(WTNH) – The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate is at 8.3 percent on Tuesday afternoon. That’s a jump from Monday’s 5.8 percent.

State health officials say the flu and holiday season combined with waning immunity and upticks in surrounding states contributed to the sudden increase of CT’S COVID positivity rate.

Connecticut’s Department of Public Health Commissioner told News 8 she isn’t surprised.

“So, this higher positivity rate is really not a surprise to me at all given the trajectory we’ve been seeing in cases and particularly in hospitalizations. To go from 300 hospitalizations to 500 hospitalizations in such a short period of time is extremely concerning,” Dr. Manisha Juthani said.

WEB EXTRA: Full interview with Dept. of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani

Dr. Manisha Juthani says she believes the use of at-home tests is causing the overall denominator for the positivity rate to be lower, in turn causing the positivity rate to spike higher.

She is urging anyone over the age of 18 to get a booster shot.

“I think we’re in a much better place right now because we have done a pretty good job of vaccination here in Connecticut. About 72 percent are fully vaccinated,” said Dr. Albert Shaw, Yale Medicine Physician.

On Tuesday, Governor Ned Lamont was asked about the possibility of reinstating sanctions.

“The Delta [variant] is incredibly infectious. Five to ten percent of the people that haven’t been vaccinated, that’s who Delta is going at right now and they’re all getting infected, and many of those are going right to the hospital,” Lamont said.

Lamont does not see a need for bringing back any mandates at this point because there is still hospital capacity. There are now 500 people in the hospital compared to this time last year when there were 2,000 hospitalized. Lamont sees drug therapies coming out early next year and most testing as positives.

“Do not let your guard down. This virus is not done with us even though we are done with it,” Dr. Juthani said.

In Connecticut, Dr. Juthani says that 52 percent of the population 65 years and older is boosted so far, but only a quarter of the general population is boosted.

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