Here’s the latest on how COVID-19 is affecting the lower Naugatuck Valley.
Schools Go Remote
School superintendents in Ansonia and Derby announced Sunday schools would be switching to remote learning on Monday.
In Derby, Superintendent Matthew Conway sent a message saying the school district’s transportation service said bus drivers couldn’t work Monday due to side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine.
Derby schools are seeing an uptick in positive COVID-19 tests. On Sunday, Conway reported that a student in the middle school and a student in the Bradley School tested positive.
These factors, “as well as additional staff quarantined due to contact tracing coupled with some staff experiencing side effects from the vaccine,” caused Derby schools to switch to remove learning for Monday, according to a message from the superintendent.
In Ansonia, Superintendent Joseph DiBacco sent a message Sunday saying the schools were going remote Monday “due to busing and staffing issues.”
The messages only mention remote learning on Monday.
DPH Issues Public Health Alert
On Saturday (March 27) the state Department of Health issued a public health alert regarding COVID-19, and specifically mentioned the rising infections in the Naugatuck Valley.
The alert urged residents to continue to wear masks and socially distance as Connecticut’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout continues.
The statement said that 40 percent of the new COVID-19 cases in the state are the B.1.1.7 variant, the variant first detected in the United Kingdom. Click here for information from the CDC.
The CT DPH statement also noted that the age group with the highest case rates in Connecticut are people between the ages of 20 and 29.
“The towns with the highest case rates are located in the Waterbury/Naugatuck Valley area; Waterbury has the second highest case rate in the state at 43.4/100,00,” according to the statement.
The Valley Indy reported last week that Derby, between March 7 and March 20, had the highest per capita case rate in Connecticut, at 48.5. Derby previously had a rate of 57.6 in the first half of November, and was at 17.1 in late October.
Click this link to learn how the rate is determined.
The Valley Indy’s reporting on Derby’s case rate — and the fact that Ansonia’s vaccination rate is the lowest in the lower Naugatuck Valley — was met with mixed reaction on The Valley Indy’s Facebook page, where the COVID-19 virus is often viewed through hardened partisan lenses. A reader said that COVID-19 testing should stop. Another posted false information claiming the COVID-19 virus alters human DNA, a conspiracy theory circulating online, according to a report from The New York Times. Another reader hinted that the COVID-19 data was a ploy to turn the U.S. into a socialist state and that people who listen to prevention measures are “sheep.”
“Continued vigilance and adherence to mitigation measures, including masks and social distancing, is key,” according to the alert from the DPH. “In addition, Connecticut residents considering traveling during the upcoming spring break season are urged to review CDC’s travel guidance, which continues to recommend against traveling at this time.”
Also
Click this link for vaccination options available.
Last week The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven announced that Griffin Hospital is receiving a $25,000 grant to be used for mobile vaccination clinics.
At 11 a.m. today (Monday, March 29) Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to announce the deployment of a FEMA mobile-vaccination unit. A press conference is scheduled to be held in Bridgeport. That mobile unit, the first of its kind in the U.S. from FEMA, will be able vaccinate 250 people per day.
The unit is targeting 17 communities with low vaccination stats. Griffin Health is one of the organizations staffing the unit, but it wasn’t clear early Monday when the unit will be deployed locally. More info will be released, presumably.
The FEMA unit will be using the Johnson & Johnson one dose vaccine.
