Greenwich Coronavirus: Things Looking Up, But Caution Still Urged

GREENWICH, CT — First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital urged residents to remain cautious, even as coronavirus vaccinations continue to roll out and things are "starting to look up" in town, during a press update Wednesday afternoon.

According to Camillo, there have been a total of 3,919 positive cases of the virus reported in town as of Tuesday, an increase of 118 cases from last week.

The number active case in Greenwich as of Tuesday is 140, which is down 45 from last week, Camillo said. Two more residents also died in the past week as a result of the virus, bringing the total to 81, Camillo said. (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Despite the additional deaths and continued rise in cases, Camillo noted that the weekly numbers appear to be improving.

"We're seeing better and better numbers as we go along," Camillo said. "With more people being vaccinated and the weather starting to show signs of getting a little bit better...things are starting to look up for everybody. As we say every single week, we're not there yet, but things are looking better."

Greenwich Hospital spokesperson Dana Marnane said, as of Wednesday morning, the hospital had 28 patients in-house who had tested positive for the virus, two of which are on ventilators in the facility's intensive care unit.

"Our numbers continue to go up and down," Marnane said. "We seem to be hovering between the mid-20's and the low 30's, which is pretty much what we were experiencing last week."

Since the coronavirus crisis began last spring, the hospital has discharged a total of 1,205 patients who have tested positive for the virus, Marnane said.

Earlier this week, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Connecticut will use age to determine coronavirus vaccine eligibility going forward instead of moving on to essential workers and people with pre-existing health conditions.

Teachers, staff and professional child care providers can also receive the vaccine in March. In his announcement, Lamont cited an overly-complex process as the reason to move forward with a simple age-based system.

During the press update, Camillo said he was not going to second-guess the sudden change but noted he was concerned about residents with underlying medical conditions.

"I'm certainly not going to second-guess the governor's advisors who steered him in this direction," Camillo said. "I do worry about those with underlying conditions, because we've seen with this virus it's unpredictable; it goes in and out of [some] people without even showing any symptoms and in others, it takes them down, so I'm a little worried about that. They must think that doing it this way, with age groupings, will get us there quicker. Maybe that's the case, I don't know."

Camillo, who is 58, also noted he was planning to sign up to receive the vaccine once he becomes eligible Monday due to his age.

"We just have to follow the rules as they're presented to us," Camillo said, "and hopefully the supply will increase and we'll get there safely and quickly."

The first selectman continued to urge residents to remain cautious, even as more residents receive vaccines in the coming months.

"There's certainly a lot of positive indicators out there," Camillo said, "but the job of many of us who have a pulpit is to keep sounding the alarm and [urge people] to stay the course. Don't let your guard down now, especially at this late stage. Just keep focused, and we'll get there quickly and safely."