Area towns see an uptick in COVID-19 cases
As vaccination rates continue to rise across several towns in western Connecticut, so do confirmed cases of COVID-19.
While the increases are slight, they’re still making officials pause. Even at the state level, a “slight uptick” was noted by the governor.
“Naturally, I am concerned about it,” said Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo.
On Monday, Danbury’s health department reported that the number of positive tests increased to 127 during the week of March 15, up from 53 positive tests the week of March 8. And data from the week of March 15 could continue to rise as numbers are finalized.
In Brookfield, First Selectman Steve Dunn discussed the rise during a filmed “Coffee with the Community” meeting Monday. That same night, New Milford’s health director, Lisa Morrissey, also noted the town’s uptick during a town council meeting.
“Last week the number of cases went up, the positivity rate went up,” Dunn said during the meeting. “That’s not a good sign.” With vaccinations going up at the same time as things begin to open up more in Connecticut, Dunn said, he had hoped they would even each other out.
Dunn said he has noticed Brookfield’s positivity rate is higher than that of neighboring towns, and he wondered whether Brookfield’s increase was due to a higher traffic in out-of-town visitors to their big outlet stores like BJ’s Wholesale Club and others.
As of March 18, the town reported 66 new cases that week, up from the prior week’s total of
53. The rate of COVID per 100K residents was 27.7, up from 22.3 the prior week. And the positivity rate was 4.6 percent, up from
3.6 percent.
Dunn said this was the first time in nine weeks that rates had been trending up instead of down. “It’s a little concerning and we have to watch it.”
In New Milford, 60 new cases were reported from March 17 to March 22, according to data published by Mayor Pete Bass on his Twitter and Facebook accounts.
During Monday night’s town council meeting, Morrissey said she’s seeing a general uptick in cases, as well as an uptick in cases among children. She said the youth cases were not attributed to a return to school but instead followed a similar pattern that they saw around this time last year when there was a return to some extracurricular activities, like sporting events.
“With people trying to get back to normal, we’re seeing a little uptick with that,” she said. “We’re paying attention to that and tracking that.”
The slight upward trend in positive cases seen more broadly at the state level still “stayed within a narrow band” and was “still pretty stable,” according to statements by Gov. Ned Lamont during his news briefing Monday. Over the past weekend, 2,976 new statewide cases were reported, compared with 2,525 the weekend before, according to emailed updates from the governor.
Even with slight increase in positive cases, hospitalizations and fatalities — a key metric — continued to decrease across the state, he said.
One expert from Nuvance Health said last week that small increases are not too concerning and that the number of COVID patients at Danbury Hospital has trended down.
Although it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing the slight increases, officials like Cavo have some ideas.
“There clearly is a rise in numbers, and some of the suspicions include the variants that are here now,” Cavo said. As of March 12, data reported by the CTMirror the UK viral strain could be found in as many as 40 percent of statewide cases.
The state continues to push on with its vaccination campaign and has continued expanding capacity for businesses and event venues.
As of Monday, 36 percent of adults over the age of 16 in the state have had at least one shot, including 53 percent of those 45 and older, and nearly 80 percent of those 75 and older, Lamont said.
Lamont jokingly asked residents not to go to Miami Beach for vacation.
“Don’t go, stick around here, the weather’s been great,” he said.
Danbury’s mayor also voiced concern over spring breakers heading to places that are lifting mask mandates.
“The main message is people need to stay vigilant about their health care,” said Cavo.