Nearly 500 Coronavirus Cases Reported Monday In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield reported nearly 500 coronavirus cases Monday, a day after town officials and volunteers distributed thousands of at-home COVID-19 test kits to residents in response to a demand for the tests that has outpaced supply in recent weeks.

“We sprang into action and thankfully we were able to pull this together and it actually went well, really well,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said Monday at a Board of Selectmen meeting. “I know people are very desperate to get tests.”

The town reported 470 coronavirus cases Monday, according to Fairfield data, passing its previous record of 408 cases Dec. 27, which far exceeded any earlier records. The numbers from both Monday and Dec. 27 account for new cases spanning the course of a three-day holiday weekend.

Also Monday, the state’s daily positivity rate reached 21.52 percent, the highest it has been since May 2020. An additional 301 people with the virus were reported to have been hospitalized over the New Year's Day weekend in Connecticut, bringing the total to 1,452.

“We are in the midst of a high transmission rate,” Kupchick said, adding residents who have received the COVID-19 vaccine are mostly seeing mild symptoms. “Those people who are not vaccinated, please, please, think about it.”

Fairfield police, fire and health department officials were joined Sunday by 32 Community Emergency Response Team volunteers to distribute about 7,200 coronavirus tests at Roger Ludlowe Middle School. The event was originally scheduled for Thursday but had to be delayed when a shipment of test kits for Connecticut fell through last week.

The town was able to supply 1,800 households with tests, according to Fairfield officials, who said the wait time for tests averaged 30-60 minutes. The event drew so many residents that Exit 21 of Interstate 95 was closed for about two hours by state police due to traffic.

Pharmacies in Fairfield are also receiving tests, according to Kupchick, who added the town’s Yale New Haven Health testing site on Mill Plain Road has expanded its appointment availabilities.

“We’re at a high transmission rate now and hopefully it will start to curve off and go down,” Kupchick said, noting most cases being contracted locally are a result of private social functions, rather than brief interactions in public, such as at the grocery store.

Selectwoman Nancy Lefkowitz and Selectman Tom Flynn urged residents Monday to be patient and respectful despite anxiety caused by the virus.

“Let’s try to be as supportive of each other as possible,” Lefkowitz said. “We’re all human beings doing the best we can in a very uncertain time.”