The COVID-19 positivity rate in Connecticut has decreased to 3.55%, but the number of deaths due to coronavirus has surpassed 7000, as reported on Jan. 28. It is projected that Connecticut will have an increase in hospitalizations and deaths as March approaches, and many hold out hope that vaccinations will become more readily available.

“I hope life begins to return to normal as more people get vaccinated,” Romy Nusbaum ’22 said. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now more than ever.”

According to The United States Department of Health and Human Services report on Jan. 29, the statewide adult inpatient occupancy is at 81.2%, and the statewide adult ICU occupancy is at 62.3%. These numbers have increased from what they were in past reports, and there are currently 985 people with the virus in Connecticut hospitals.

Statewide, there are currently 250,023 confirmed cases, and an MIT model using data from Hartford Healthcare predicts that this number will rise to 530,501 by March 13, 2021, and the number of detected deaths will reach 9,995. However, an increase in vaccinations provides Connecticut residents with a glimmer of hope.

“In the next few weeks, we are going to take into consideration vaccinations in a good way because, as you know, vaccinations will decrease the infection rates,”  Dimitris Bertsimas said, according to News 8. Bertismas is the Associate Dean for the Master of Business Analytics at MIT and is involved with perfecting this prediction model.

Connecticut is currently in phase 1b of the coronavirus vaccine rollout plan, and residents who are 75 and older are now able to get vaccinated. The next groups that will be eligible are people between 65 and 74, followed by frontline essential workers and people with an underlying medical condition with increased risk for severe illness.

“We know many people are excited to receive the vaccine and the promise of the future that comes with it, but we are limited in our ability to distribute them purely based on the amount we receive from the federal government,” Governor Ned Lamont said, according to Connecticut’s official state website.

So far, 364,255 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to people in phase 1a and 1b, and Connecticut is ranked third nationally in terms of vaccine distribution. Now, around 35% of people 75 and over are vaccinated.