November city’s worst month for COVID-19 cases
Halloween gatherings, virus fatigue cited for high number of infections in Danbury
DANBURY — The month of November was the city’s worst in terms of confirmed
COVID-19 infections. Preliminary data from the city shows
1,190 cases reported so far for November —
63 more than in April, the second-highest month with 1,127 cases. November numbers are expected to grow as more results come in from tests taken in the last few days of the month.
In November, the city battled the aftermath of Halloween gatherings and CO
VID-19 fatigue, which led residents to ignore guidance, such as for mask wearing, Mayor
Mark Boughton said.
“People, frankly, had just had enough,” he said.
Businesses, such as restaurants, were open, which was not the case in the spring.
“We do see a large drop in numbers when there are these large shutdowns, even though they are unpopular,” Boughton said. “These are all things that are somewhat disappointing because a lot of this could be dissipated if people just washed their hands and wore masks and were cognizant that we’re still in a pandemic.”
November’s numbers are a 93.5 percent increase from October, which had 615 cases. September had 455 cases, August saw 433, July reported 102, June was 164, May had 495 and March saw 454.
The city has had problems this fall with businesses ignoring regulations, but officials found only minor, unintentional violations during inspections conducted last week, Boughton said.
“People, frankly, had just had enough.” Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton
“For the most part, people were working hard to comply,” he said.
More testing is available than in the spring, so some residents may have had the virus in April, but not known it.
“Even though testing is incredibly busy and there are long lines, it’s available,” Boughton said. “It wasn’t available in March, April.”
City officials take that into account when they study the spread in the community and still say the November the level of infection is bad. The positivity rate has hovered around
10 to 11 percent recently, Boughton said.
Danbury has the thirdhighest daily average rate in the state, behind only Waterbury and Bridgeport. The Hat City has averaged
78 new cases per day per
100,000 people over the last 14 days, according to the latest state data.
Hopes for the future
But unlike in April, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Danbury expects to receive its first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine by late December, but how many doses or how or where it will be distributed is still unknown, Boughton said. City officials plan to have multiple meetings over the next few weeks to flesh out these details, he said.
Medical workers will be the first to get it.
“They are the caregivers and they take care of us,” Boughton said.
He does not anticipate there will be enough vaccines initially for all medical workers. It is still unclear whether the city would vaccinate medical workers who work in Danbury or only those who live and work in the city, he said.
“There are just so many unanswered pieces to this,” he said.
Daily numbers have fluctuated recently due to a bug in the reporting software system, Boughton said. On Monday, 16 new cases were reported, compared to 106 on Sunday, 15 on Saturday and 106 on Friday.
“You don’t see that dramatic of a drop,” Boughton said. “It’s going to be a slow walk down the hill.”
Boughton expects a bump in numbers on Tuesday to reflect the cases that would have ordinarily been reported on Monday.
Boughton is optimistic that December could be better. Due to the rise in cases, people may start to better listen to guidance, reducing the spread, he said. Holiday parties may be an obstacle, however.
“We discourage it (parties),” Boughton said “But at the end, part of this process of solving this is having participation by our residents. They have to take it seriously.
“I can’t put a cop at everyone’s house,” he added.