COVID cases rising at rapid rate

Town Hall to limit visitor access

NEW FAIRFIELD — Due to rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases in town, New Fairfield Town Hall will return to limited visitor access starting next week.

“Our numbers are increasing at a rate that I don’t know we’ve ever seen in the past,” First Selectman Pat Del Monaco said Tuesday, noting the town’s COVID case rate jumped from 18.5 per 100,000 people Dec. 9, to 43.2 the following week.

“We haven’t seen a case rate that high since last January,” she said.

The town is reporting about 53 active cases, according to Del Monaco, and the latest state data shows more than 100 new COVID cases in New Fairfield since Dec. 1.

Del Monaco said the town is averaging between 15 to 20 cases a day.

“For that reason, at the advice of the health director, we are going to go back to appointment only at town hall,” she said. “Until we see how widespread this (omicron) variant is going to be, we want to take this precaution.”

Beginning Monday, New

Fairfield Town Hall will be open to non-employees by appointment only until further notice with residents encouraged to use online service when possible.

Residents looking to make an in-person appointment will need to call.

Visitors and town hall staff will be required to wear masks inside town hall.

“We just feel that this is the safest way to go right now, and hopefully we won’t be operating that way for very long,” Del Monaco said. “Everyone, please be safe.”

New Fairfield has had more than 1,280 confirmed COVID cases and four confirmed COVID-related deaths since March 2020, according to the latest state data.

It’s not just New Fairfield that’s seen a recent rise in COVID numbers.

With 6,000 new COVID cases, the statewide daily COVID positivity rate had reached nearly 9 percent Tuesday.

Vaccinations

As part of the continued effort to reduce New Fairfield’s infection rate and increase the number of vaccinated residents, Selectman Khris Hall said she’s asking Griffin Hospital to bring its mobile vaccination van to town to host clinics in January and February.

“I’ve been given reason to believe that Griffin Hospital still has a lot of flexibility, so we should have a plan in place hopefully before the end of the year — if not, right after the first of the year — for more vaccination clinics (with) an emphasis on continuing to vaccinate our children,” she said.

The plan would include two clinics at Meeting House Hill School and two at the high school, and Saturday clinics at the high school — which Del Monaco said have been averaging 150 to 200 people per day in recent weeks — would likely continue.

Hall said “well over 200 people” were vaccinated at the mobile vaccination clinic this past Saturday.

As of last week, 62.5 percent of New Fairfield residents were fully vaccinated and 73.3 percent had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.

Schools

New Fairfield school officials are concerned about the effect COVID-19 could have on the district after winter break.

According to Assistant Superintendent Julie Luby, the school district has had 123 COVID cases since the start of the academic year, and the case rate among the school community has been gradually increasing since October.

Between Dec. 2 and Dec. 16, the number of cases in the school district jumped 64 percent. Luby said the spike is likely related to Thanksgiving break.