Fairfield Emergency Declaration Lifted For First Time Since 2020

FAIRFIELD, CT — For the first time in over a year, the town of Fairfield is not under an emergency declaration.

First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick announced Monday to the Board of Selectmen that she had terminated the declaration put in place for the town March 16, 2020, amid the rise of the coronavirus pandemic in Connecticut.

“We are officially not in a declaration of emergency,” she said.

Nearly 16 months ago, Fairfield's parks, beaches, community centers, libraries and restaurants closed for weeks as the virus spread across the state.

To date, 206 Fairfielders have suffered coronavirus-associated deaths, according to state records, and 5,270 town residents have had the virus. Laboratory-confirmed deaths peaked in April 2020, as people connected to eldercare facilities in Fairfield fell ill, town records show, but case counts reached their highest point during the fall of 2020, after students from Sacred Heart and Fairfield universities returned to campus.

More recently, signs of hope have been visible both in the data and in the streets of Fairfield.

As of Wednesday, just under 67 percent of town residents had received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and about 62 percent of Fairfielders were fully vaccinated, state records said. Of 2,093 total Fairfield coronavirus tests administered between June 20 and July 3, only 0.5 percent came back positive, according to state data.

Businesses once closed by the pandemic have reopened. The Fairfield Memorial Day Parade and the Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe high school proms, all canceled in 2020 due to the virus, were sources of joy and excitement when they were allowed to take place in 2021.

After notifying selectmen that she had lifted the emergency declaration Monday, Kupchick went on to report that the recent Fourth of July fireworks show — another 2020 pandemic casualty — had been a success, and that the Bigelow Center for Senior Activities was in the process of gradually reopening. The center will remain closed for lunch, except for a lunch on the lawn every Friday.

Kupchick’s announcement about the declaration came as state lawmakers prepared for a vote Wednesday on extending Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive powers as related to the pandemic to Sept. 30, according to CT Insider. Protesters and Republican legislators rallied Monday outside the Capitol against the extension, CT Insider reported.