Today’s Coronavirus News: An Estimate Says Nearly Half of Connecticut Residents Have Been Infected With COVID-19

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world on Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

8:46 am: Northern Health declared the COVID-19 outbreak at Wrinch Memorial Hospital on October 29.

The outbreak was declared on September 27 and eight patients and two staff members tested positive for the virus. One patient died, Northern Health said.

Northern Health is actively monitoring and following all laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases among staff and patients throughout its facilities.

8:45 am: Russia has registered a new and high daily number of coronavirus cases, as many of the country’s companies remain closed in an effort to counter an increase in infections for a week.

The national coronavirus task force reported 40,993 new infections during the previous day on Sunday, more than 700 from the previous record the day before. Russia has posted a record of infections or deaths almost daily during October.

The death toll reported Sunday was 1,158, slightly below Friday’s record of 1,163.

That brought Russia’s official COVID-19 death count to 238,538, by far the largest in Europe. More than 8.51 million infections have been recorded in the country out of 146 million during the pandemic.

Sunday 8:44 am: While vaccination remains the single most important tool in ending the COVID-19 outbreak in Connecticut once and for all, experts say another factor could play a role as well: immunity to a previous coronavirus infection, known as natural immunity. .

Natural immunity is neither absolute nor indefinite. As with immunity from vaccination, it fades over time. But research suggests that those who have had COVID-19 are unlikely to contract it right away, and therefore unlikely to contribute to a broader outbreak in the near future.

Although estimates vary on the proportion of Connecticut residents who have been infected with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, one model suggests that the number may be approaching 50%. If that’s the case, experts say, natural immunity among people who have been previously infected could make some difference in ending the pandemic in the state.

However, the difference is still under debate.

Read the news about the coronavirus on Saturday.