As of Thursday, West Hartford moved to the ‘orange’ range, with a rate of 12.6 cases per 100,000 over the past two weeks.

By Ronni Newton

As COVID-19 cases continue to once again spike in the town and in the region, West Hartford leaders are expressing concern, as well as hope, that the actions taken by the public will help avoid the need to reimpose restrictions by rolling back to Phase 2.

Data released by the state Thursday classified West Hartford in the “orange” range, one of 53 communities in the state that has an average daily number of new positive cases of between 10 and 14 per 100,000 of population over the past two weeks. West Hartford’s case rate per 100,000 was 12.6 as of Thursday, up from 9.2 the previous week.

The metric looks at the number of new cases per day for the two-week period, and weights it based on 100,000 of population, as a way to compare communities.

The state reported an overall 6.1% positivity rate Thursday, and in West Hartford there were seven new cases of COVID-19 among the 1,319 reported statewide. Friday’s statewide positivity rate was much lower overall, 2.5% (761 cases out of 30,554 tests), but West Hartford had 12 more cases. 

The positivity rate is a straight measure of positive cases divided by the number of tests recorded.

According to the state’s data, West Hartford now has 1,131 positive cases, an increase of 80 in the past week.

“We are going to look at it closely every day, with the state and with the health department,” Mayor Shari Cantor said Friday.

In an Everbridge message to the community, her second this week, Cantor urged the community to take the increase in positive cases very seriously.

The town manager has the authority to roll back to Phase 2, Cantor said in her message – which would reduce the size of both indoor and outdoor gatherings, scale back indoor restaurant seating to 50% of capacity, and also limit capacity at religious services, for personal service businesses, and in libraries. A comparison of Phase 2 and Phase 3 can be found in the PDF below.

“For now, we will remain in Phase 3,” Cantor said, but if the case positivity rate and rate per 100,000 continues to remain elevated or increase, moving back to Phase 2 will be necessary.

The town will also be working closely with other nearby communities.

“We’re closely watching the numbers in our neighboring towns, too,” Town Manager Matt Hart told We-Ha.com. “We think it’s best to approach this as a region. It’s not like the virus respects boundaries.”

Hart said he is really encouraging people to do the right thing – to wear face coverings, wash their hands, maintain physical distancing, and avoid gatherings.

Small social gatherings, along with some workplace spread, seem to be the cause of most of the spread in West Hartford, according to Aimee Krauss, director of the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District.

The spread does not appear to be in the schools, which is great news, Hart said. Superintendent of Schools Tom Moore, who announced Friday that elementary schools will remain in full in-person mode, had a similar message.

“I know it’s been a long haul, but if people can just continue to take the precautions they have since spring,” Hart said we will be in a better place. “We know it’s hard, but we just need to stay the course.”

If the town does need to roll back to Phase 2, there will be notice given to the community. Hart said he doesn’t want to keep toggling between phases.

And on the eve of Halloween, Hart said it’s particularly important to follow the rules and have a safe holiday. “Let’s not contribute to community spread,” he said.

“This is serious,” Cantor said.

“It is the responsibility of all of us to do our part to keep our community healthy and safe,” Cantor said in her message. “Please help us keep our infection rate low by wearing face coverings, limiting in-person social interactions, staying physically apart from others, and washing your hands.

“Your safety is my number one priority, and our team is monitoring this situation closely.  I will be back in touch with updates as appropriate.”

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab