State sees modest rise in virus cases since start of reopening

For some in Connecticut it has become a daily diversion, a spot check of state-by-state COVID-19 case trackers maintained by Johns Hopkins University or other sources.

On Friday, Connecticut was solidly in the green signifying positive progress, even as Rhode Island trended toward a pinkish hue, signaling unwelcome case trends — and Florida flashed red as it deals with a fresh spike in new diagnoses.

The latter had Gov. Ned Lamont tapping the brakes on Connecticut’s efforts to reopen the state economy, with Lamont following New York’s lead in declaring a two-week quarantine on visitors from Florida and other states where coronavirus is gaining momentum. The edict came only days after Lamont allowed resorts to resume booking reservations for leisure travel, and just over a month after retailers and restaurants took the initial steps in Connecticut’s first phase of reopening.

In Connecticut, the case count after the first month of reopening showed modest rises, lower than those experienced in many other parts of the country.

From May 20, the start of Phase 1, through June 20, a quarter of Connecticut cities and towns saw coronavirus cases increase by 25 percent or more, according to a Hearst analysis of the state’s daily figures for coronavirus.

Another quarter of municipalities saw cases increase by less than 10 percent over the span of that month — including notable restaurant and retail magnets like Stamford, Norwalk and Greenwich. In addition to the reintroduction of limited commercial activities, the period coincided with many large protests inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the Memorial Day weekend that prompted social gatherings.

Experts cautioned against reading too much into early figures, however.

“When a state or a location

changes a policy … and moves into stage one or stage two of their reopening plan, many of us look in the ensuing week or two to see if we see effects,” Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Lisa Maragakis said last week as part of an online panel convened by the university to assess the nation’s progress combating COVID-19. “It takes a number of weeks before you see that signal, and so we need to keep this in mind.

“I think that’s what we are seeing with some of the increases in some of the states that were earliest to open. We are not out of the woods yet.”

Nationally, COVID-19 cases rose 47 percent over the 30-day stretch, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 15 Connecticut towns matched or exceeded that surge, and the state’s 17 percent overall increase in coronavirus cases was bested in the Northeast only by New York and New Jersey.

Fairfield County, which was Connecticut’s early ground zero for coronavirus, was the lone region in the state where no municipality showed an increase of 25 percent or more between May 20 and June 20. Bridgeport had the biggest bump during that month span at 19 percent, slightly higher than Fairfield, Newtown, Shelton and Stratford.

On Facebook, Bridgeport Mayor Joe

Ganim encouraged residents to report any commercial establishments that are not following guidelines to contain coronavirus, with the state maintaining a 2-1-1 hot line to field complaints in addition to municipal health departments.

“Report businesses that are not complying with safety measures — not only is it just generally against the rules and the laws and is just generally disrespectful, but I hate to put it to the extreme ... it could cost somebody their health or their life,” Ganim said. “We need to know if we need to make any changes to what we are doing.”

The health director for the city of Norwalk said the entire community can take credit for the city’s 7 percent increase in coronavirus cases over the span of a month.

“We have made staff from various [city] departments available at different hours to conduct enforcement, including on evenings and weekends,” stated Deanna D’Amore, Norwalk’s director of health. “We recognize that following the new rules and guidelines is a learning curve for many, which is why education combined with enforcement is so important.”

The city of Danbury has checked out about 50 complaints from state residents since the end of March, a rate of about four a week. A 16 percent increase in cases between May 20 and June 20 was driven by a relatively large gain on May 21, representing cases that would have developed prior to the May

20 reopening of retail, restaurants and offices.

“Businesses have been very open to working with our [health department] to ensure they are following all COVID-19 safety precautions,” said Taylor O’Brien, a city spokesperson. “We have not had to formally present orders to any business.”

Stamford’s official case count was up just 6 percent. August Augustyn, spokesperson for the mayor noted some of those represented prior cases reported only in mid-June.

“Some businesses were not clear on social distancing guidelines initially — and we continue to get a handful of concerns every now and then — but we send staff ... to resolve these concerns,” Augustyn stated in an email. “We have no reports of repeat offenders or egregious offenses.”

David Lehman, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, said he has seen isolated instances of what he calls “lackluster embrace” of face masks and distancing.

“You can tell the establishment that is really taking the cleaning and the mask-wearing seriously — and you can tell where it’s not really part of the culture,” Lehman said. “I think we need to make sure it’s more and more part of the culture, that people are leading by example.”

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman