Towns set COVID records
Danbury’s case rate more than doubles in first week of 2022
DANBURY — COVID-19 cases are setting Danburyarea pandemic records as cases surge across the state and nation.
Danbury’s COVID-19 case rate more than doubled in this week’s state report compared to last week, increasing by more than 120 percent to 154.4 cases per 100,000 residents. Data also show the city’s number of cases jumping from 559 reported in one seven-day period to 1,272 the next.
Those numbers, reported from Dec. 19 to Jan. 1, don’t take into account this week’s numbers, which have also set records.
Danbury reported 527 new cases on Monday — far more than had been reported on any single day and greater than the largest weekly total of 467 during the week of Nov. 30, 2020.
The city recorded 433 more cases on Tuesday and 391 on Wednesday.
In Bethel, the story is the same: A 120 percent increase in the case rate from one week to the next.
“We could pretty much see that train coming down the track at us,” First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said. “Right now, it’s like being strapped to a runaway roller coaster and we’ve really got no choice but to ride it out.”
Ridgefield selectmen declared a state of emergency Wednesday due to “severe COVID conditions.” The town’s case rate was 153.4 cases per 100,000 residents, according to state data released Thursday, up from 102.7 the week prior.
Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said the town’s case rate is “the highest we’ve seen over the last three years, no question,” But, he said, the severity of cases was not as bad as he saw with delta variant and the initial outbreak in 2020.
In Redding, First Selectman Julia Pemberton said despite the increase in cases, the town has not recorded any more fatalities.
Brookfield has the highest case rate of any Danbury-area town, with 173.1 cases per 100,000 residents. The town’s health director, Raymond Sullivan, suspects the numbers will remain high for another week or two before declining.
“As Dr. Sullivan anticipated, there is no doubt spread is up because of gatherings for the holidays where there was close contact transmission,” the town said in a Facebook post. “Fortunately, the omicron variant is less severe and most testing positive are experiencing less severe symptoms and are recovering well.”
Students and school staff have tested positive at rates similar to the town’s, and the lack of available tests could contribute to the spread, according to the post. Brookfield plans to announce another distribution of a limited number of at-home test kits.
The local effect
Across Connecticut, the rapidly rising number of cases has affected schools, child care, workplaces and travel plans.
Connecticut school districts are seeing their highest case numbers to date, with 7,612 new infections among students and 2,338 among staff for the week ending Wednesday, Department of Public Health reports show.
In Danbury schools, the infections and exposures among staff have contributed to staffing shortages that led administrators to cancel classes for three days this week.
New Milford, which closed schools Friday due to inclement weather, had 140 active cases among students so far this week and 228 students in quarantine, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Easton, Redding, and Region 9 schools saw 20 positive cases among staff and 84 among students.
Ridgefield’s Marconi said the schools have “done OK.”
“There’s no question that there’s staff shortages, and students and staff that are concerned,” he added.
Teachers and parents in Danbury made it clear this week they want the option to go to a remotelearning set-up, but the state has not altered its statute prohibiting districts to go remote.
Adjusting and reinforcing mitigation strategies
Leaders are bracing for a few more weeks of rising cases before things are expected to taper off.
Danbury’s health director, Kara Prunty, called the levels the city is seeing right now “unprecedented.”
“I don’t know when we are going to hit the peak,” she said. “I don’t think we are there yet.”
Still, several municipalities have said they will not implement mask mandates at this time.
Danbury has no new mandates, and Prunty said she and Mayor Dean Esposito talk frequently. Bethel, which saw a jump in case rate rivaling Danbury, also will not implement a mask mandate, nor will Ridgefield.
“There’s very little difference, if any, between areas that have tough mask rules and those that don’t,” said Bethel’s Knickerbocker. “It’s kind of too late — we’re already past the holidays.”
This sentiment was echoed by Ridgefield’s Marconi.
“To be quite honest, we missed the opportunity,” he said. “If we were going to do it, we should have done it several weeks ago.”
Redding will continue with its indoor mask mandate, Pemberton said Friday.
In Danbury, another major mitigation strategy — contact tracing — has been overwhelmed by the rising case numbers, Prunty said.
So instead, leaders are focusing their messaging on vaccinations and specifically booster doses, as vaccination numbers across cities and towns remain relatively stagnant. They’re also urging people to stay home if they’re feeling sick.
“People are, I think, doubting the effectiveness of the vaccine right now, but the vaccine is working in keeping the level of illness not as severe,” Prunty said. The city is holding a pediatric-focused vaccine clinic this weekend.
Marconi said he could not stress enough the importance of getting booster shots.
Only one in five people between the ages of 25 and 34 have had a booster dose in Connecticut so far, and 28.3 percent of people 35 to 44. For those between 65 and 74, booster doses have hit 62 percent.
Knickerbocker said two of his friends recently contract COVID — one received the booster shot, the other had not. The friend who was boosted experienced less illness than the one who didn’t, he said.
“It really does make a difference in the vast majority of cases,” he said.