Town sees jump in COVID cases
GREENWICH — Greenwich is seeing an uptick in the number of coronavirus cases in town, with 29 residents diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past week, town officials confirmed
Friday.
As of Friday, 1,049 COVID-19 cases have been reported in town, an increase of 29 cases since Oct. 9, according to town Director of
Health Caroline Baisley.
“This is not an instance where we saw all
29 cases come in one day,” Baisley said.
“They were stretched all over a period of time.”
The town’s contact tracing efforts have not found a connection among the rise in cases, she said.
“There’s nothing that’s really driving these cases, and we’re seeing it across all of the age groups,” Baisley said. “It’s not one particular age group, like we saw with young people at the parties” during the late summer.
Instead, she attributed the rise to community transmission.
Baisley also stressed that Greenwich is “not in the danger zone,” referring to the state’s new list of “red zones” — towns where the rate of infection is more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents. Those red zones include Danbury, Hartford, New London, Norwich and Windham.
But she said Greenwich residents should not be complacent and must take steps to protect themselves, including wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
The risk of infection can rise in autumn, as people spend more time inside, she said. Plus coronaviruses are known to “pick up speed” when humidity and temperatures drop, Baisley said.
“We see that with influenza, too, in the fall and the winter,” she said. “They predicted this (increase in cases) all along and now we’re starting to see it. How bad will it get? We don’t know yet. I am hopeful that we won’t see what we saw in the spring because we got hammered then.”
COVID case at Central
Along with the uptick in town, Greenwich Public Schools has also seen a slight increase in positive cases this week.
In the first month of classes, the district reported just three positive cases — one at Greenwich High School, one at Central Middle School and one at Eastern Middle School.
In the week ending Friday, Oct. 16, as Fairfield County’s rate of positive cases per 100,000 residents rose steadily to 6.4, the school district in Greenwich logged two new cases, a school official said Friday.
A Greenwich High School student tested positive, forcing 15 students into a two-week quarantine, a school official said. Also this week, 14 additional students were quarantined after coming into contact with a non-Greenwich High School student who had tested positive, a school official said.
A staff member at Central Middle School also tested positive this week, resulting in the quarantine of an entire cohort of students and staff, according to the school district. Most of those in quarantine were cleared to return to school by Wednesday, but five staff members and two students remained out of school, a school official said.
Hospitalizations rise, too
There was also a small increase in the number of COVID-19 patients at Greenwich Hospital. On Monday, the hospital reported it was treating three patients with the virus. That increased to eight patients on Tuesday, which stayed level on Wednesday and Thursday. The number was up to 10 by Friday, the hospital said.
Earlier in the week, Green
wich Hospital President Diane Kelly said the increase serves as a reminder that residents must stay vigilant.
That message was echoed Friday by First Selectman Fred Camillo, who urged residents to continue wearing masks, washing hands and practicing social distancing to mitigate the spread of the virus. Those strategies have previously proven effective in keeping the town’s rates low for the past few months, he said.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s causing this increase in town,” Camillo said. “I’ve said from day one: No matter how good we’ve been here, the virus knows no borders. I will continue to say this until we’re on the other side of this. We want people to have as much normalcy in their lives as possible but just do things in a safe manner.”
If residents are gathering, “It’s not so much to ask people” to wear a mask, socially distance and wash hands, he said.
“This is not just for your protection, it’s for everyone else, too,” Camillo said. “At the same time, you have to remind people still we’re in the middle of this and you have to keep your eyes on the ball.”
Baisley also warned against complacency, reminding residents that the coronavirus has not gone away.
“Nobody wants to hear it, but they need to know we’re seeing an increase in cases and we need to be conscientious,” she said.