Greenwich Prepares To Hold 2021 Memorial Day Parade

GREENWICH, CT — The total number of cases of the coronavirus in Greenwich exceeded 5,000 this week, according to First Selectman Fred Camillo.

During a news conference held Wednesday afternoon, Camillo said there have been 5,031 cases of the virus in town thus far as of Tuesday, an increase of 95 from last week.

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Though the total number of cases rose during the past week, the number of active cases fell to 87, a decrease of 29 from last week, Camillo said.

Greenwich Hospital president Diane Kelly said the hospital had 18 patients in-house who had tested positive for the virus as of Wednesday morning, five of which were on ventilators in the facility's intensive care unit.

"When we met last week, we were at 21 [patients in-house], so I can't tell you the number's really going down," Kelly said. "It's fluctuating between 18, 20, 21."

She also noted the Yale New Haven Health system is seeing a decline in coronavirus-positive patients as a whole. As of Wednesday morning, the system had 167 coronavirus patients across its five hospitals, which is down from last week when that number stood at 210, Kelly said.

"Looking at it across the system feels a little more optimistic to me," Kelly said.

Kelly said the hospital's coronavirus vaccination clinic at the Brunswick School will be open to walk-in patients this weekend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with no appointments necessary.

"We also are no longer requiring requests for proof of Connecticut residency," Kelly said, "so some of our neighbors here in Westchester [N.Y.] should be able to get vaccinated if they still need to do that. It will be a Pfizer vaccine opportunity this weekend."

As the weather heats up and vaccinations continue to roll out in Greenwich, town officials are looking forward to the possible return of some annual events that were canceled last year as a result of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, starting next month with the Memorial Day parade.

Camillo said the parade is currently scheduled to happen this year, and further details regarding safety guidelines will be provided closer to the event.

The most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can go maskless outdoors unless they're in a big crowd with strangers, and Gov. Ned Lamont said the state will embrace these new recommendations.

"We'll see where we are a few days before [the parade] before putting out further guidance and suggestions," Camillo said, "but being outside is obviously safer and with people getting vaccinated more, it's certainly going in the right direction, but you've got to have the mask with you. Just take it with you. You still can't go into a place that requires a mask, you don't want to be shown the door, so bring the mask with you."

Camillo noted it is now easier to dial back events rather than needing to outright cancel them a few days before the event takes place, but noted residents still need to adhere to safety guidelines and use common sense, even if they are fully vaccinated.

"So we're very confidant in going ahead with events and festivities for the summer and later in the spring," Camillo said, "but we're doing so carefully still, and you can't go wrong being careful, but you can go wrong if you let your guard down and slip up a little bit."

He also emphasized that while things may be looking positive, residents should continue to be cautious and use good judgement in public settings.

"It's hard to predict the future," Camillo said. "It looks like it's going in the right direction, which is great. I think everybody's very confident about that, but I don't want to get out too far ahead of it and say something where I may have to dial it back, so one step at a time."

Kelly echoed Camillo's sentiments and urged residents not to let their guard down yet, especially if they are not fully vaccinated.

"There no reason to risk anything at this time," Kelly said. "We've made too much progress."