‘ We’re just barely holding on’
Bridgeport health chief eyes rise in coronavirus cases, considers future restrictions
BRIDGEPORT — A pandemic hot spot earlier in the health crisis, as of this week Connecticut’s largest city had seemed to be doing well controlling the novel coronavirus’ spread.
Unlike suburban neighbor Fairfield and urban centers like Norwalk, Danbury, Waterbury, Hartford and New London that are on “red” alert, Bridgeport
on Thursday had maintained its yellow ranking on the state’s weekly colorcoded map of cases.
But on Friday city Health Director Lisa Morrissey wanted residents to know that the trend in Bridgeport is not good.
“We’re just barely holding on to our yellow,” Morrissey said. “I’ve communicated out internally and to our community ( healthcare) providers, I actually think we’re already in the orange.”
Connecticut’s justlaunched color- coding system has four categories: grey, which is less than five cases per 100,000 people; yellow, five to nine cases per 100,000; orange, 10 to 14 cases per 100,000; and red, 15 or more cases per 100,000.
Morrissey noted how
Bridgeport’s case rate as of Thursday was 8.6 per 100,000 and not far from crossing into orange alert. And she believes that, were it not for a possible lag in testing data, the city may have already reached that threshold.
And, Morrissey added, “It’s a concern that Fairfield has gone red. ... We’re not in a bubble. I know as cases rise around us, they will also be rising here.”
“I tell people, ‘ Plan like we’re in the orange,’ ” Morrissey said. “We’re starting to look at what does that mean for us as a community? ... We had several meetings over the last few days talking about it’s time to start thinking about scaling back some public events, reminding people to postpone indoor activities where they can’t maintain social distancing.”
Recently the governor, who when COVID- 19 first struck Connecticut in midMarch had residents across Connecticut stay home and businesses shuttered to reduce the spread, gave cities and towns the ability to independently roll back certain re- openings if virus cases there reach red. So, for example, returning to stricter limits on indoor capacity at restaurants and other businesses/ attractions that were eased earlier this month.
Morrissey said it was too early to talk about what Bridgeport might curtail if necessary. She said the health and emergency management departments, the mayor and chief administrative officer are “having those conversations.”
She is not afraid to seek more restrictions if necessary — “it would be a hard pill to swallow but something everyone would be willing to do if it meant taking those precautions to save lives” — but also acknowledged the big responsibility that local officials now face when it is up to them to revisit restrictions and shutdowns.
“Any feelings, good or bad, that arise from those decisions will be squarely upon the municipality,” Morrissey said.
While Ganim early on in the pandemic was somewhat more aggressive than even his peers or the state and established a voluntary local curfew, many Bridgeport businesses, particularly downtown, have been struggling to stay open during the pandemic.
Lauren Coakley Vincent, president of the Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District which promotes that neighborhood, said her organization would “definitely want to be” part of any discussions involving a red alert strategy.
Ganim’s office referred to comments he made on that topic Wednesday on WICC- AM radio.
“I don’t know that we’re going to take any different action in Bridgeport despite the ability to do that at this time, but we are constantly looking at it and monitoring it as the numbers might change,” the mayor said.
Ganim emphasized the city will continue to crack down on individuals or businesses that “flaunt” health and safety protocols — from wearing masks to capacity limits — “so we don’t contribute, we don’t allow people to get lax, violate rules, disrespect others and add to what might be a rise in this pandemic.”
Morrissey noted while she wants residents and business owners to be aware of the increased cases in Bridgeport, her goal is not to unnecessarily scare people.
“Orange isn’t a precursor to ‘ freak out,’ ” Morrissey said. “It’s an acknowledgment that the situation is getting worse and we need to prepare ourselves that we could eventually see more cases. And it’s an opportunity to say, ‘ What can we be doing differently to try to minimize the impact ( and) re- energize people to go back to take precautions?’ ”
She continued: “With everything that we’ve learned from March until now, we can do a better job in the fall than the spring at minimizing some of the community transmission. We have now a better system in place — it’s more robust — to get the message out quickly. And we’ve learned the community can easily pivot and adapt ( and) it won’t be this panicked, frenzied response.”