In A Good Spot: COVID Cases, Hospitalizations Drop In Greenwich

GREENWICH, CT—As Connecticut lifted most COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday, Greenwich continued to report declining case numbers and low hospitalization rates.

First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital president Diane Kelly gave their weekly COVID update on Wednesday afternoon, and they were encouraged with how the trends are going. But they urged residents to still keep a mask handy.

Vaccinated people are not required to wear masks outdoors or indoors; only those who haven't been vaccinated must wear masks on an honor code system. Businesses and state and local government offices have the option to require masks to be worn. At Town Hall, masks will still be required as town officials monitor the pandemic in the coming weeks.

Masks will still be required by everyone in certain settings such as healthcare facilities, facilities housing vulnerable populations, public and private transit, correctional facilities, schools and childcare.

"We're going to keep steady with our policy right now and encourage people to bring a mask with them wherever they go," Camillo said. "You may not be able to go into certain places, so bring a mask with you. When you're outside and away from people, take it off, get the sun, breathe fresh air, enjoy, and get some normalcy back in your lives."

As of May 18, since the pandemic began there were 5,105 total reported cases in Greenwich, up 10 from last week. Total active cases sat at 20 as of Tuesday, down from 42 a week ago.

"We haven't seen numbers that low in a long time. Things are really, really looking good," Camillo said.

At Greenwich Hospital, Kelly said there were just four COVID patients being treated as of Wednesday, with none in the Intensive Care Unit. As a whole, Yale New Haven Health System was treating 56 patients across five hospitals, down from 85 last week.

"These are substantial numbers coming down," Kelly said.

Both Camillo and Kelly urged residents to get vaccinated. Kelly noted that Greenwich Hospital is seeing a slow down at its mass vaccination sites, and that they will transition to make sure doses are available for people at their primary care offices.

Last weekend, over 2,500 young people received the Pfizer vaccine at the Brunswick School site on King Street. Kelly said that site will remain open so people can get their second shot in a few weeks.

"We are going to be open for this population's second dose. We will make sure we keep looking at the situation before we make any definitive dates of closure on our sites," Kelly said, adding that officials will take a week-to-week look to see what the community needs are and how many appointments are scheduled.

Camillo also said that as of right now, there are plans to phase down the Town Hall vaccination clinics in June.