The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Lower Middlesex County on alert as COVID spikes
Haddam selectman: ‘Cases are increasing very fast’
HADDAM — Local leaders are warning the public about a “concerning” trend in Middlesex County towns, which shows the average daily rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 in five of its 15 municipalities is in the orange zone.
Connecticut uses a four-color system, which groups COVID-19 positivity per 100,000 into gray (fewer than five), yellow (five to nine), orange (10 to 14) and red (15 or more). The pattern is echoed throughout the state, an increasing trend since September.
According to figures provided by the state Department of Public Health, Haddam’s infection rate per 100,000 is 9.6. “What they’re seeing is spread at social gatherings at people’s houses,” First Selectman
Robert McGarry said, after speaking with Scott Martinson, director of the Connecticut River Area Health District, which includes Haddam.
“For the most part, most of the state is in the gray area, and we are in the yellow. From the last count, we are just barely in that category,” McGarry said.
So far this month, Haddam has reported 11 new cases; the first double-digit increase since May (13 cases), McGarry wrote on the Town of Haddam Facebook page. “A fall and winter increase in cases was expected, but it’s still troubling to see.”
Down county, in Chester, the situation is worse. The town is reporting about as many community cases in the last four weeks as it did in the previous six months, McGarry said on social media, quoting First Selectman Lauren Gister: “At this point, we show just about as many community spread cases in the last four weeks (eight) as we had in the previous six months (nine). I am very concerned,” she said.
Regional School District 4 encompasses Chester, Deep River and Essex.
Ginter did not return a phone call or email for comment by press time.
Among the other 14 towns in Middlesex County, Cromwell has the highest cases per 100,000, at 13.9. Both Chester and Old Saybrook are at 13.5; Durham, 11.9; Deep River 11.2; Middletown, 8; and Killingworth, 2.2.
As of Monday, Connecticut’s average daily rate from Friday to Sunday, is at 2.2 percent, according to the governor’s office. In all, 92,191 tests were administered and 2,047 came back positive, with 270 patients hospitalized (an increase of 37).
There were 12 COVIDrelated deaths.
Gov. Ned Lamont is allowing municipalities to make the determination whether to revert to Phase 2 if their daily COVID infection rate is 15 or more. Most of the state has been in Phase 3 since Oct. 8.
“That’s an option, but, before I exercise that, I’d like to have somewhat of a handle on how infections are spreading,” McGarry said. “I agree with his decision that, at least for now, it should rest with the towns as they see different conditions across the state,” he said. “Hopefully, we can go that way and have to do any major statewide changes.”
As of Thursday, there have only been two positive cases among students at Regional School District 17 (Haddam and Killingworth) — both Haddam residents, neither of whom came into contact with the school community during their period of contagion, McGarry said.
Any change to the current Regional School District 17 education plan would be determined by Haddam-Killingworth Superintendent of Schools Holly Hageman, in conjunction with the Connecticut River Area Health District and Killingworth Health Department, McGarry said.
An email and phone call to Hageman were not returned by press time.
McGarry informed residents of the situation in his social media post. “Cases are increasing very fast. There are parameters when we may be looking at reverting back to Phase 2, and possibly going back to hybrid or all virtual learning within our schools.”
“Transmission within the schools is not the problem. It is the gatherings outside the school day that are creating the school closings and disruptions within the school systems,” according to Scott Martinson, director of the Connecticut River Area Health District, which serves Haddam, Clinton, Old Saybrook, Deep River and Chester.
RSD-17 began the first month of the academic year in a hybrid format, with two cohorts of students alternating between attending classes twice per week, with three distance learning days. That recently changed to each group attending class three days per week over a two-week period.
McGarry urged people to observe proper hygiene and safety measures — even if COVID fatigue is setting in. “I know we’re all tired. I’m certainly tired of it. I find myself doing it, too — I let my guard slip a little.
“You can’t. We’ve got to be vigilant with this,” McGarry said.
He advised parents to set a good example for their children. “Try to monitor your teenagers as well as you can,” he wrote. “I raised a couple and know how difficult that is.”
The Community Health Center, at 19 Grand St., Middletown, is offering walk-in, drive-up or drivethrough testing options for all ages weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Knowledge and Technology Center building, 19 Grand St.
For a list of COVID testing sites in Connecticut, visit portal.ct.gov/coronavirus.