During Wednesday’s bi-weekly Covid press conference on Zoom hosted by First Selectman Fred Camillo and Greenwich Hospital president Diane Kelly, some encouraging numbers were announced.
“(Yale New Haven Health System) dropped below the 300 mark, so that feels really good,” Ms Kelly said.
As of Wednesday, the Yale New Haven Health System was caring for 270 patients, of which 45 were in the ICU Wednesday morning.
Greenwich Hospital started off Wednesday caring for 26 patients with 4 in the ICU.
“We’ve started to lift some of the restrictions on our visitor policy,” Ms Kelly said. “We still are limiting to one visitor per patient and requiring a screening process, but it is less restrictive than last week.”
To continue the fight against Covid, Yale New Haven Health is requiring all employees and medical staff to have a booster by March 31, 2022, and they are offering multiple clinics.
Barbara Heins from the First Selectman’s office announced the numbers for the town:
As of Feb 1, there were 10,959 cases diagnosed among Greenwich residents, which is an increase of 190 from a week earlier on Jan 25, 2021.
Total active cases as of Feb 1 decreased by 216, from 411 on Jan 25, 2021 to 195 as of Feb 1, 2022.
Unfortunately there were 7 additional deaths reported among Greenwich residents in the past week, for a cumulative total of 116 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Vaccination rates (Fully vaccinated means having two shots and not necessarily a booster, though Ms Kelly said that the end of March, fully vaccinated will mean having had a booster).
Age 5-11: 46.37% fully vaccinated (of 6,470 eligible population)
Age 12-17: 93.98% fully vaccinated (of 5,449 eligible population)
Age 18-24: 95.39% fully vaccinated, (of 4,037 eligible population)
Age 25-44: 76.08% fully vaccinated (of 13,580 eligible population)
Age 45-64, 85.31% fully vaccinated (of 18,950 eligible population)
Age 65+: 95.77% fully vaccinated, (of 10,466 eligible population)
Out of the overall total eligible population of 58,952 Greenwich residents, 82.26% are fully vaccinated.
“That’s such an impressive number,” Ms Kelly said.
As for the lower percentage of fully vaccinated ages 25-44, Ms Kelly said, “It tells me we’re not getting the information out. I can’t believe anyone would be disputing the information at this point in time.”
“The data is clear that without your vaccines it is a real possibility for you to be coming down with possibility of coming down with Covid,” Kelly said. “This is where people are young, healthy and living their lives, and it’s a little bit of thinking it’s not a real possibility, but the data is clear that without the vaccines there is a real for you to be coming down with Covid and you’re do much better if you have your vaccines.”
Camillo commented on the downward trend in Covid numbers.
“It’s what we’ve been told,” he said, adding that back in December, in the middle of a surge, he spoke to a doctor who predicted the peak would come in mid January.
“That’s exactly what happened,” he said. “Two years ago, in March 2020, when CDC officials said this could be with us for two years . …It turned out, that’s exactly where we are. You always hear that pandemics, at the end the variants are highly transmissible but less potent, and then you’re in the endemic stage. I know people are really anxious to get beyond the masks. We’re all there.”
“February is short month,” he added. “We just want to give ourselves a little breathing room. with each passing week things should be getting better and better.”
Camillo said he was excited for the return of the St Patricks parade, which is scheduled for March 5 at 2:00pm.
“It’s always a great way to celebrate our Irish friends and their heritage, and it’s always four days before spring officially begins,” he said, adding that even if it’s a cold day, warm weather is just around the corner. “It’s really the end of winter and beginning of spring.”
As for the death of an additional 7 Greenwich residents, Camillo said, “We have to be cautious. That’s why we haven’t lifted everything.”
He noted town hall still has a mask requirement, though businesses do not.
“We’re in the 9th inning,” he said. “You want to get the final out in the bottom of the 9th before you start celebrating. We’re almost there.”
“We didn’t put a mandate on private businesses, I think that was the right call. Town properties are different because we have a liability issue, and we had employees concerned about people coming in who weren’t wearing masks and maybe not vaccinated.”
The next Greenwich Covid press conference is in two weeks.