Governor Holds News Briefing in Danbury to Discuss Recent COVID-19 Spike

Governor Outside of Danbury City Hall for News Briefing to Discuss Recent COVID-19 Spike in Danbury

The briefing began with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton who spoke about the safety protocols the city is taking to address the increase in COVID-19 cases which includes beginning the school year with distance learning for students, closing all fields, and closing the boat launch (due to parties on Candlewood Lake).

The City Director of Acting Director of Health Karen Prunty reported on the current number of COVID-19 cases. We are seeing an uptick in our cases, there is currently an average of 22 cases per 100,000," she said. Prunty asked that residents who test positive cooperate with contact tracers. Prunty said they are seeing spread from small family gatherings.

Sharon Adams, the President of Danbury and New Milford Hospital provided an update on hospital COVID-19 cases thanking the community for wearing masks and practicing social distancing, she said, "In the last month, we have done extremely well and have seen our numbers go to an all-time low." Adams said that there has been a slight uptick in cases in the past week, but the numbers are quite low. Adams doesn't see this slight increase in numbers as something "we can not conquer easily" if we work together, social distance, wear a mask, and use your community testing if you need to."

Mayor Mark alerted the community that the City only has about a week and a half to get this spike under control after which time, Boughton said, "It can be a runaway freight train and that's why we're here today." Boughton said that some of the current spread is among children, "That's concerning" he said. The City is currently offering several testing opportunities, the tests are free of charge and no appointment is necessary. Boughton said over 1,000 people have been testing in the past two days.

Governor Lamont said that the State has done extremely well diminishing the spread of the virus, "but, there have been leaks." He called the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Danbury "not a surge, but an uptick" which he says has come in quickly. "That's why we've come in hard, with testing and track and trace," said Lamont, who added that the virus hasn't spread beyond Danbury.

Data updates on testing in Connecticut 

The following is a summary of the day-to-day newly reported data on cases, deaths, and tests in Connecticut. It is important to note that these newly reported updates include data that occurred over the last several days to a week. All data in this report are preliminary, and data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected.

County-by-county breakdown:

For several additional graphs and tables containing more data, including a list of cases in every municipality, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “COVID-19 Data Tracker.”

Weekly update to the regional travel advisory: Guam added, five states removed

The regional travel advisory between Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York that directs incoming travelers from states with a significant community spread of COVID-19 to self-quarantine for a 14-day period was updated today and now includes Guam on the list of impacted locations. In addition, five states have been removed from the list, including Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, and Montana.

The quarantine applies to any person traveling into Connecticut from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10 percent test positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

The list of impacted locations is updated once per week on Tuesdays. As of today, the full list of impacted locations falling under the travel advisory includes:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• Guam
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Puerto Rico
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virgin Islands
• Virginia
• Wisconsin

Anyone seeking the most up-to-date information on the regional travel advisory, including an extensive list of frequently asked questions, is encouraged to visit the state’s coronavirus website at ct.gov/Coronavirus/travel.