Danbury-area towns plan to distribute COVID test kits
Amid overwhelming demand for COVID-19 tests and record high positivity rates, Danbury-area leaders are putting together plans to distribute at-home tests ahead of New Year’s Eve.
Three million at-home test kits will eventually be disseminated between 169 municipalities and two tribal nations, according to a state distribution list. The first tranche will include 500,000 iHealth test kits and is set to arrive in towns and cities as soon as Thursday. Each kit has two tests. City officials will need to pick them up at a regional site once they’re available.
Danbury leaders have been tasked with getting those tests to their residents with just four days notice, and several have already locked in plans.
Danbury will set up a drive-thru where a maximum of two kits will be distributed to each car on a first-come, first-served basis, said Matthew Cassavechia, the city’s emergency management director. Cassavechia, the mayor and other agencies are developing a strategy to distribute the kits in an “organized and efficient manner,” he said. They’re still figuring out the location.
“We’ve identified a number of sites in the city,” Cassavechia said. “We’re assessing those sites to determine the best logistical site from movement of vehicles in a safe and efficient manner to keep traffic in our city moving, and also get the individuals who are coming to get the kits in and out as safely as possible.”
The city plans to distribute the kits on the same day they arrive in Connecticut, he said.
These plans are in draft form until the location and date are determined, but the city plans to publicize the details once they’re finalized, Cassavechia said. The city expects to receive around 10,000 kits — the most of any Danbury-area municipality.
“The objective is to get as many kits out as we can, as soon as we receive those kits,” he said. “We will determine this to be a success based on the number of kits that are deployed in the community.”
Towns’ plan for distribution ahead of Thursday
New Milford Mayor Pete Bass called the combination of a local test site and additional tests from the state “extremely helpful for our residents.”
The town has been allocated 3,600 test kits in its first delivery, and Bass released an online sign-up for at-home test distribution Tuesday morning. The signup allowed one time slot per household to come pick up the kit at John Pettibone Community Center on Thursday. Families with minors can get up to two test kits. Those wishing to receive their test will have to show proof of residency at the site, and if they sign up for more than one spot their existing appointment will be automatically canceled.
After hearing news of the governor’s announcement, Health Director Lisa Morrissey said their office phones started “ringing off the hook.”
“In fairness to the residents, they were ringing off the hook before the governor announced this,” she added, referring to the struggle to find COVID testing during the holidays. “Our plan is to have them all distributed before the weekend.”
In less than three hours after Bass posted the test distribution information on his Facebook page, the online sign-up was full.
Washington, who shares New Milford’s health department, will follow a similar distribution plan, with tests available at a first come-first served drive-thru at Town Hall on Friday, according to First Selectman Jim Brinton.
Brookfield plans to begin distribution at 3 p.m. on Thursday at Brookfield High School, according to a COVID update from First Selectman Tara Carr.
Roxbury, Sherman and Bethel have yet to announce concrete distribution plans.
In Bethel, details about acquiring the more than 2,600 test kits the town is set to receive won’t be released until Wednesday afternoon, a town Facebook post informed residents.
“DO NOT call Town Hall to inquire about the distribution plan at this time. The Town of Bethel will send out a phone and email message via our Everbridge system on Wednesday afternoon with details,” the post said.
Special allocations
Several towns have specific plans to use some of their tests for vulnerable or at-risk populations.
Morrissey is setting aside some kits in New Milford for the senior center and social services department to distribute.
“It was really important to me that we had an equitable approach to distribution — carve-outs for seniors and carve-outs for folks who may not be able to make it to that site,” Morrissey explained.
Bethel’s First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker is reviewing the allocation numbers with the town’s health and emergency management directors to “help target these materials where they are needed most urgently,” he said.
Some leaders have said they’ll prioritize first responders with the state’s test kits.
Carr said Brookfield’s primary focus for its 2,250 kits is to get them to first responders, followed by town volunteers and “employees critical to continuity of operations as a part of our Emergency Preparedness plan.”
Ridgefield is expected to receive 3,150 self-test kits from the state. Members of the police and fire departments, as well as “critical people in town government,” will get first crack at the distribution, First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.
“With what’s left, we will do some sort of public distribution,” he added, “but that is yet to be determined.”
Roxbury will use most of the state’s 360 total test kits at local schools, with remaining tests given primarily to first responders. First Selectman Patrick Roy said some kits would be held at Town Hall for residents.
Since Bridgewater is getting so few tests in the first delivery — just 270 kits — the town plans to first cover ambulance and fire department staff.
Once the town gets a schedule for future deliveries, First Selectman Curtis Read said he plans to distribute the remaining tests so they “reach our most vulnerable citizens.”
Sherman First Selectman Don Lowe did not share distribution plans Tuesday, but said an announcement would be made on Wednesday.
Waiting for more
In some cases, local leaders are left with more questions than answers, and few test kits to cover the demand among their residents.
Before the state announced its test distribution plan, New Milford had already ordered its own athome tests for residents using state funds. Their local clinic has been overwhelmed in the past two weeks with people seeking tests. And while Morrissey has yet to confirm how many kits are in their personal order, she said she requested “substantially more” than what the state is allocating. The order is expected some time next week.
“I’ve never been one to put all of my eggs in one basket,” Morrissey said.
New Milford’s personal test shipment next week will also be distributed through a sign-up drive-thru.
A truck from Ridgefield’s highway department is scheduled to pick up the cases from the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security’s Region 5 headquarters in Litchfield on Thursday. But as of Tuesday, Marconi said he had not received confirmation that the supplies were “on the floor.”
“Even the president is saying he is going to have kits mailed to every single household,” Marconi said. “When that will happen, we don't know.”
Roxbury’s Roy has yet to announce specific distribution plans publicly because he said the town has “only received the preliminary information and have no confirmation that they will be available for pick up.”