Weekly New Cases By Town

For the Week Ending June 6


As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, the need for new ways to look at and understand the data we have on the virus becomes more and more important.

The daily map we’ve been using, which was a simple, cumulative count of cases in every town since the disease first struck back in March, was becoming less useful. The trouble with that map is that we are about seven weeks past the peak of new cases in the state, but those cases are still reflected on the map.

Years from now the map of cumulative cases by town will provide the historic illustration of how the state was impacted. However, at this stage of the pandemic as we get through it, we think it’s more helpful now to illustrate the pace of new infections as the Department of Public Health watches for new hotspots.

A good example of the problem with continuing to highlight the cumulative case map is the town of Darien, which was hit very early on in the crisis. Darien had no cases in the past seven days, but on the old map would be listed as having 201 cases total, a high number, making Darien look like it was still a hotspot. It would thus be impossible to understand the situation as it currently is.

So we’ve switched to a different kind of map that measures new cases in each town over the past seven days, and a chart that shows the daily count of new, positive COVID-19 cases statewide. This will allow readers to quickly see what’s happening in their towns now. Just mouse over your town for the current number.

This map will also serve as a complement to our weekly prevalence map, which factors in population density by measuring new cases per 10,000 people in each town.

The new map will be updated daily and will appear on stories concerning the pandemic. You’ll always be able to find the full map at this link, as well.

And here below is the chart that visualizes the three-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases reported in Connecticut, including new positives and new negatives based on data from the DPH.


This chart offers the data in three-day averages.