Inside the numbers

The following is a breakdown of the data provided in the linked New York Times article (as of 06/17/20). We wanted to provide this information not to scare you or to reassure you that coronavirus is not a threat, but to help you to be informed.


Tolland county has fared much better than our neighboring Hartford county. According to the data in the link, 1 out of every 170 people in Tolland county has had a confirmed case of coronavirus. 62 of those people have died, most likely from the virus, meaning that 1 out of every 2,440 people in Tolland county appears to have died from coronavirus. In contrast, in Hartford county 1 out of every 79 people has had a confirmed case of coronavirus, and 1 out of every 673 people has died. As of today, Tolland county has the lowest 7-day average for new confirmed cases in Connecticut: 1.8 new cases a day.


In total, Connecticut has reported 45,349 cases of coronavirus (the actual number is surely much higher) and 4,210 deaths. This means that approximately 1 out of every 850 people in Connecticut has died of coronavirus since the pandemic started, and approximately 1 out of every 78 people has had a confirmed case.


We should be mindful of the fact that these numbers would likely be much higher if it weren't for the drastic measures that have been taken to lessen the spread of the virus.


For the sake of comparison, there were approximately 675 deaths from the flu and pneumonia in Connecticut in 2017. In just half of 2020, coronavirus appears to have resulted in 3,535 more deaths than the flu did in all of 2017, despite extraordinary preventative measures (https://www.livestories.com/statistics/connecticut/influenza-flu-pneumonia-deaths-mortality).


Those who are most at risk for severe cases of coronavirus are those who are elderly and have underlying conditions.