#Middlebury #COVID19
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
It’s been a really rough 18 months or so, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. And just when we thought things were getting as close to normal as we could reasonably expect, the Delta variant seems to have us reversing course.
Parts of the country with low vaccination rates are seeing overwhelming numbers of COVID-19 cases, but even states like Connecticut with high vaccination rates are seeing the effects of the variant. Hospitalizations and deaths here have not spiraled out of control, but the number of infections has increased.
As a result, mask mandates or advisories are once again being issued. Governor Ned Lamont addressed the issue in his August 3 executive order No. 13A. It set statewide mask policy as follows:
Outdoors – Masks not required
Indoors
- Vaccinated not required to wear masks
- Unvaccinated must wear masks
- Masks are required to be worn by everyone in certain settings such as healthcare facilities, facilities housing vulnerable populations, public and private transit, correctional facilities, schools, and childcare
- Businesses and state and local government offices have the option to require masks to be worn by everyone in their establishments
Municipal option: Effective August 5, 2021, municipal leaders had the option of requiring masks to be worn by everyone in indoor public places regardless of vaccination status within their respective towns and cities
In early August, Pomperaug Health District (serves Southbury and Woodbury) acting Director Lisa Morrisey recommended all vaccinated persons wear masks indoors even though the state said indoors they were needed only for the unvaccinated.
Woodbury First Selectman Barbara Perkinson, following the Connecticut Health Department’s August 1 recommendation on mask wearing, asked her assistant to send out a memo August 2 requiring all town employees to wear masks when not at their desks and all visitors to town buildings and the library to wear masks inside the buildings.
Perkinson said in a telephone interview, “I did this to protect our employees and those visiting our town buildings and the library.” Even with masking in place, Perkinson said some town employees have since come down with COVID.
Southbury First Selectman Jeff Manville on August 13 announced he was responding to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Southbury by issuing a mask mandate effective August 16. It requires masks in municipal buildings. Manville also encouraged the public to wear masks in all indoor settings “to combat the spread of COVID-19.”
Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John had his assistant send out an August 16 email to town department heads stating the public is required to wear masks when entering town facilities. The email did not require town employees to wear masks.
St. John said in a telephone interview he felt at this point he did not have to mandate mask wearing for town employees. He said, however, that he was watching Middlebury’s number of COVID cases closely. “I’m extremely concerned about these increasing numbers,” he said. Noting that most cases are in those who are not vaccinated, he asked residents to please get vaccinated.
Torrington Health Department (covers Middlebury) Director Robert Rubbo said his department does not issue mask advisories. Instead, they follow and post on the website guidance from the state and the CDC. On August 25, the latest post there from the Connecticut Department of Public Health was the May advisory relaxing mask mandates, but a link to Gov. Lamont’s August 5 executive order No. 13A (see above) also was listed.
This newspaper posts updated Connecticut Department of Public Health statistics on COVID on our website, bee-news.com, Mondays and Thursdays. These reports show rising case numbers in Middlebury.
One statistic is the number of cases per 100,000 residents. Each town’s numbers are calculated that way to make town to town comparisons possible. Towns are color coded on a state map according to the number of cases per 100,000; gray for fewer than 5 cases per 100,00, pale yellow for 5 to 9 cases per 100,000, orange for 10 to 14 cases per 100,000 and red for 15 or more cases per 100,000.
Middlebury had dropped to fewer than 5 cases per 100,000 for 12 reports in row, through July 31, 2021. Then, on August 12, Middlebury reported 16.5 cases per 100,000 (18 cases over a two-week period) and on August 19 reported 25.6 cases per 100,000 (28 cases over a two-week period).
On August 1, Middlebury’s total number of COVID cases was 733. On August 22, it was 763, an increase of 30 cases over 21 days (22 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases).
