up slightly the day before. Hospitalizations hit a peak in mid- to late-April, when the state had nearly 2,000 patients hospitalized with coronavirus.

Wednesday’s 115 new cases were identified out of a total of 11,839 tests. That means the state’s daily positivity rate shifted up to nearly 1% on Wednesday, after sitting at 0.7% for the two prior days and weekend.

A state’s positivity rate can be used as a gauge of its testing sufficiency -- a low positivity rate indicates that the state is testing broadly enough to include even people who are less likely to have the virus, such as those who are asymptomatic.

Connecticut’s positivity rate has remained below 2% since mid-June, and in recent weeks has stayed mostly at or below 1%. The exact number bounces around from day to day, but has often dipped significantly below 1%.

Connecticut’s coronavirus numbers have remained mostly steady, even while other parts of the country see ongoing spikes in both cases and deaths.

Most recently, neighboring state Rhode Island has seen a notable spike in cases, which Gov. Ned Lamont has called “disconcerting.”

Rhode Island’s spike has so far not to led a concurrent spike in Connecticut, and on Tuesday Connecticut added its next-door neighbor to its travel advisory list.

Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.

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