The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘THEY JUST WANT TO BE TOGETHER’
Gilbert School plans prom, graduation celebrations amid ongoing pandemic
WINSTED — Because of the pandemic’s ongoing restrictions for large gatherings, events such as proms and graduation parties will be a bit different again this year.
At The Gilbert School, Principal Susan Sojka and her staff already are making plans.
“This is what we’ve decided; we’ve moved the prom from a Friday in May to a Thursday, at Crystal Peak (banquet hall),” Sojka said. “Students are taking the AP exam and the dates have been extended, so the last one is May 26. We wanted to get through those, and the kids were nervous about it. So we booked Crystal Peak for May 27, which is followed by a long weekend for Memorial Day.”
The facility is sharing the cost of an outdoor tent, giving the students more room for an indoor-outdoor prom. Instead of the traditional sit-down dinner, students will have food stations with hors d’oeuvres and other selections. “It will have more of an outdoor flow, with better social distancing,” Sojka said.
“We haven’t finished all the details yet, because we’re waiting on the state’s new guidelines on proms and graduations,” she said. “We expect to hear about those in the next few weeks.”
At this point, the pandemic guidelines from the state allow indoor gatherings for up to 100 people, and up to 200 people if the event is held outdoors. Gilbert’s class of 2021 totals 68 students.
“So we’re waiting on that, and we’re also looking at a few options for the students who attend,” the principal said. “We are deciding whether it’s going to be just for the seniors, or seniors with guests only from Gilbert, or seniors and juniors. Because we’re so small, it could be a junior-senior prom. Or, we could do something at Crystal Peak for the seniors, and something else special
200,000 people next week, up from about 150,000.
And the change comes as the state is seeing increases in its positive test rate and cases, and as the Northeast, including Connecticut, is once again becoming a hot spot — though not with a fullblown spike as happened in the fall.
“Greater New England is unfortunately leading the country in terms of infections,” the governor said.
The number of people in Connecticut hospitals fell steadily from 1,269 in midDecember to 400 in early March, but has gone up and down since then.
While the median age for Covid-19 patients has come down, a sign that the vaccine and safety protocols such as masking and social distancing are working, “I’m always reminded when I walk through the ICU that it’s not over,” said Kathy Silard, CEO of Stamford Health.
“We have to stay vigilant on everything we’ve done,” said Silard, who joined Lamont as his virtual briefing Thursday.
Connecticut’s 7-day rolling average positivity rate was at 2.26 percent on March 3, and is back up to 3.7 percent, state data shows — and Lamont emphasized.
The current infections are concentrated among younger adults.
Currently, those 45 and older can sign up to get the vaccine, and 28 percent of those between 45 and 54 have received at least their first dose, Josh Geballe, the state’s Chief Operating Officer said Thursday.
In a week, when the state opens up eligibility to all residents, the expectation is about 50% of those between 45 and 54 will have received their first shot based on state’s analysis, Geballe said.
The state has found from vaccinating other age groups that “once you get up north of 40%, you start having some lag” in the number of people signing up for appointments, the governor said. “So this is the time for us to move forward on April 1.”
Overall, more than 1 million residents have received at least their first dose of a vaccine, and about 600,000 residents are fully vaccinated.
Connecticut remains at the top of the list nationwide for the rate at which it is vaccinating its residents, at 31.1 percent with first inoculations, making this the No. 3 state, Lamont said. The national average was 25.7 percent, That means Connecticut is ahead of the national rate by about 190,000 vaccinations.
While the state continues to vaccinate a large number of people, it continues to miss the equity targets it has set for itself. Initially, the state asked vaccine providers to give 25% of their doses to vulnerable zip codes, which were determined based on formula calculated by Centers for Disease Control and Protection.
Providers allocated 22% of their doses to those zip codes during the week ending March 14. Last week, the state moved the target to 26% percent, and providers allocated 24% of their doses to these zip codes.
“We’re narrowing that gap steadily. We’re not there yet, and we still have more work to do, but we’re making progress,” Geballe said.
Officials are hoping the $58 million will provide a big boost to this effort.
Democratic State Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr., chairman of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus of the state legislature who joined Lamont at his Thursday briefing, said the strategy of trusted community members, particularly those who are fluent in languages other than English, going door to door to get the word out about the vaccines has proven to work. In Waterbury, the Hispanic Coalition has helped vaccinate large swaths of that population there, starting with seniors, he said.
“That goes to show you that familiarity breeds comfort and comfort will allow people who were hesitant to take the shot to actually take it,” he said.