#Middlebury #COVID19 #Coronavirus
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Middlebury had 185 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on December 1. On December 30, the town had 374 confirmed cases, an increase of 189 cases in 30 days. In addition, eight Middlebury residents have died from COVID-19, and Region 15 schools have closed and switched to all remote learning. A January 2 report due out today will summarize results from Dec. 31 and January 1, but likely will not break down the numbers by date.
Compared to its abutting towns, Middlebury is showing a higher rate of cases than all but Waterbury. To compare apples to apples, statisticians calculate the rate per 100,000 people for each town and city. For December 6 to 19, Middlebury’s rate was 86.8 cases per 100,000. This compares to 41.6 per 100,000 for Oxford, 50.9 per 100,000 for Southbury, 51.7 per 100,000 for Woodbury, 63.2 per 100,000 for Naugatuck, 83.5 per 100,000 for Watertown and 89 per 100,000 for Waterbury.
Based on 2018 population counts, Oxford had 13,226 residents while Middlebury had 7,731. Yet Oxford’s rate is the lowest among the abutting towns and less than half Middlebury’s rate. Woodbury, which had a 2018 population of 9,537, had a rate of 51.7 cases, about 60% of Middlebury’s rate.
We asked Torrington Area Health District Director Robert Rubbo why Middlebury’s rate was so high. He said that was not clear, but most transmission is a result of family groups getting together for events like Thanksgiving dinner or groups larger than the 10 allowed by the state getting together for dinner or a holiday party. He said people with mild symptoms are attending these gatherings.
Rubbo’s advice to residents: Wear your mask and stay home if you’re not feeling well. He said not everyone gets severe symptoms, so a mild sore throat or cough can indicate you have COVID. If you have these symptoms or are generally feeling unwell, stay home.
Rubbo said vaccine clinics will eventually be offered locally. Right now, the clinics they are offering for first responders are held at the district offices in Torrington because staff members are learning the Centers for Disease Control Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) and want to get that down pat before they move into the field and have to deal with issues like WiFi connections.
The Health District’s nurse, Leslie Polito, said the district has held several vaccine clinics for first responders although first responders from Middlebury were not among those vaccinated. She explained they are not required to go to the health district; they are free to choose where they go to get vaccinated.
Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department EMT Beverly Dassonville said she and other members of the department have begun getting vaccinated at Waterbury Hospital. She said she is due for her second shot January 11.
Middlebury Police Chief Fran Dabbo said he just got over COVID and returned to work December 9. He said five officers, along with the administrative assistant and an animal control officer have been vaccinated so far and a couple more are scheduled. Six on the force have had COVID, and one is at home with it now.
In Region 15 schools, there were 15 confirmed COVID cases in November. In December, the number of confirmed cases was at 24 by the 18th of the month. In response to that increase, Superintendent of Schools Joshua Smith, in a December 19 letter, told parents, “At this time we feel it is prudent to move all of Region 15 schools to a remote learning environment beginning with an early release day on Monday, December 21st and full remote learning on Tuesday, December 22 and Wednesday, December 23.
“Remote learning is to continue Monday, January 4, through Friday, January 8. On Monday, January 11, elementary and middle school students are to return to in-person learning and Pomperaug High School students will return to a hybrid learning schedule.” As we go to press, it is unclear whether or not schools will be able to resume January 11 as planned.
Back in March 2020 when we were first asked to take measures to help contain the spread of COVID-19, who would have thought we would find ourselves where we are now, nine months later, with Region 15 schools closed to in-person learning, eight Middlebury residents dead due to the disease and 374 residents confirmed to have been infected?
Nationwide, as we go to press, nearly 350,000 people have died from the virus, and officials say deaths will continue until a large percentage of the population has been vaccinated. Predictions were that might happen by fall of 2021, but news reports now say vaccine distribution is taking longer than expected.
Here in Connecticut, 185,708 residents have or have had confirmed cases of COVID, and 5,995 had died as of January 2, before release of the most recent report. The website covidusa.net updates statistics daily. It shows the Connecticut mortality rate from COVID-19 is 3.2%. This compares to Rhode Island at 2%, Massachusetts at 3.3% and New York at 3.8%. The majority of states have mortality rates of 2% or lower and a few have mortality rates lower than 1%.
