Connecticut is experiencing a second COVID-19 wave.
The Naugatuck Valley Health District reported 92 positive COVID-19 cases between Monday (Nov. 2) and Friday (Nov. 6).
The infection rate has been surging in the lower Naugatuck Valley the last few weeks, as it has elsewhere in Connecticut, where residents are experiencing a second COVID-19 wave (the first being when the virus was initially identified in Connecticut in March).
Please see the image below for information about getting tested for the virus. The information is also “pinned” to the Valley Indy homepage and social media accounts.
STATE COVID INFO
The state Department of Health Thursday evening strongly recommended people stay home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. to limit COVID-19’s transmission. Perhaps more interesting was the data points issued by the agency.
In issuing the recommendation, the DPH noted:
- Since Sept. 20, the number of new cases over a 14-day period increased nearly threefold in Connecticut, from 2,537 new cases between Sept. 20 and Oct. 4 to 6,895 cases between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1.
- The average daily case rate for COVID-19 has increased in Connecticut from 5.1 per 100,000 population in September to 14 per 100,000 as of Nov. 1 (with higher rates reported Thursday in Ansonia, Derby, Naugatuck, Seymour, and Shelton).
- Hospitalizations in Connecticut increased 483 percent in a month (68 people on Sept. 29 compared to 329 people on Oct. 29).
On Friday (Nov. 6), the state reported a daily COVID-19 positivity rate of 3.6 percent (it had been under 1 percent during the summer). There were 29,563 tests reported Friday, with 1,065 positive results. An additional 22 people entered Connecticut hospitals because of COVID-19, and 15 deaths were reported.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,671 COVID 19-associated deaths in Connecticut, according to the state, while 9,800 people have recovered, according to the COVID-19 online dashboard from Johns Hopkins University.
The hospitalization rates in Connecticut are at the highest they’ve been since June, according to reporting from The Hartford Courant.
The Courant also reported that hospitals have enough capacity to handle patients.
VALLEY COVID DATA
The Friday, Nov. 6 report from the Naugatuck Valley Health District notes that Ansonia, Derby, Naugatuck, Seymour, and Shelton are all categorized as COVID-19 “red alert” communities, according to the state Department of Health.
Any community that has a two-week average daily rate of at least 15 new cases per 100,000 people is categorized as a “red alert” community, the highest of the state’s three-tiered COVID-19 warning level. Click here for the math behind the designation.
As previously reported by The Valley Indy, Ansonia’s rate was 27.1, Naugatuck was 19.2, Seymour was 17.7, Derby was 17.1, and Shelton was 15.5. The rates cover Oct. 18 through Oct. 31.
According to Friday’s report from the local health district:
- 25 new cases were reported in Shelton between Nov. 2 and Nov. 6.
- 25 new cases were reported in Naugatuck
- 18 new cases were reported in Seymour
- 9 new cases were reported in Ansonia
- 9 new cases were reported in Derby
- 6 new cases were reported in Beacon Falls (which is in the state’s “yellow” zone on the COVID-19 map)
The Friday, Nov. 6 COVID-19 report from the Naugatuck Valley Health District is embedded below. The article continues after the document.
Nov 6 2020 COVID Update Fro… by The Valley Indy
New Cases Reported In Ansonia And Seymour Schools
On Friday (Nov. 6). Ansonia Public Schools Superintendent Joseph DiBacco sent a letter to parents saying 30 students and three staff members at Ansonia Middle School are in quarantine after a COVID-19 exposure in the school.
The person who tested positive was last in the building Nov. 2.
FYI: Ansonia schools makes the news in terms of COVID-19 because the superintendent informs the press and the information is posted to Facebook. Other school districts do not take the extra steps to inform the larger community.
On social media, some local residents doubt the value of tracking COVID-19 trends in the community. A new trend seems to be posting a comment under a COVID-19 related post saying something like “I don’t know anyone who has been infected with COVID,” even though a few public officials — Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan, Seymour Selectman Chris Bowen — went public when they were diagnosed.
The Ansonia Middle School letter is embedded below. The article continues after the letter.
Ansonia Schools Nov 6 Letter by The Valley Indy
SEYMOUR UPDATE, 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7
Seymour schools sent word officials have decided to cancel in-person hybrid classes for all students and staff and move to remote learning for the next two and a half weeks.
“This change will take effect starting on Monday November 9, 2020 until Monday November 30, 2020. In person hybrid learning will resume on Monday November 30, 2020,” according to a communication shared by parents on Facebook.
Saturday Morning Seymour Info Follows
In Seymour, district administrators posted a letter online dated Friday, Nov. 6 saying three students from Chatfield-LoPresti and Seymour Middle School tested positive for COVID-19.
The middle school student has not been in the building. The two Chatfied-LoPresti students were in school Monday, tested positive Wednesday, and informed the district Friday, according to the letter.
“Several” classrooms in the middle school and a classroom in the middle school are in quarantine for two weeks.
The letter from Seymour schools is embedded below:
Seymour Schools Nov 6 COVID… by The Valley Indy
More COVID-19 data will be released by the end of day Monday (Nov. 9).
