HARTFORD, CT (1010 WINS) -- Danbury, Connecticut has brought its COVID-19 positivity rate down by 2 percent, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday — nearly a week after the state’s health department said the city was dealing with a “serious outbreak.”
Connecticut’s Department of Public Health issued a “COVID-19” alert for the Fairfield County city on Aug. 21, after it reported 178 new COVID-19 cases.
Since then, Danbury has done a “massive amount of testing,” reducing its positivity rate from 7 percent to around 5 percent, Lamont said during a briefing Thursday afternoon.
That infection rate is still far higher than the statewide positivity rate, which stood at 0.8 percent on Wednesday, but the drop proves Connecticut’s commitment to testing is working, the governor said.
“So fingers crossed, and maybe this is a template of how we can do things right going forward,” he said.
The state will continue to test both symptomatic and asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19, despite revised Centers for Disease Control guidelines issued last week stating that most asymptomatic people who have been exposed to the virus do not need to get tested, Lamont noted.
“It’s working around the state, and we’re going to keep going,” he said. “If you’ve had contact with somebody who tested positive for COVID, get tested yourself, and quarantine for 14 days.”
Lamont on Thursday reported 130 new COVID-19 cases and two new deaths, bringing the state’s case total to 52,350 and its death toll to 4,465.
As of Wednesday, 56 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19, down by one from Tuesday.