The Naugatuck Valley Health District reported three deaths and 243 new COVID-19 cases in a report issued Tuesday night.
The report covers Friday, Nov. 13 through Tuesday, Nov. 17. It is embedded at the bottom of this article.
Two women from Ansonia — ages 84 and 90 — died, as did an 84-year-old man living in an unnamed nursing home in Shelton. Additional details, including the dates of death, were not reported.
In all, four people within the NVHD’s jurisdiction have died from COVID-19 this month. A fifth death Oct. 26 was deemed COVID-19 probable.
Prior to that, there had not been a COVID-19 associated death locally since July 30.
The NVHD’s jurisdiction includes Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby, Naugatuck, Seymour and Shelton.
In an email Tuesday, NVHD Director of Health Jessica Kristy pointed out that 163 new cases were reported between Friday and Monday, with an additional 80 cases reported by the end of the day Tuesday.
Statewide 12 people died from COVID-19 between Monday and Tuesday. There are currently 777 people in the hospital with COVID-19 statewide (four times greater than a month ago, according to The Hartford Courant).
There were 32,964 COVID-19 tests in the same period, with a positivity rate of 5.16 percent. The daily positivity rate in Connecticut had been under 1 percent over the summer.
Column on the left is cases since March. The full report is embedded at the end of the article.
Though better drug therapies and vaccinations are on the horizon, the public is still urged to wash their hands, wear masks properly, and to keep social circles small as the second COVID-19 wave spreads in Connecticut. It’s especially important as the weather gets colder, and more people will be spending time indoors, where the virus can easily spread.
On Tuesday, Derby Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway announced Derby High School would switch to remote learning on Wednesday. Two staff members at the school have tested positive for COVID-19, and “contact tracing protocols” limited the number of teachers available to report to school in person.
A staff member at the Irving School in Derby has also tested positive for the virus, but only Derby High School is remote learning on Wednesday.
At a meeting Tuesday, the Seymour Board of Selectmen urged their citizens to remain vigilant. First Selectwoman Annemarie Drugonis expressed condolences for a Seymour resident whose COVID-19 associated death was reported Nov. 5.
“It’s always difficult to lose a member of our community,” she said. “Our thoughts are with the family. It’s important that we come together as a community during this difficult time to follow the guidelines from our public health professionals to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
Drugonis also echoed a sentiment that public health officials have stressed all month — please be careful at Thanksgiving. She also reminded the public that dealing with COVID-19 has become a daily routine within local government.
“We are continuing to thoroughly clean our police, fire and ambulance departments. We’ve also gone back to holding our public safety meetings every Thursday now, which is something we’d been doing every two weeks. But because the numbers (of COVID cases) are spiking, we’re meeting once a week again.”
The state uses a color-coded, three-tiered system to identify places where COVID-19 transmission is on the rise. “Red alert” towns are communities where the average daily positivity rate is at least 15 cases a day for two weeks.
Here’s a look at the COVID-19 rates in other Valley towns, as of last Thursday. Click here for a Valley Indy interview with a Griffin Hospital doctor about COVID-19 and its impact on the lower Naugatuck Valley.
Ansonia
36.2 on Nov. 12
95 cases in period reported
Per capita rate was 27.1 on Nov. 5 and 19.5 on Oct. 29
Beacon Falls
24.3
21 cases reported
Rate was 8.1 on Nov. 5
Derby
12.6 on Oct. 29, 17.1 on Nov. 5. and 34.2 on Nov. 12.
Naugatuck
34.2
150 cases
Rate was 19.2 on Nov. 5
Oxford
15.7
29 cases
Rate was 10.3 on Nov. 5
Seymour
32
74 cases in period reported
Rate was 17.7 on Nov. 5 and 14.3 on Oct. 29
Shelton
26.4
152 cases in period reported
Rate was 15.5 on Nov. 5
NVHD COVID-19 Update – November 17 2020 by The Valley Indy on Scribd
