Derby, Ansonia report spike in COVID cases

Derby and Ansonia are seeing a spike in COVID-19 infection rates, but officials from the two cities say there’s no cause for alarm.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced that Derby has the highest per capita infection rates in the state while Ansonia is seeing a higher spike in infections.

According to state data, Ansonia has seen 223 additional infections since the start of March, compared to 173 additional cases in February. The city has seen a total of 1,750 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Derby, meanwhile, is at 162 new infections in March, compared to 96 infections in February. The city has reported 1,118 total cases.

Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti said that while the governor’s comments are worrisome, the increase isn’t dampening his optimism that the virus will eventually subside by summer.

“There was an increase, but you’re going to see that fade off,” he said. “You’re gonna see that that goes away after a while. I think as the warmer months come, this virus is going to disappear, I feel because we’re doing all the protection that we can.”

In Derby, Andrew Baklik, the chief of staff for Derby’s mayor, also isn’t worrying much about the spike in cases, he said in an email to Hearst Connecticut Media.

“The latest spike seems to be among folks 30

years old and younger. The silver lining is that the vast majority of those cases are very mild and most of our elderly/vulnerable population has already been vaccinated,” he said. “While the spike is concerning, there is no reason to panic.”

Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan wrote in an email that the city is responding by reaching out to residents with the latest information and mentioned that Griffin Hospital has been doing a good job with vaccine appointments.

“We continue to have a weekly COVID conference call with the health department and department heads to pass on info,” he said. “We forward this to the citizens via social media.”

Data from the state’s COVID-19 tracking site shows that while there is an increase in cases, there is also an increase in vaccinations for Ansonia and Derby.

Ansonia has seen its total vaccinations increase from under 16 percent on March 8 to more than 21 percent on March

24. The numbers shoot up when looking at vaccination rates for residents ages 65 to

74. Now the rate of vaccinations has increased from 38 to 67 percent of residents within that age range in Ansonia who have received at least the first vaccine dose.

In Derby the results are even higher. On March 8, the rate of vaccinations for residents 65 to 74 was at 53 percent but has now shot up to more than 147 percent, with more people in that age group vaccinated than initial population estimates accounted for.

The city’s vaccination rate for the total population is now at over 47 percent. Residents from ages 16 and up will be able to make vaccination appointments starting Thursday.

Vaccinating older residents is critical since older people are more likely to suffer from severe COVID infections and die from related complications. According to U.S. Census data, 17 percent of Derby’s population is 65 and older, compared to Ansonia’s which is at 16.2 percent.

Cassetti said that the city’s vaccination efforts are proof that they are in control of the situation. They have a fulltime employee who takes phone calls from residents and makes vaccination appointments.

“We get about 75, 80 calls a day. And we vaccinated probably 300 people per session that we’ve had since February,” the mayor said. “We have another one scheduled for the eighth, which I’ll be there for my second shot. We’re giving out cards, each person that they’ve been vaccinated, and I told them to laminate them and keep them in your purse or your wallet.”

The mayor said that the governor’s announcement did not lead to an increase in calls to set up appointments. But he admits that the governor’s announcement gave him pause.

“I was a little concerned. But I’m focused on keeping everybody safe,” he said.