Greenwich Officials Provide Update On Coronavirus Cases, Vaccines

GREENWICH, CT — As the town approaches the one-year mark of when the coronavirus crisis first hit the area in March of last year, First Selectman Fred Camillo acknowledged Wednesday it has been "a year like no other" for Greenwich.

During a press update Wednesday afternoon, Camillo said a total of 3,801 cases of the virus have been reported in Greenwich as of this week, which is up 157 cases from last week. The number of active cases in town this week is 185, which is down 42 from last week, Camillo said.

Additionally, two more residents died this week as a result of the virus, bringing the total number to 81, Camillo said. (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to Greenwich Hospital president Diane Kelly, the hospital had 30 coronavirus patients in-house as of Wednesday. Of those patients, three were in the facility's intensive care unit, Kelly said.

She also noted the Yale New Haven Health system, as a whole, has seen a decline in its number of coronavirus patients. The system is also continuing to distribute coronavirus vaccinations to eligible residents, Kelly said.

"As a system, I can tell you that we've already delivered 81,000 vaccines, so I think that's pretty amazing," Kelly said. "Seventy percent of our healthcare system employees are vaccinated. We're going to continue to work on getting that number up...and our sites here in Greenwich are going well, and we are going to be very busy this weekend. We have, I think, 750 people scheduled each day over the next several days."

As Greenwich residents head into March, which marks a year since the coronavirus crisis first hit the area, Camillo noted the town is in "a much better place" than it was last March.

"Last March, we were a little nervous, and we were hoping for a vaccine," Camillo said. "We heard from lots of people that we weren't even sure if there ever would be [a vaccine]. We heard that over and over again."

According to Camillo, nearly everything that was initially predicted about the virus "kind of happened."

"We heard in the summer it would probably flatten out a little bit if everybody kept their distance and wore their mask, and [from residents] being outside in the sun and the heat," Camillo said, "and then it was going to come back in the fall...and again in the wintertime."

Overall, Camillo said he is "very confident" the town is headed in the right direction in regards to the virus.

"The other side of this is certainly in sight," Camillo said, "but we're just not there yet, as we say every week."

Camillo likened it to being toward the end of a nine-inning baseball game and Greenwich is still in the seventh inning, so residents just need to keep their eye on the ball. He also noted the town has learned a lot over the past year.

"People will be reading about this in the future in their history books," Camillo said. "With that in mind, you really want to get it right. It's not just about getting through it; you want to make people look back and say 'boy, they were on the ball.' They did the right thing. They took all those precautions and they made sure that they made decisions that may not have been popular, but they kept doing it and kept their focus and their eye on the ball."

Camillo commended Greenwich Hospital for being "great partners" throughout the past year, as well as the residents of Greenwich.

"I think people in the town of Greenwich deserve a lot of credit," Camillo said, "because they, for the most part, have been on top of it. They're rule followers, and that's a pretty important thing. If they weren't, then all the talk in the world and all the precautions that we're taking and suggesting wouldn't really amount to anything if no one was paying attention. They did, and they took it seriously."

Kelly said working with the town over the past year has shown what can happen when two groups come together to provide support to a community. She also commended the Greenwich community for supporting its healthcare system and workers over the past year.

"That didn't happen in every town and every county," Kelly said, "so we're very grateful for that."

As the town heads further into 2021, and with spring on the horizon and more community members receiving vaccinations, Camillo noted things appear to be trending in a positive direction for Greenwich and its residents.

"There's still more to write on this," Camillo said. "The book's not closed, but we've certainly learned a lot."