New Canaan COVID Community Update: New Cases, Community-wide Testing on Nov. 13, Travel Advisory

This evening, New Canaan First Selectman Kevin Moynihan provided a community updated reporting that there have been 27 new positive COVID test results for New Canaan residents since our outcall last Friday. Thirteen of the cases are family-related and the other 14 are unrelated.  "Community transmission is occurring and increasing as it is in surrounding communities," he said. 

Please read Moynihan's message below: 

Our Health Director notes that there have been 218 additional negative tests reported for New Canaan residents since last Friday.  Because of the limited number of negative tests reported for New Canaan residents, this equates to a positivity rate of 12.4 percent.  This is much higher than the state average of 3.7 percent which is the result of much more testing being done state-wide.

We continue to see cases resulting from small gatherings and within families. Households should remember to isolate from positive family members to the extent possible, disinfect all contact surfaces within the home, wear masks in the home and adjust mechanical ventilation or open windows if you are not able to fully isolate from your positive family member. The other members of the household are to quarantine for 14 days as well.  

We urge residents to report positive cases directly to the New Canaan Health Department so contact tracing can be started immediately in order to contain the spread of the virus. If you have children in any of the schools or daycares please contact them immediately upon learning of a positive test result in order for them to begin their part of the contact tracing as well.

For complete information about our COVID-19 cases since March see the COVID-19 page of our website at www.newcanaan.info.  

Keeping our schools open continues to be our major priority.  An important component to keeping our schools open and operating safely is testing.  With that in mind, today the School District brought in PhysicianOne Urgent Care to conduct voluntary testing of over 550 student and teachers at Saxe and the High School.  The purpose of this testing is to identify asymptomatic positive cases so as to isolate them and their close contacts so we can stop the spread of COVID 19 in our community.

Community-wide Testing

The Town is also contracting with PhysicianOne to conduct community testing next Friday, November 13th at Lapham Community Center from 8 am to 4 pm. To get tested you must register on the PhysicianOne website at https://physicianoneurgentcare.com/new-canaan-testing/. From their website you will link over to the Town’s secure payment portal to pay the $90 testing fee. This testing site is not covered by health plans.  If you wish to seek reimbursement from your health plan, please reach out to them for testing locations that they cover.  There is no prescription required but you must register, pre-pay the fee, and receive an appointment time.

This testing event is open to New Canaan residents, Town of New Canaan employees, teachers and staff of the New Canaan School District and students and staff of St. Luke’s School, New Canaan Country School, and St. Aloysius School only. 

Conducting mass testing of hundreds of students, staff, and residents will give us a much more accurate data point of what our local positivity rate truly is. The only way to catch asymptomatic spreaders is to test, isolate, and quarantine close contacts. This is a vital public health measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 and in turn, keep our schools and businesses open as long as possible.

Rollback to Phase 2.1

As you know, this week the Governor announced a roll back to Phase 2.1 effective today. This reduces the occupancy in restaurants to 50% and a maximum of 8 people at a table. Restaurants are required to close by 10 pm with last in-person service of 9:30 pm except for delivery or curbside pickup. Venues and gatherings are limited to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors. Private gatherings are capped at 10 people indoors and outdoors.  Religious gatherings are limited to 50% capacity with a maximum of 100 people. We encourage support of our local establishments in these unprecedented times and thank them for going to great lengths retrofitting their interiors to comply with Sector Rules for the safety of all our residents.

Travel Advisory

Finally, the Governor this week updated the travel advisory. There are a total of 44 states now subject to the travel advisory.  CT, NY, NJ, and RI are exempt. We remind you that if you travel to any of the states or countries on the list (except for less than 24 hours), you must quarantine for 14 days upon your return home or fulfill the testing requirements outlined in Executive Order 9B and also complete the travel form found on the state’s coronavirus website (https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/travel).

 


 
 
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Submitted by New Canaan, CT

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