During his weekly press conference via Zoom, First Selectman Fred Camillo shared updated Covid numbers at of Wednesday at noon, including “a little bit of good news.”
The weekly numbers now include tallies of people vaccinated for Covid-19.
37 Covid-19 positive patients at Greenwich Hospital
5 Covid-19 patients in the ICU at Greenwich Hospital (down 41 from a week earlier)
941 patients have been discharged from Greenwich Hospital to home or to a rehab facility since pandemic began.
324 positive patients across the Yale New Haven Health System (down from 391 last week)
1,700 employees vaccinated at Greenwich Hospital
237 employees scheduled to be vaccinated Wednesday
11,611 employees across Yale New Haven Health have been vaccinated
2,432 people people in the Town of Greenwich have tested positive (up 189 from a week earlier)
165 active cases in the Town of Greenwich (up 32 from last week)
67 deaths in the Town of Greenwich from Covid-19, (an increase of 4 from a week earlier)
Camillo reflected on Greenwich’s experience with Covid-19 and his outlook for 2021.
“I’m proud of our town and how we responded,” he said. “It’s been a team effort.
“When we started doing this early on, this it was new and we had faith and hope, but weren’t sure how long it would take,” he said. “We didn’t know when there would be a vaccine or if there would be one. We know what we’re capable of doing. That’s all for the good.”
“It’s been a heartache for a lot of people. Whether they lost people, were sick or lost jobs – lots of people haven’t recovered. They need our thoughts, prayers and our help in any way we can,” he said. “Better times are ahead.”
“We’re not there yet. I liken it to the 7th inning of a 9 inning game. We’ll win the game,” he added.
Camillo reminded residents to be careful over the New Year’s holiday stay away from large gatherings, wear masks, keep social distance and practice hand washing.
Though Camillo acknowledged many people are suffering and have lost jobs, he said many had been able to adapt, including restaurants that improved their take-out businesses, and were able to move outdoors.
He said Greenwich Avenue has changed its look.
“Greenwich Ave has a very different look and feel now,” he said, pointing out that many restaurants took up the chance to provide outdoor dining.
“(Restaurants) can put up tents or dining domes,” he said. “They’ll get the jersey barriers back for April 1. We want it to be permanent for 7-8 months, but it’s possible they can do 12 months if they want to work with local officials and adhere to state guidelines.”
“There are lots of reasons to be optimistic. We’ve seen businesses adapt to survive and sustain themselves,” he said. “We got (restaurants) outside and liked what we saw. That’s one of the silver linings.”
Camillo said while there were public officials in Washington DC and representatives from Connecticut who had already been vaccinated, he believed it was because they wanted to show they were willing to take it since they had been promoting it.
“I have not been asked, nor have I asked. I don’t want to take anybody’s spot,” he said. “If someone says, ‘Freddie Camillo, put your money where your mouth is,’ absolutely I will take it, but I’m not jumping the line.”
Camillo said he didn’t believe his turn to take the vaccine would come for a while.