What is Wilton Doing to Help Minimize the Spread of the Virus?

In her most recent COVID update, Wilton First Selectman Lynne Vanderslice said that the recent increase in cases is being taken very seriously by the Town and organizations within the community. "We hope you will also take this seriously and adjust your behavior if necessary," she said.

Below, find out what the Town of Wilton is doing to minimize the spread of the virus.

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• Contact Tracing: Members of the Wilton Health Department and nurses from the Visiting Nurses Association of Fairfield County perform contact tracing on all reported cases. Contact tracing is performed in order to identify individuals who have been exposed to a patient who has tested positive with the virus.  The identified individual(s) should monitor for symptoms and self-isolate. This minimizes the opportunity for the virus to spread to more people.  Patients, or the parent in the case of a minor patient, are asked to provide the name and contact information of individuals with whom they have been in contact.  These individuals are contacted by health department personnel or the VNA nurses. Patients are not required to cooperate, but most do.  The information received is kept confidential.
• Asking Residents to Report Positive Tests: Because there is often a couple day lag between when the testing lab reports a positive case to CT DPH and when CT DPH provides the Health Department with the patient data, we have asked residents to contact the Health Department when they receive a positive test result.  Fortunately, residents have done so.  This has allowed the department to perform contact tracing in a more timely manner.
• Monitoring Facilities/Organizations Where Residents Gather: The Health Department maintains contact with facilities/organizations where residents gather.  Those facilities have been advised of the recent increase in cases and are working with the Health Director to minimize any additional spread.  Parks and Recreation Director Steve Pierce is reaching out to the youth sports organizations to keep them informed.
• Restricting Access: Use of sports fields is limited to Wilton residents and Wilton youth sports organizations.  There will be no field rentals to private or out of town organizations.  Access to Merwin Meadows will continue to be restricted to Wilton residents only.  

Important Reminders to Help You Minimize the Spread of the Virus:

• You can have the virus and be contagious even if you don’t have symptoms.  Six feet of distance and/or a face covering protects you from other people and other people from you.
• Even if you have had a negative Coronavirus test, you still need to social distance and/or wear a face covering.  The test result is just for the moment in time when the sample was taken.
• You must quarantine for 14 days if you have returned to Connecticut from one of the following 16 states:  AL, AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, IA, ID, LA, MS, NC, NV, SC, TN, TX, UT.   Quarantine means not leaving your home and isolating from other family members. The only exceptions are those individuals who work in critical infrastructure designated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.  Although those individuals aren't require to quarantine, we recommend they self-monitor and minimize contact with others. This is not an exception for travelers with a recent negative Coronavirus test result.
• If you have tested positive for the virus and have not been contacted, please email Wilton’s Health Director at Barry.Bogle@wiltonct.org.  

The CT Data Center reported the following for Wilton as 8:30 pm on June 30^th and versus the dates prior to the start of Phase 1 and Phase 2:

• 218 cases, 11 additional since June 16^th and 18 since May 19^th
• 1,509 residents tested, 359 additional since June 16^th and 759 since May 19^th
• 1,935 tests performed, 483 since June 16^th
• 41 deaths, no change since June 16^th and 4 additional since May 19^th 

The State does not provide detailed data on antibody testing. 

CT DPH reported the following for Fairfield County and Statewide as of June 30^th:

• 16,717 cases, 336 additional since 6/16         46,572 cases, 1,143 additional since 6/16
• 1,376 deaths, 24 additional since 6/16           4,334 deaths, 117 additional since 6/16
• 31 hospitalized, 37 less than 6/16                   100 hospitalized, 86 less than 6/16

This was the second day in a row with no new deaths in Fairfield County. 100 hospitalized patients statewide was an increase of 2 from the day prior. 

“Out of respect for each other, as Americans that care for each other, we need to be wearing masks in public when we cannot social distance.”  Dr. Deborah Birx, Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force.