The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Experts: ‘Too soon’ to lift indoor mask mandates
Danbury was the latest municipality in Connecticut to lift its indoor mask mandate, joining the likes of Brookfield, Bethel, New Fairfield, Redding, Ridgefield and other towns and cities.
Amid a rise in cases in August, municipalities were given latitude to institute mask mandates, but now as infections drop, many of those orders are being lifted. But infectious disease specialists say it’s too soon.
“I think it is too soon to lift an indoor mask mandate in our state,” said Dr. Scott Roberts, associate medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Hospital.
COVID-19 metrics — hospitalizations, cases and deaths — have improved with widespread vaccinations, but the virus has not been fully suppressed in Connecticut, and some experts believe they’ll get worse.
“I do believe starting at the end of this month our numbers are going to rise,” said Dr. Ulysses Wu, head of infectious disease at Hartford HealthCare. “I hope I’m wrong.”
Colder weather is an aspect of that prediction, according to Roberts. Part of that, Roberts said, is because people will be spending more time indoors — with no masks on.
“I am concerned going into this winter that it will be worse than the summer months, but better than last winter,” he said.
Seasonal changes are only one aspect of viral spread, according to Wu. Social distancing and masking play a role as well.
Though he said the “numbers are dropping,” Wu said he would prefer if Connecticut residents continued to wear masks, at least until the spring.
“I would have kept it going with indoor masking through at least the winter,” he said.
The state announced Thursday an additional 410 COVID cases, and two fewer people in Connecticut hospitals fighting the disease in the previous 24 hours for a total of 224. There were 24,611 COVID tests reported over the previous 24 hours, 1.67 percent of which came back positive.
There were an additional 14 COVID-related deaths reported in the past week.
Vaccinations are on the rise in Connecticut, with nearly 2.4 million state residents fully vaccinated as of Thursday.
While Roberts said vaccinations remain the best way to prevent hospitalizations and death from COVID, the Yale doctor said masking, particularly indoors, remains “critical.”
“Vaccinated individuals can still harbor the virus and transmit the virus,” he said.
The state also reported Thursday a total of 1,671 new COVID-19 cases among fully vaccinated residents. There have been a total of 150 COVID-related deaths among vaccinated people, 12.3 percent of all COVID-19 deaths since February. Though breakthrough cases are about evenly spread across all age groups, 71.3 percent of all breakthrough deaths have been among residents 75 years old and older.
While COVID numbers have improved, Roberts said they “have not made me confident that we can successfully peel back an indoor mask mandate.”
As of Thursday, Roberts said there were 17 COVID cases for every 100,000 residents. He compared that to June 23, when there were 1.1 cases for every 100,000.
“Our numbers remain at a moderate, smoldering level,” Roberts said. “I have not seen any substantial changes in community prevalence in the last two, three months.”