466 Active COVID-19 Cases Reported In Greenwich In Latest Update

GREENWICH, CT — First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly held their biweekly COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday afternoon as cases continue to surge both locally and around the country.

In Greenwich as of Tuesday, there were 466 active COVID-19 cases. From Dec. 28 to Jan. 4, there was an increase of 650 cases, bringing the total number in Greenwich to 8,173 since the pandemic began in March 2020.

At Greenwich Hospital Wednesday, there were 60 COVID-19-positive patients being treated, with five in the Intensive Care Unit.

Across the Yale New Haven Health System, 700 patients were being treated for COVID-19, with 95 in the ICU.

Kelly noted that about 75-80 percent of patients are unvaccinated, and 20-30 percent don't have a booster shot.

"Getting that booster is essential," Kelly said.

Kelly said the high transmissibility rate of the omicron variant in this latest wave of infections has created new challenges. She said roughly 60 Greenwich Hospital staff members were home with COVID-19 on Wednesday.

"Some people are out and not feeling well, and some people are positive and they can't come in. These are new challenges," she said.

"What we're seeing [in this wave] is a different level of acuity. If you've been vaccinated twice, some of these people are still sick and requiring hospitalization. The very small group of people needing hospitalization that have had the booster, those people have other underlying issues, whether they're being treated for cancer or have other immunosuppressant issues going on," Kelly added. "People who don't have any vaccines, they're the ones getting sicker."

Camillo, too, said some town departments have been hit hard with COVID-19, but they're all "coming back at full strength" and no services have been interrupted.

He said right now he's not considering instituting a mask mandate outside of town facilities since most businesses are enforcing their own guidelines, and vaccinations are widespread.

"You have to be careful with these mandates. We did it a few times. In some cases it wasn't very popular and we did it," he said. "But we're in a different place now."

Camillo urged people to go about their lives, but in a safe manner.

"We've been telling people from day one: don't cancel plans, get out and enjoy the town with your family, but do so safely and don't make any mistakes. We've come this far doing the right thing. You don't want to let your guard down," he said.

Officials are hoping increased testing can help serve as a monitoring tool for residents against the virus this winter.

On Tuesday, Greenwich distributed about 6,000 at-home COVID-19 tests and masks to seniors and those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms at Grass Island and the Senior Center on Greenwich Avenue.

Camillo said the distribution went smoothly with the exception of traffic backup on Greenwich Avenue.

Greenwich will be getting another shipment of tests for distribution, but Camillo was unsure of an exact time and date. More information will be released when it becomes available.

"We have some other ideas about alternative sites. The Avenue did make sense because the Senior Center is there, but there was a lot of traffic there and it's not a really big street so it backed up everything. There are a lot of businesses there and we want to keep that in mind," he said.