The state's COVID-19 positivity rate has climbed to its highest positivity rate since June, jumping to 2.4% on Tuesday, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.
The state's positivity rate had been just above 1% for the past few weeks.
There were 320 positive cases out of a total of 13,398 tests, the governor said.
"When you see the positivity rate going from less than 1% to 1, 1.5, now 2.4, it's not unexpected, but it's incredibly unnerving and a little exhausting," Lamont said during a news conference.
The governor’s administration said one of the main reasons the numbers are increasing is because people are hanging out with friends and coworkers.
Lamont said the state is part of a region that has seen a recent increase in cases, citing rising positivity rates in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York City.
Yale Public Health Professor Dr. Albert Ko said the state is better situated not than at the beginning of the pandemic. There is more widespread testing, which means infections are caught earlier and people can get treatment sooner. There have also been advances in medicine.
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“People are getting into treatment earlier with increased testing and there have been advances in medications,” Ko said.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations rose by 17 on Monday, bringing the total to 172. That also is not a number the state has seen since June.
