HARTFORD, CT (1010 WINS) -- Connecticut's COVID-19 infection rate ticked up to 7.13% on Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday, marking the state's highest positivity rate since May.
Of the 66,645 COVID-19 test results that came back in the state on Wednesday, 4,751, or 7.13 percent, were positive, Lamont said at a news briefing.
The state hasn't recorded a higher infection rate since the end of May, the Hartford Courant reported.
"That's the highest we've had so far, let's cut to the chase," Lamont said. "Back in the spring, you were testing a different cohort. This is broad-based testing."
The spike, however, was "not unexpected," the governor said.
"It reflects the fact that again, all of the travel, back and forth, may be stirring it up. It may be the beginning of some of the Thanksgiving effect that we had anticipated," he said. "But it's a big number."
As of Wednesday, 1,191 people in Connecticut were hospitalized with COVID-19, down by 11 from Tuesday. The state also reported 20 new COVID-19-related fatalities.
"The good news is hospitalizations are down," Lamont said. "They have not been down for, I think, over a month."
"[But] it's a one day number," he warned. "Don't be a day trader, but it's worth looking at."
Lamont on Thursday also released a tentative calendar for COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Connecticut.
Pfizer's first vaccine deliveries are expected to arrive in the state on Dec. 14; Moderna's meanwhile, should arrive Dec. 21, he said.
Health care workers will be the first to get vaccinated, followed by nursing home residents and medical first responders, the governor noted.
The state's "critical workforce," residents living in "congregate settings," adults who are 65 years or older, and high-risk people under the age of 65 will receive vaccinations between mid-January and late May if the state stays on schedule, he said.
The rest of its residents, starting with children are expected to get vaccinated in early June, he added.
Those dates are preliminary and subject to federal guidance, he noted.
