Camillo: We Can't Lose Ground On COVID-19

GREENWICH, CT — With the new school year in Greenwich set to begin in less than two weeks, First Selectman Fred Camillo is urging residents to remain vigilant against COVID-19, especially as they come back from vacation this month.

Camillo and Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly gave their weekly COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday as cases continue to tick up.

As of Wednesday, there have been 5,397 COVID-19 cases in town since the pandemic began in March 2020. Currently, there are 78 active cases, up from 61 reported last Friday. Active cases have increased by 73 since June 8.

Also since that date, the number of cases per 100,000 has jumped from one to 12.6. Deaths have remained at 89.

At Greenwich Hospital, Kelly said there were 11 COVID-19 patients being treated as of Wednesday, including one patient in the Intensive Care Unit. Of the 11, Kelly pointed out, 10 are unvaccinated. Two of the patients are under age 30, and seven are between 30 to 60 years old.

Throughout the Yale New Haven Health System, numbers continue to climb, Kelly said.

"We're caring for 117 patients throughout Yale New Haven Health System, and five of those are in the ICU," Kelly said. Last Wednesday, there were 78 patients being treated.

"This is certainly not where we were several months ago, but we want to make sure we keep those numbers down," Kelly added.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control placed Fairfield County in the "High Transmission" category of COVID-19. Fairfield is the fifth county in the state to be upgraded to the High Transmission category.

The category is the most severe, and it's defined as 100 or more cases per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate of 10 percent or higher over the past seven days.

Camillo said the news will "certainly" factor into decisions he makes regarding COVID-19 policy in town.

"The virus doesn't know any boundaries. With people coming back from vacation to Greenwich, we have to remind them that they're coming back from a different venue and they should get tested and be careful and wear a mask if you can't keep a distance or if you're in a building," Camillo said. "We can't control where people go, we don't know where all of them have been and who they've been in contact with. We're doing our part here, but it does keep me up a little bit thinking about the things we can't control. That's why we're monitoring it closely."

Camillo said he has received emails from residents who don't want restrictions to come back.

"We have to be very careful. We don't want to give any ground back that we fought hard for," Camillo said.

Camillo and his administration has been in contact with organizations who are planning to have events soon, like the Greenwich Town Party and Puttin' On The Dog.

"We're working with the organizations that are having events in September and October to go over protocols that they'll have in place so they can have these events go off as safely as possible," Camillo said.

With school starting soon, Kelly said good hand hygiene, social distancing, and mask wearing will be key in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

"I would make sure I would be practicing those things that are what we call evidence-based. We have science and data to support that they work: social distancing, getting a vaccine if you can, and then wearing your mask.

On the vaccination front, Greenwich is doing well, Camillo said.

Of the eligible population in Greenwich, which is about 52,000 people, 76.78 percent are fully vaccinated. Almost 83 percent have had at least one shot.

• Age 65 and above: 90 percent are fully vaccinated
• 45-64: 79.35 percent
• 16-44: 69 percent
• 12-15: 67.8 percent

With booster shots on the horizon, Kelly said Greenwich Hospital is "still working that through." She said more information will be released when plans are finalized.