COVID-19 Numbers Appear To Slow, But Officials Prepare For Spike

GREENWICH, CT — With increased vaccination rates and mask mandates implemented around the state and locally in Greenwich, COVID-19 numbers appear to have slowed down a bit. But town officials are preparing for a spike as events are held and children return to school.

First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital Director of Public Relations Dana Marnane held their weekly COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, and indicated some positive trends.

At Greenwich Hospital as of Wednesday morning, there were six COVID-19 patients being treated, including two in the Intensive Care Unit, one of which was on a ventilator. All six are unvaccinated, Marnane said, adding that there were 11 patients being treated a week ago.

Across the Yale New Haven Health System which includes five hospitals, there were 118 COVID-19 patients being treated as of Wednesday, down from 136 a week ago.

"Fingers crossed we're starting to see a slow decrease, but we can't let our guard down," Marnane warned. "We still need people to get vaccinated, wear masks, wash hands, especially as school starts."

In Greenwich, according to Health Director Caroline Baisley, there has been an increase of 69 new cases over the past week, bringing the total number of cases in town since the pandemic began in March 2020 to 5,547. There are also currently 67 active cases the health department is working on, although Baisley said that number fluctuates on a daily basis.

Baisley noted that most of the new cases from week-to-week are breakthrough cases.

"We're up against a lot of events, people coming back to town and going to school, so we're prepared for some spikes now and in the next few weeks," Camillo said. The next big event is the Greenwich Town Party, which is slated for Labor Day Weekend. "The numbers today seem to mirror what we see on the state level and also with our neighbor to the north [in Stamford]."

Camillo met with Gov. Ned Lamont last week to discuss a variety of issues, including COVID-19. Lamont is a Greenwich resident.

"The governor said they've seeing more people get the vaccine. The governor did tell me that when they went to the mask requirement indoors, the cases flattened out. Mayor David Martin of Stamford told me the same thing," Camillo said.

"We want to stress that these are temporary measures, they're not lifetime. There's still going to be people for whatever reason that don't agree with any of it, but that's the call we make. We certainly will do what we think is best and we'll keep people safe," Camillo said of mask mandates. "We absolutely want to get to the other side of this as soon as possible. I can't thank the overwhelming majority of people in Greenwich enough for taking it seriously."

On vaccinations, Greenwich's numbers remain high, Camillo said. As of last week, of the vaccine-eligible population in town which is about 52,000, 77.62 percent of people were fully vaccinated, and 84 percent recieved at least one shot. Camillo said he's spoken to a few people in recent weeks who decided to take the shot.

"There are also some that just refuse to get it. You always have to deal with that. The more we can get those numbers up there, the less that becomes a factor. We hope with the FDA approval [for Pfizer], that will spark a few people to go and get the vaccine," Camillo said.

With flu season on the horizon, Marnane said flu shots, at least for staff at Greenwich Hospital, will get rolled out in October. She said guidance regarding flu shots and booster shots will likely be released in the future.