New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Shoreline virus cases trend younger — but there’s a catch
The majority of new COVID-19 cases among Shoreline communities this month reportedly were people under age 30.
That’s consistent with a trend that began to manifest this summer, when
Connecticut and other parts of the country began to report a rising proportion of infections in the younger population.
But there’s a caveat: in at least two towns showing this trend, a number of those infections were among college students who stayed in their respective school com
munities after testing positive for the virus.
Take Madison, which has recorded 12 new cases since Sept. 1, 11 of which are among people aged 19 to 29, Trent Joseph, the town’s health director, said Friday.
Of those, at least six infections were among college students who had a Madison address but tested positive at school and stayed on campus, Joseph said, adding that these cases are not considered “active” in the Madison community.
Currently, Madison only has three active cases — cases in which the infected person not only lives in town but has also tested positive within the last two weeks, according to Joseph.
“This [shift to the younger age group] is really related to the trend that we’re seeing students going back to school,” Joseph said “At this time, thankfully we’re not seeing it in any of our other populations right now.”
As of Friday morning, officials had not identified cases in the
Madison Public Schools community, Joseph said.
In Branford, North Branford and East Haven — the three towns served by the East Shore District Health Department— about 60 percent of September’s infections have been in people under 30, agency Director Michael Pascucilla said.
He did not have information on how many of those cases were among residents away at college, he said.
In Westbrook, the case count has been low, with just three new cases identified this month, said Zachary Faiella, the town’s health director.
Of the infected individuals, one individual was 18, one was in their 40s and the oldest was 63, according to Faiella.
The 18-year-old was a college student who did, in fact, return to town after getting sick, but followed proper quarantine procedure, Faiella said.
Meanwhile, Guilford has shown a trend similar to that of the East Shore health district. The town has recorded 11 new cases this month, six in people under 30 years old, said the town’s health director, Dennis Johnson.
But of those, four have been college-related, with the students remaining in their respective college towns, according to Johnson.
The remaining five cases were among people aged 40 to 59, Johnson said, adding that many of those infections appeared to be travel-related.
Still, compared to spring,
“we’re seeing a shift of a lot of our cases,” Johnson said. “Most of our cases now are kind of shifting toward the 18- to 50-year-old group.”
Among younger people, Johnson thinks people may have “gotten
a bit complacent the last four or five months being isolated,” he said, adding that teens and 20somethings might have gotten summer jobs, or that they might be spending the evenings with their friends.
For its contact tracing program, the department conducts interviews with each infected person, Johnson said.
He gave examples of situations mentioned in those interviews that may have led to exposure. He’s heard of people piling in cars for outings rather than driving separately, he said, and spending time at an outdoor facility, crowded around a table.
While outdoor activities are less risky than indoor ones, Johnson said, being in close proximity with others, even outside, still could lead to exposure.
He gave two examples: sitting on a picnic blanket in a field likely poses a very low risk, but if you’re on a partially-enclosed patio and seated at a small a table, your risk of being exposed to COVID-19 is higher.
“It’s a disease that kind of preys on crowd density,” Johnson said. “It’s related to density and proximity. That’s been the hallmark of how this disease spreads.”
In the Connecticut River Area Health District, which encompasses Clinton, Old Saybrook, Deep River, Haddam and Chester, most individuals infected with COVID-19 this month have been in their 20s and 30s, according to Health Director Scott Martinson.
As for the reason behind that trend, Martinson was of a similar view as Johnson: younger age groups tend to socialize more, he said in an email.
While it’s fine to socialize, those doing so should follow proper guidelines, such as wearing masks, limiting group size and socially distancing, he continued.
“If all the rules are not followed which has been the case for some of the younger crowds you increase the risk of transmission,” Martinson wrote. “More importantly when these age groups do not follow the public health rules they are really putting our vulnerable populations at increased risk of catching the virus and potentially death.”